GP1800R SVHO Scratched Hull

[Steven_D5]

My wife accidentally brought the ski too close to the shoreline as she was offloading supplies to the beach and the bottom of the ski scraped against some concrete that was underneath the water. The ski was not running at the time, but was just being pushed by the waves. The scratches seem pretty minor, but it's my first ski so I'm not sure how bad this actually is.

Is this something I should be concerned about and not use the ski until I get it repaired?

I have ordered the repair kit through color rite. I have a trip planned for this weekend, which the repair kit may not be delivered by. I don't really want to miss out on the trip, but I also don't want to make the issue worse. Thanks for any advice/help!

[K447]

It looks like the fibrous layer has been exposed in a few places.

I have posted NanoXcel repair how-to info elsewhere on the proper procedure to clean and prepare the exposed NanoXcel material prior to apply the epoxy.

http://greenhulk.net/showthread.php?t=271436&p=2980960&viewfull=1#post2980960

We recently did another GP1800 SVHO hull repair using West System G/Flex 650 Toughened Epoxy
It worked well and was easy to use in small quantities.

The West System glass filler (looks like powder) can be used to thicken the epoxy so it does not run and sag during application.

The epoxy will bind to the hull material and seal out water. It does not need to be painted to be waterproof.

Sand the area and clean it well using acetone to flush the surface.

First apply the epoxy in a thin layer to 'wet' the damaged area. Let it at least partially cure.
Then layer in more fresh epoxy to build the repair up to about even with the hull surface. Let it cure.

At this point the hull is able to be used.
As time permits you can sand and further finish the repair to make it smooth and paint ready.

[thomasdjames1]

While it looks bad and you can see the fibers and I am sure there are tons of these hull running around with way worse damage out there. Beaching them will do the same thing. I agree repairing is the 4.0 way to do it but I am not sure missing a ride because of it is necessary. If you search around you will find plenty of pictures of Yamaha hills with tons of bottom damage from beaching and rocks. I am sure many people don't even look and never know that is there. There is always a chance of more damage due to not repairing now but if you hit a rock with it and you were 50 miles from the ramp would you ride it back like that? I would!

[K447]

The benefit of doing the epoxy repair promptly is minimizing the risk of further damage (delaminating) from high speed water exposure. Forcing water into the damaged areas doesn't do the hull any favors.

Presumably the hull material has air dried on the trailer so there is currently no liquid moisture to be trapped within the material when the repair is applied.

Marine grade epoxy is generally available and the repair takes maybe a couple of hours effort, applying however many epoxy layers are needed to rebuild the gouged damage up level with the surrounding hull material.

[K447]

-
I have ordered the repair kit through color rite. -

What exactly did you order?