The best advice for making repairs to the hull of a Boston Whaler boat comes from Boston Whaler themselves. Please refer to
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... tions.htmlFor an illustrated article showing use of the recommended methods, see Taylor Clark's excellent article at
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... epair.htmlRegarding use of epoxy resin for repairs to Boston Whaler boats, there are two schools of thought. Some repairers prefer to work with polyester resins, the same sort of materials used to mold the hull in its initial construction. If you are skilled in use of polyester resins and have the proper specialty resins that will actually cure if exposed to air, I am sure those resins will be sufficient for the repair.
I have made a few minor repairs to small areas of damage to my boat's hull, mostly filling old holes made by fasteners or some very minor hull damage from abrasions, and I have used WEST System epoxy resin with fillers. Epoxy resins are stronger adhesives and make better secondary bonds to already cured resin structures than polyester resins can. Use fillers with the epoxy. A repair area with undiluted epoxy will typically be much harder than the 30-year-old polyester resin of an old boat hull, and this hardness can cause an uneven fairing when sanding. Watch out for that. There are old-wives'-tales about the inability to top coat epoxy resin with gel coat resin. This can be a problem if inadequate surface preparation is used.
For some advice on using WEST System epoxy resins to repair older Boston Whaler boats, listen to Jim Watson from WEST Systems explain the method in an interview I conducted with him many years ago and preserved in a recording available from
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/radio/You can find the interview under the West Systems subheading. In particular, listen to PART 1:
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/radio/ ... tPart1.mp3I have successfully top coated epoxy resin repairs with gel coat resin and had no problems. I personally prefer using WEST System epoxy resin from their very handy and inexpensive repair kits. Using the pre-packaged foil containers of resin and hardener gives a perfect mixture that always cures. Generally one repair kit can accomplish a lot of repair work. I describe my own experiences in an article at
http://continuouswave.com/maintenance-logs/epoxy/