Last fall the deck on 14' sailboat cracked. I put some fiberglass/epoxy
around the crack to reduce flexing and stop it from getting worse.

Three weeks ago I put the boat in the water. Today I sailed it for the
first time. I meant to put paint on the epoxy; I thought I put paint on the
epoxy. Obviously I didn't because it has developed a yellow cast. It
doesn't seem any different than when it was new, except for the yellow cast.

Would three weeks of sun ruin it, long term? Or can I just paint it now and
be glad I caught it in time? I know UV degrades epoxy, but have no other
info.
Any advice here would be appreciated.

(yes, I know that putting new fiberglass over cracks isn't the right way to
fix them; but I was going purely for function without regard to appearance.)

Toller wrote:

Last fall the deck on 14' sailboat cracked. I put some fiberglass/epoxy
around the crack to reduce flexing and stop it from getting worse.

Three weeks ago I put the boat in the water. Today I sailed it for the
first time. I meant to put paint on the epoxy; I thought I put paint on the
epoxy. Obviously I didn't because it has developed a yellow cast. It
doesn't seem any different than when it was new, except for the yellow cast.

Would three weeks of sun ruin it, long term? Or can I just paint it now and
be glad I caught it in time? I know UV degrades epoxy, but have no other
info.
Any advice here would be appreciated.

(yes, I know that putting new fiberglass over cracks isn't the right way to
fix them; but I was going purely for function without regard to appearance.)




-------------

in sunlight the epoxies all yellow and lose their gloss. Takes years to
damage the epoxy beyond just surface yellowing. In commercial
applications the yellowing is considered cosmetic (at least for the
first few years!).

No harm done. Varnish has good UV blockers and is often applied over
epoxy on boats. Makes the life of boat coatings much longer then either
one alone.


paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html

On 2006-07-02 19:01:07 -0400, Paul Oman said:

Toller wrote:

Last fall the deck on 14' sailboat cracked. I put some
fiberglass/epoxy around the crack to reduce flexing and stop it from
getting worse.

Three weeks ago I put the boat in the water. Today I sailed it for the
first time. I meant to put paint on the epoxy; I thought I put paint
on the epoxy. Obviously I didn't because it has developed a yellow
cast. It doesn't seem any different than when it was new, except for
the yellow cast.

Would three weeks of sun ruin it, long term? Or can I just paint it
now and be glad I caught it in time? I know UV degrades epoxy, but
have no other info.
Any advice here would be appreciated.

(yes, I know that putting new fiberglass over cracks isn't the right
way to fix them; but I was going purely for function without regard to
appearance.)

Also, whatever color you paint it, make it a light color. Epoxies are
known to lose considerable strength at the temperatures a dark-colored
painted surface can reach. Epoxies generally fail at lower
temperatures than similar polyester or vinylester resins.