[Panamakid]

Hey Guys, I picked up a 1990 carolina skiff it is not the small J series. It is 16' long and like 8ft wide. It is solid but you can tell it was abused. How can I repair or at least trim and cover these gunnels. The port side is chewed up. It does not effect the performance but it could cut you.

thanks for the advice. Also should I use a tiller or install a console?

 

[Brett]

I've dealt with this one before.
Sanded off the gelcoat back to fiberglass the length of the repair plus 2 inch overlap.
Smoothed out all the rough spots with a sander.
Cut a 2x4 to fit the shape of the underside of the gunnel the length of the repair area.
Covered the shaped 2x4 with wax paper and clamped it in place under the gunnel.
(wax paper prevents new fiberglass from sticking)
This creates a backing board and form for areas with no gunnel left.
Used polyester resin to lay up a layer of 3/4 oz mat, 18 oz woven roving, and 2 more layers of 3/4 oz mat
the length of the repair plus 2 inches. After it hardened, removed the 2x4 and sanded
to feather out the edges and rough spots.
Then mixed a pint of white gelcoat with a half teaspoon of modifier "c" and catalyst to repaint the gunnel.
Wasn't perfect, but much better than the ragged beginning.

 

[Frank_Sebastian]

I did one about 5 years ago. One of my friends son bought a boat that was beat up on one side by hurricane Jean. The damage was confined to the port side only and darn near the whole side. I duct taped a piece of thin walled 1½" pvc to the outside and wrapped it with glass and epoxy. His dad said it was lipstick on a pig, but they still use the boat. It was a quick and cheap fix and it looked like it.

Best regards,
Frank_S

 

[FSUfisher]

The boat is also missing rub rails. If you wanted to get a new set, you could feel rest assured that your fiberglassing job would not have to be perfect.