Very fast repairs for minor holes in the craft:

Required:

• Carton roll / cloth / old t-shirt stored in a waterproof bag

• Contact glue

• Duct tape

Dry the damaged area of your craft with the carton roll. Then smear a thin layer of contact adhesive over the whole damaged area. Allow to dry until tacky or sticky. Place duct tape firmly over the contact adhesive – running from the front to back of the boat. Place so that you have a ⅓ to ½ overlap of duct tape. Lastly place a strip of duct tape across the front of all the other pieces in order to prevent them catching on something new.

Done properly you will need an angle grinder to take it all off.

Hard core repairs for major damage: (boat wrapped /broken nose etc…)

​Required:

Safety First:

• Gloves (PVC gloves are best – dishes gloves worst but still better than nothing.) The fiberglass fibre will make your skin itch if you are not careful.

• Eye protection (clear glasses), ear plugs, dust mask.

Materials:

•  Angle Grinder + 10m extension – best, Rasp/ rough file 2nd best, 40 grit sandpaper 3rd option

• Tin of fiberglass resin and catalyst

• Thick and thin fiberglass matting

• Scissors to cut the fiberglass matting to size

• Old toothbrush to mix resin and apply resin to craft

• Paper cups to mix resin and catalyst in

• Thinners to clean hands/ wipe down craft

• Sense of humour

Grind/file/sand down the affected area making sure that you scuff an area at least 5cm around the hole. Shape a piece of fiberglass matting to cover the whole area and secure under a stone near the hole. Depending on the severity of the hole you may need to cut several pieces for example if one has to fix a nose of the craft.

Pour the required amount of resin in to the cup. Add +/- 20 drops of catalyst per 125ml resin if you have time for it to dry overnight for quicker drying add more catalyst. In our experience more than 30 drops per 125ml it driestoo quickly to be useful. Mix for about 30 seconds and it is ready to use.

Paint resin lightly around the hole. Place matting over the hole and gently dab resin on making sure that all the matting is saturated with resin and try and get out all the air bubbles. Don’t add too much resin at one time or it will run down your craft which is a waste. Try and smooth it out GENTLY from front to back before leaving it to dry.

To get a nice smooth finish:

Cover the whole area with a plastic packet and smooth it out by hand. Leave to dry before peeling off the plastic for a great finish.