Alex McGruer wrote:
My NDK explorer took a smack when I was not looking.
I have a star crack about 2 feet long and 6 inches wide just under the
water line. There is no dent, just cracked jell coat. Any idea how to
fix this or stop water permeating into the glass underneath and
causing delamination in the freeze thaw cycle?

I'd use gel coat filler, which your friendly neighbourhood ship's
chandler should have. The stuff I got was "Plastic Padding" and came in
hardener/goop two part. Mix together, apply along the wound after
giving it a rough sand to key it first and then once it's dry sand,
sand, sand. Start with rougher gauges and gradually move to finer, end
up using a polishing paste for best results.
Worked okay on my Selkie, and I'm hardly an expert handyman.

But since you're going to someone who knows about it to get the goop to
start with, have a word with them about it anyway. A couple of times
I've gone to get first aid stuff for minor repairs and been directed to
a much more suitable idea after discussing it with the chaps the they
do fibreglass for a living and know a helluva lot more about it than I do!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/