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White yachts moored in a calm marina at first light

A lifelong love of boats, and the skill to care for them

Shipwright and boat repairs in the Illawarra. Tim Makepeace is a qualified shipwright with 33 years in composites, caring for gelcoat, fibreglass and carbon fibre in his Port Kembla workshop or at your boat.

Call Timon 0422 998 443 Describe the damage
Tim Makepeace, shipwright

Tim Makepeace, qualified shipwright

Tim's love of boats started with his father, sailing and building them together. It became a lifetime at the trade.

He built catamarans in Sydney, including the SW1000, and worked on resin infusion for Seawind Catamarans. After running his own businesses and working in caravan and marine repair, he set up Fifth Element Marine and opened his own workshop in Port Kembla.

He still sails catamarans himself, so he knows what a boat means to the person who owns it: the weekends, the races, the early starts on still water. Yours gets the care he would give his own.

A weathered hand resting on a varnished timber tiller out on the water

Repairs and builds

Fibreglass and composite boats and jet skis of every size, from wear and tear to deep gouges and collision damage.

Not only boats. Tim also does fibreglass and gelcoat work on caravans, ute trays, commercial tanks, water slides, ice boxes, moulding and custom builds.

  • A rotary polisher bringing white gelcoat on a boat hull up to a mirror gloss

    Gelcoat repairs and restoration

    Scratches, chips, gouges and fading repaired, and fresh gelcoat applied, then cut and polished until the repair disappears into the finish around it.

  • Gloved hands brushing resin into fibreglass tape along the joint between a transom and hull

    Structural composite repairs

    Hulls, decks and keels: holes and cracks from a collision, grounding or age, soft spots and delamination in the deck, and osmosis dried out, repaired and sealed.

  • Gloved hands smoothing carbon fibre cloth into the curve of a part

    Custom carbon fibre parts

    Masts, booms, spinnaker poles, dash panels and more, laid up to suit the boat, and broken carbon parts rebuilt.

Done properly, you can't find the repair.

Fibreglass work is patient work. Damaged laminate is cut back to sound glass, rebuilt layer by layer, faired until the light runs true along the hull, then finished to match the gelcoat around it.

From trailer boats and jet skis to yachts and racing catamarans, every repair gets the same patience.

How a fibreglass repair comes together

Every job is different, but a structural repair is done in the same order. Skip a step and it shows, sooner or later.

  1. Damaged fibreglass being ground back to a clean taper on a white hull

    01

    Cut back to sound glass

    Damaged and wet laminate is ground away and the edges are tapered, so the new glass has a broad, clean surface to bond to.

  2. Fibreglass cloth wetted out with resin and rolled into a tapered repair

    02

    Rebuild the laminate

    New glass goes in layer by layer and is rolled out with resin, putting back the strength that was lost rather than just filling the hole.

  3. A long sanding board fairing a filled repair on a hull

    03

    Fair it

    The area is filled and long-boarded until it runs true with the rest of the hull, checked by eye in raking light.

  4. A hand running along a finished, glossy white hull to check it by feel

    04

    Gelcoat and finish

    Fresh gelcoat goes on and is wet-sanded and polished back to a gloss. The last check is by hand.

“Tim did an awesome job on repairing my Castle 650 yacht… makes things look new, no job too small.”
Michael Collins, Castle 650 owner

The workshop in Port Kembla

31/35 Five Islands Road
Port Kembla NSW 2505

A secure, undercover workshop with room for boats on their trailers and the machinery to do the job properly. If the boat can't come to Tim, he can come to the boat. Call to arrange a time.

Get directions in Google Maps
Fibreglass cloth, carbon twill, laminating rollers and resin cups on a workbench

Let's get you back on the water

Whatever the damage, the first step is a conversation. Call Tim to talk through what your boat needs.

Call Timon 0422 998 443 Send the details

Questions boat owners ask

If yours isn't here, call Tim on 0422 998 443.

Can Tim come to the boat?

Yes. As well as the undercover workshop in Port Kembla, Tim offers a mobile service. Call to talk about where the boat is and what it needs.

Do you repair jet skis?

Yes. Gelcoat and fibreglass repairs on jet skis, from minor wear and tear to collision damage, as well as boats of every size.

Can you make a part rather than repair it?

Yes. Tim makes custom carbon fibre parts, including masts, booms, spinnaker poles and dash panels, and takes on moulding and custom builds.

What about osmosis and soft decks?

Both are structural repairs Tim carries out. Osmosis in a fibreglass hull is dried out, repaired and sealed with protective coatings; soft spots and delamination in a deck are cut out and rebuilt.

How do I get a price?

Call Tim on 0422 998 443, or use the form below to tell him what the boat is, where the damage is and how it happened. Every job starts with a conversation about what you need.

Tell Tim about the boat

A call is the quickest way to talk it through. Or send the details here, with what the boat is and what happened.

0422 998 443

Email [email protected]

Workshop 31/35 Five Islands Road, Port Kembla