hull thickness...

[Arohanui]

Today i was scraping my hull and the keel. the bottom of the keel must have had 50kg of barnacles. got it all off.
White scraping the stbd forward section of keel , near the top of the keel where it joins the hull i was scraping and a small piece of the hull came off. my hull is black but i exposed white and it looks like a few layers. Im sort of left with a 3 mm deep hole in the hull exposing i dont know what. it feels a bit softer than the hard black paint. how are these keels and hulls made. if it were a hole would it get into the boat even though the hole is in the keel?

Im a little worried now!

[Shaun]

I don't think 3mm would be anywhere close to being through the hull (especially in that location), but I'd be getting the grinder out, & grinding away the softer stuff, & patching it with some cloth & epoxy.

[Shaun]

It's probably just a chip of gelcoat fallen out, if so you wouldn't need to worry about the cloth (just some thickened epoxy will be fine), but if the actual area is soft, I'd still be grinding the soft bit out.
cheers

[Arohanui]

thanks Shaun. Ive been told of some stuff called Knead it, By selleys and you can apply it underwater. ill do that for now

[steve]

If the black stuff which has come off is only 3mm thick it is most likely to be a build up of old hard antifouling. The white you can see may just be the gelcoat.

I would be inclined not to coat it with anything until next time the boat is out of the water and you can investigate it properly. Gelcoat is softer than hard antifouling and may be in good condition, but if it is truly soft then it needs to be ground off and the underneath investigated. I would not consider it to be urgent.

Steve

[Phillip]

I think Steve has got it right.

I have never heard of anybody drilling in that location but going by other parts of the hull that I am awear of I'd say that the hull will be in excess of 10mm thick and probably twice that in that location.