Carbon Fiber Over Glass/Plywood?

Welcome to Performance Boats.
I will share my thoughts as to your question.
Carbon fiber is very expensive as compaired to an A or S cloth, or a twill of the same weight. Like 7 times more expensive. Carbon is typicaly used as a strength multiplyer.
It sounds to me that you are trying to seal something? A standard fiberglass cloth would do this with out the expense.
The are lots of sail boat sights that cover stuff like this pretty well (water proofing/sealing). I believe you could seal without the cloth, unless you need to add strength. Which the cloth would do.
Let us know what you find.

Be safe, schick

The extra cost can be extremely high like
if the boat needs to be on dry dock. Then u look at the boat for others to do list. Nothing wrong with carbon fiber but if it's where no one sees it then other cloth would be better choice. Where the location.

Glass over wood

Sounds like a wood boat that has or will be glassed over. Nothing unusual about that. Boats were built that way in the late 50s and 60s all the time.
If you are going to glass over a painted wood boat, you are going to have to sand it down to bare wood before glassing it. That would be a big job on a 45 ft boat.

Thank you all for your information. This boat is in Juneau and is already in dry dock. It is currently glass over plywood, and I was just thinking that the structural integrity of the hull would be better strengthened if had some super-coating such as carbon fiber. My reason for this task is really only to seal it to make sure it never leaks, as I will be living aboard this 45' boat in the marina. So the consensus is fiberglass is enough to seal it up proper?

GoodiePop said:

So the consensus is fiberglass is enough to seal it up proper?

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Yes. Glass over wood is just as waterproof as glass alone. Which, if you look around the marina, is what most are.

Structurally, wood is a very strong material. What other materials offer are varying levels of strength to weight ratios and maintenance requirements to minimize or prevent degradation over time.

All wood, glass over wood, all glass, steel, aluminum... All good. All have their strengths and weeknesses and all seal the water out well, if properly maintained.

When purchasing or owning a boat with any wood in it at all, check for dry rot and delamination/glass separating from the wood. That would be a tell tale of water intrusion. If the boat has no dry rot, I'd say she's good and water tight. Definitely pay for a survey.

It would never cross my mind to use carbon fiber for something like that. Never.

But if it just makes you feel good... )THumbsUp We all have "that" thing.

i lived on a 34 ft chriscraft oldy fiberglass over wood cabin cruiser......for yrs never leaked it was also livaboard i never took it out........i was at 1 time thinking like you i dont want to wake up under water....was gonna drydock mine sand the paint off the bottom and side to the water line sand it down to the glass and have it reglassed and all throuh hull fittings replaced......but got married moved inland

Mr. Travels said:

The extra cost can be extremely high like
if the boat needs to be on dry dock. Then u look at the boat for others to do list. Nothing wrong with carbon fiber but if it's where no one sees it then other cloth would be better choice. Where the location.

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yeah