How to Repair an Aluminium Boat

Metal boat

Aluminum is a popular material for use in small boat construction. The aluminum parts are either riveted or welded together to produce a tough, lightweight boat with a minimum of framing. Aluminum boats are generally quite durable, but they can fail due to age, impact and hard use. The flexing of the boat when underway will eventually wear out the rivets, break the welds and even cause stress breaks in the aluminum sheeting itself. Such breaks are repaired with readily available materials and tools.

Things You'll Need

• Scraper
• 1/8-inch aluminum sheeting
• Tin snips
• Drill motor
• Drill bit set
• Caulk gun
• Polyurethane marine caulk
• Pop-rivet tool
• Aluminum pop-rivets

Instructions

1. Haul the boat out of the water. Allow the boat to dry. Scrape off any marine growth, such as barnacles, mussels or grass that is within 12 inches of the area to be repaired.

2. Cut a piece of aluminum sheeting with the tin snips that will cover the damaged area. Cover the entire damaged area and allow for at least three inches of overlap between the edge of the patch and the edges of the hole in the hull. Form the patch by hand so that it will lay as fair (smooth) as possible with any hull shapes, such as stiffening channels.

3. Hold the patch in place and drill pilot holes around the perimeter of the patch. Drill the holes every inch and size the pilot bit so that it will accept the diameter of the rivets with no excess slack or play. Drill through the patch and the hull at the same time to keep the patch located properly.

4. Apply a liberal coat of marine caulk to the inside of the patch. Place the patch in position on the hull. Insert a pop-rivet into the rivet tool. Insert the rivet into a pilot hole and squeeze the rivet tool until the rivet pulls the patch tight and the rivet tail pops off in the tool. Repeat for each pilot hole.

5. Allow the caulk to set up for at least 12 hours. Slice the caulk squeezed out from around the edges with a razor knife. Allow the caulk to set up another 12 hours before relaunching the boat into the water. Observe the damaged area inside of the boat and check for leaks before leaving safe harbor.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use steel or stainless rivets in an aluminum boat. The difference in metals will cause corrosion to set in and cause the aluminum supporting the rivets to fail.

References

• Capt. TJ Hinton; commercial fishing vessel captain; Gulf Coast, Mississippi