Hi Peter,

The damage doesn't sound too bad. In any case the key of the repair is to get the fiberglass back in place and the hull sealed.

I think that it is most important to dry the wood out. In case of plywood it shouldn't be too bad. I wouldn't expect it to go past the first ply. Discolouration would be a good indication if you had any significant water damage.

The rest is only esthetics. I personally would cut the wood out if it were discoloured. If it is not discoloured, I would try to push the wood back into place. If you have a piece of the really nicely matching plywood, I would also lean more towards cutting things out and replace.

Good luck with the repair of the boat.

Andreas

: Lets just say a dumb guy decided to paddle his S&G up a too shallow creek in
: northern Maine. He then proceded to have to back it out of a too tight
: spot in the creek and managed to put a nice dime sized punch through type
: hole in the hull of his boat on the keel line just behind the cockpit due
: to a certain large unsen rock in the 6-8" deep fast moving water.

: The hole is "dime sized" as mentioned and slightly punched in. The
: wood is crushed and broken but the piece isn't totally broken away from
: the hull. NO leaks or anything actually which surprized me. maybe the wood
: swelled slightly to seal the new semi-hole. I did cover the hole with a
: ducttape patch for the long paddle home after I found the hole (maybe 3
: hours of water contact between getting the hole and finding out there was
: one).

: Is it better to just sand the area down and fill the hole with epoxy and
: reinforcent inside and out with glass (not too bad looking since the piece
: didn't get puched out per say) or is it probably better to cut a small
: piece of the hull out (maybe quarter or hald dollar sized) and then cut a
: new piece and reglass, etc.

: if I just fill and reglass, I have to definitely dry the area sufficiently to
: keep water from being sealed in the epoxy coated nowexposed internal wood
: fibers.

: appreciate any comments, thanks, Pete czerpak albany, NY