Emergency Underwater Yacht Epoxy Repair

by Progressive Epoxy Polymers

A Case Study Using Progressive Epoxy Polymer's Underwater Epoxies

8/03

Epoxies Used for emergency repair:

Corro Coat FC 2100 (brushable Kevlar (tm) and Ceramic epoxy paint/resin that can be applied underwater)

WET/DRY 700 (Kevlar (tm) thickened epoxy paste that can be applied underwater)

and a discontinued "5 minute" underwater epoxy paste (has been replaced with Quick Fix 2300)

(Additional information/links regarding these epoxies can be found at the end of this case study)

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Email Message

Subject: Progressive Epoxies

Date: Sun, 17 Aug. 2003 23:36:47 -0770 (PDT)

From: Joy Sxxxx <bansheeboat@xxxxxxx.xxx>

To: p.oman@ix.netcom.com

Paul:

Remember me? Joy Smith and her sunk boat in Papua New Guinea around Christmas time last year??

By the time I finally left my boat and got off the island, got to civilization and then found your website, in my desperate search for an air-shippable underwater epoxy, we had been marooned on remote Hermit Is., PNG for two months. Banshee sank on October 21, 2002, in three minutes, after hitting a coral head and was completely underwater for three days. There was a 6 ft. crack through the hull and a punched in hole about a foot in diameter. The damage was massive.

Leslie patched the hull with old Z-Spar Splash Zone and a piece of wood a villager shaped with an axe. We kedged it off the reef, winched it upright, and then the villagers built an underwater cradle of lashed together logs to support Banshee. We bailed with buckets during a very low tide at night. She floated. The inside of the boat was trashed, the electric/electronics destroyed, the engine unusable, lots of things stolen, and diesel oil, sandy sea water and ocean bottom rubble and mold covered everything. But the sailing rig survived.

However, it soon became apparent that the old Z-Spar patch would never hold for a 300 mile open sea voyage to Madang, PNG and dry dock for hull repair. As I told you when I wrote in December, the hull was steadily leaking, and we knew the temporary repair would not last much longer.

I was desperate to save my boat that has been my life for 32 years.

I bought your underwater epoxy, and you shipped it to Manus Is., PNG. I picked it up and returned to the remote island of Hermit-what a name!! Almost didn't make it back as a storm came up while we were in the open 26 ft. boat making it back to the island. 36 hrs in an open boat with heavy seas with local bush people and me! BUT I HAD THE EPOXY AND KNEW WE WOULD NOW SAIL BANSHEE OFF HERMIT.

The whole saga is a very very long story of an incredible three month ordeal for two women alone. I got back to Hermit in mid January, and Les and I applied your stuff according to your directions. We patched the hull inside and out as you said. By then, the leakage from the 10 year old Z-Spar Splash Zone was getting worse. However, your stuff stopped all the leaks.

After 3 weeks of working on the boat, we left Hermit for the voyage to Madang, PNG. Sailing the 300 miles with no engine, no electronics, no autopilot, no functioning liferaft, and very little food or water. There were very high winds and rough seas and then dead calms, and we only had wind and sails alone to get us across that ocean. YOUR REPAIR STUFF HELD!! The hull had a fierce pounding-but no leaks. WE MADE IT!! We were towed in at the entrance to Madang Harbor and collapsed in exhaustion.

If we had not had your epoxy - our boat which is our life would still be under water at Hermit. We owe a debt of gratitude to you. The boat was put up in a primitive dry dock, and we literally cut out the repaired hull with a diamond tipped saw. Your stuff eats sanding grinders! We are good at epoxy repair of hulls-thank goodness, because no one here knew anything. Before we had properly repaired big holes where thru-hulls had been removed by building up larger and larger layers of mat and roving with epoxy resin. Leslie is very good at that-having worked in a fiberglass repair shop. This was just a bigger job.

Ghastly work. We have pictures of the repair and the 6 ft. long crack and hole in the hull.

We are now safely sitting in an anchorage in Madang rebuilding, and rewiring with our very limited funds. We plan to leave Madang for Guam and employment in December. The story became such an incredible one about doing the impossible that some publishers in the states are interested. I am writing a book about the whole ordeal. There will be an article in Sailing magazine. An article in the online magazine of Andrew Corp.. makers of our GPS antenna, has gone to press. Now, ACR Electronics, maker of our EPIRB that notified authorities of our disaster, is interested in an online article.

All because you were kind, took time to help me, and had the right stuff. I should have written many times before, but work on the boat kept interrupting me. Its been non-stop since we got in. You and your company will have star billing in any written piece that comes from me. Also, I think its important for sailors to feel that if the unspoken fear that we all have - holing and sinking - actually happens, one has options other than just walking away as so many told me to do. Two women did this - they can to! I am 61 and Leslie is 44. We did not walk away!

I feel that any person taking a boat to sea anywhere, anytime, should carry your product aboard and know how to apply it. If I can assist you in distributing or advertising your product, I am more than happy to do so.

Very thankfully,

Joy S. and Leslie B.,
US Yacht Banshee
Madang, Papua New Guinea

NOTE: ----------- the WET DRY 700 epoxy is now considered hazmat and cannot be air shipped outside the USA.

Knowledge is Power - We like informed consumers!

Learn the basics of epoxy at our educational EPOXY 101 page - Click Here.

Finally, email us back with your questions or comments before you buy - EMAIL HERE

Products/Links:

Find Corro Coat FC 2100 in our marine catalog -- in our industrial catalog

Note: one underwater repair trick is to soak sponge/foam rubber with this epoxy and then jam (caulk) underwater seams, cracks, holes, etc. with the epoxy soaked foam. It will swell to form a tight seal and become rock hard.

Find WET/DRY 700 in our marine catalog -- in our industrial catalog

Find Quick Fix 2300 in our marine catalog -- in our industrial catalog

Note: we also sell the Splash Zone product mentioned above, no longer a Z Spar product.

Goto our main home page

Goto our marine home page

goto our industrial home page

Goto our all site index page

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