Repairing carbonfiber

I got a Point 65 Bourbon Orca Surfski in Ultra layout (carbon fiber/honeycomb core) that desperatly need repairs after some beating in a rocky rapid. There are no big open holes but rather a broken bailer and some cracks here and there.

Since this ski will mostly be used as an adventure racing ski and propably recive many more beating im wondering if I can repair it with normal fiberglass and resin, will it bond with the original carbonfiber/epoxi ? I planning to grind off all the broken gelcoat and get a clean carbonfiber surface to start from, then repair it like you would normally repair fiber glass boats. Will it work ? Reason I dont want to use carbon fiber is the cost of it but more imporant I would like to avoid the health hazards of using epoxi.

You don't need to use carbon fiber, fiberglass cloth is fine.
S cloth is a little stronger than E cloth. And a heavier cloth will hold more resin and be little thicker and stronger. You can also add additional layers as needed.
BUT, you must use epoxy for a good long lasting bond/repair.
Polyester resin is OK to repair a polyester boat, but, epoxy is better.
It is real important to make sure the surface you are bonding to is well sanded and free of contaminates. Do not start with sand paper! Clean surface with appropriate solvent before sanding.
Ranga can probably offer good advice too.
Good luck!

A photo of the damages should be helpful......so I can help you only with a general work introduction in few steps.

Repairing an epoxy boat with polyester is an absolute No Go !!!

You need not be afraid of epoxy if you treated it with respect, avoid contact with your skin, use nitrile gloves only, wear eye protection, do not breathe and swallow it.
Use a vac cleaner and fine dust mask, grind the gelcoat around the cracks, try to not damage the original layup/cloth.
You have to remove all loose parts, that's probably more as visible from the outside.
Honeycomb sandwiches have a bad impact strength, very sensitive for punctual damages so check the outer shell on delamination and damaged sandwich core (makes a unhealthy, muffled noise when it hit).
Clean the surface dustfree and degrease it.
Repair the core if necessary and make your layup.
(this takes a another work instruction )
Use cold hardened epo with fast or medium hardener ( dependent on layup thickness, processing time and temperature)
If the resin is hardened once, you have to post cure it as from resin manufacturer recommended.
Sanding.
Clean the surface dustfree and degrease it.
Filler.
Sanding.
Clean the surface dustfree and degrease it.
For the finishing you can use polyester top coat or 2K PU paint.
In any case, the finish layer must be UV stable.

Check this highly interesting guideline.

Thanks for the input, I will try to repair the ski myself then using fiber glass and epoxy and of course filler / top coat as needed. I got a Darth Vader breathingmask with separate filters incoming from a friend in the construction buisness which they use when doing epoxy floorwork in machine halls. Bought nitril gloves and eye protection and will be working in my garage so I can keep the windows/door open for proper ventilation. I will post picture of the damages once I get started.

I don't know the Point Orca but if your bailer is damaged, may you can just replaced it right now with a Andersen mini bailer.
Just an idea... makes the repair also easyer and safer.

Laz wrote: I don't know the Point Orca but if your bailer is damaged, may you can just replaced it right now with a Andersen mini bailer.
Just an idea... makes the repair also easyer and safer.

I been thinking about this option, it seems a good idea.

As for epoxy work I got answer from an expert. For painting gasfilter class A2 must be used and for gridning particelfilter P3. And most importan: Absolutely no skin contact

I use West System 105 and this is what they say.

"105 Resin is formulated without volatile solvents and does not shrink after curing. It has a relatively high flash point and no strong solvent odor, making it safer to work with than polyester or vinylester resins. Resin viscosity is approximately 1000 centipoise (cp) at 72 F (22C)"

I recently recoated my canoe with West systems 105/206 combo, and its extremely user friendly. The smell is not bad at all, if you get it on your skin it doesnt burn due to low VOC, the sanding dust was relatively heavy and didnt become overly airborn (like sheetrock dust) but obviously you should still wear a dust mast.

Anyways, all im saying is WS epoxy is easy to mix properly, requires only a dust mask (for sanding) and a pair of gloves (during application), has low/almost no odor, and cleans up ok with denatured alcohol or acetone.