wrote in message
oups.com...
Your experience with the leaking keel is a good example. After several
groundings, you noticed some water seeping into the bilge through the
keelson. The couple of layers and cloth you applied for a fix went well
beyond a simple gelcoat repair.

That isn't exactly what I said, but after removing the bottom paint, the
area sans gel coat was smooth and I didn't know if any of the laminations
had worn off. Being a belt and suspenders kind of guy, I chose to build the
area up a little. I probably could have gotten by painting the spot with
epoxy.





I think you could strip all the gelcoat entirely off a boat and it
would still float. If the fibers were adequately wetted out with resin,
the hull wouldn't even absorb water (or "wick" it around). That seems
to be where we disagree.

Now you are qualifing with "adequately wetted out with resin". Sure some
better hulls will be more resistant to water penetration. The cheaper hulls
still depend on the gel coat to keep the water out.