On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 23:56:45 GMT, "Stanley Barthfarkle"
wrote:

Hi all,

I'm wet sanding the scratches on the hull of my 19' fiberglass hull (mostly
on the underside along the keel) and I've noticed that a few of the deeper
gouges have gone all the way through the gel coat, showing the charcoal gray
of the fiberglass underneath.

Take a look at this URL and get a feel for what you are going to do.

http://www.diynet.com/diy/bo_mainten...278093,00.html

I've also heard about a PVC "keel guard" product that looks interesting,
albeit a bit expensive.. Any thoughts from those who have experience with
this product? Can it be applied over existing gouges, or should repairs be
made first?

There area a couple of keel guard products out there, but I use
Hamby's Keel Guard on my Ranger - I don't use one on the Contender.
The Ranger occationally is beached, bumped on a ramp, that sort of
thing and works great.

Lastly, how does one check to make sure that water has not penetrated into
the fiberglass layer?

You will probably have to go past the actual gouge to see how it
looks. That could be problematic if you don't have fiberglas
experience. Water can wick up fiberglass, but it usually won't go
past the original intrusion unless it's really, really bad.

Later,

Tom