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I Have Cracks In My Gel Coat... Help!!

C

checkmatemaz

Member
Hi guys, I noticed last season that i have what i though were scratches but i can feel them with my nail and they look way more like the boat flexed enough in this spot to crack the gel coat. How would I go about repairing this??

Here are some pics.
P7300056.jpg

P7300055.jpg

P7300050.jpg

The cracks sit almost right under where the windscreen starts, all the way down at almost the tip of the furthest left hull bulge of the tri-haul. sorry if my description sucks??
 
Those are gonna need to be sanded down to the fiberglass. Then primed, blocked and repainted. Sorry! but anything less they will come back.
 
the area is about 2feet long and 4inches tall. could i sand it down to the fibreglass below and use a gelcoat to fix it? Would using a gelcoat with the mylar plastic method work?

The boat is still rigid, no structure has been hurt but could this also be letting water to the balsa if they are cracks and not just really deep scratches?
 
I have no expeirence with spraying gel coat, so someone else can help you there.
I wouldn't think stress cracks would be hurting the balsa, they should only be in the gel.
 
are those cracks... or scratches from the fender on your trailer? where they are and the lengthwise way they are laid out doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before - cracks usually appear where the boat is flexing, if you've for flexing lengthwise on the sides like that something is very wrong... Just a thought
 
It's good to know that others have the same problem.... Do you guys think if i grind the area down a little that I can make a gel cote repair on the area? I know it's bigger than most gel cote repairs of just nicks and such but I'm hoping it can be done.

Thanks for the help so far keep the ideas coming.

Almost forgot... those cracks are only on the one side too, and they may have happened one day in rough waters on my way back to dock. I could feel the boat flex a little over some rolling waves.
 
I'm by no means a glass guy, but I'd think they will re-appear if the hull isn't strengthened to prevent the flex that caused them in the first place.

I'd just run it the way it is.. then if you ever have to get into the floor, beef everything up then.
 
Mine has beent that way since I have had it . Im not to worried about . The boat is over 30 years old . I would just leave it that way myself ....
 
Had similar cracks on an old Kona I ran. Was that way when I got it, and was that way when I sold it 6 years later. Agreed with the others....you can try to fix it, but I'm willing to bet they will re-appear eventually.
 
Only way to do it is to aggressively grind them down with 36 grit. Fiberglass them back in and refinish. I did it to my boat. Lots of work........lots and lots of work :irked:
 
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