I'ld like to help out a buddy, but I think it may be beyond me.
He has an old Tracker fishing boat that has been worn thin along much of the front "keel" of the boat from beaching. I've patched a couple holes in the past for him by stacking small tacks one overlapping the last to cover cracks and pin holes in that area. Sometimes I have had to stack a lot of tacks because the metal is worn very thin in a few places.
He really should buy a new boat , but I suspect that this may be the last boat he ever owns. When this one goes he will probably hole up and die.
I've told him to stop beaching his boat because I am tired of patching it, but he is an old disabled vet and if he is fishing alone he really doesn't have much option for launching and loading a lot of places.
He's a good friend and I won't really stop patching it, but if I threaten that I might I hope he'll be more careful at least.
Most of us glitter barge bass boat jockeys put a rubber keel guard on our boats, but the closeness of rivets along the keel strip that takes all the abuse prevents that on his boat. I could probably take a piece of .125 5052 and hammer and roll it into a rough shape to use as a sacrificial cap with short beads every so many inches, but I would be worried first about being able to make the welds as I got down under the front of the boat, and second about it cracking due to flexing near my beads. Flipping the boat upside down would be best for welding, but it would be a lot of work to make it practical and safe to flip.
He doesn't run much rough water locally, but I am afraid he might if I made any "major" perceived improvement. He isn't a speed demon.
Like I said, this may be beyond me. I'm just a hack welder at best. I never really thought about it before though either. I just patched the latest hole and sent him on his way.
He doesn't go out every day, and it's a pretty dry climate most of the year so I am not to worried about water between the cap and the hull causing corrosion over time.