I just put the boat in the water last week for the season.
I was moving the trailer yesterday when I noticed some
carpet torn from the center bunk. It had a bent over
carriage bolt and a dime sized chunk of gelcoat busted
up around it. Do you think it will hurt if I dont fix it until
the fall? I Dont want to pull it from the water and have
the boat laid up, The damn season is so short!!!

you be fine to leave in the water. theres still the fiberglass . gel coat is just the color. repair it next time you take it out for the season

There are a bunch of products you can use to patch the area that will set up within minutes. Just go to west marine so the like. Personally I do not likebare fiberglas since it can wick to places you can't see.

I have used Gel Coat Scratch Patch. It's quick and easy. You don't want to leave bare fiberglass exposed to water. On the running surface it could start to peel and get larger.

Dan

Fiberglass will absorb water. The gelcoat is there to keep this from happening. It is more than just "color". I would fix it as soon as possible.

Bare fiberglass WILL wick water into the laminate, which is bad. It also takes dang near forever to get it dried out properly to repair it if it sits long.

Gelcoat is actually porous as well, but many orders of magnitude less so.

Pull the boat back out and let her dry for a couple of days (a fan across the area won't hurt either).

Then choose your fixing method.

a) remove any more loose gelcoat from around the area. Smear West resin in the hole (or marinetex epoxy). mix some gelcoat patch and apply it . wetsand with 320/800, and speedbuff.

b) remove any loose gelcoat. smear white marinetex into the hole with your finger to massage it into the area well. Fill the rest of the hole with a plastic bondo spreader. Let it cure. Put 320 on a wood block and sand smooth. finish with 800 and speedbuff.

Personally, if my hull was white, I'd probably go with the marinetex only solution instead of messing aorund with polyester gelcoat.

Call Mini Craft of florida, they make exact match for your boat. Its the same company fountain uses. Putty comes ready to use with instructions. I just fixed my boat, and it matched perfect.

1-800-282-8244

www.minicraft.com

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going with the marine tex
it should dry quick. Does anybody know how long the marine
tex has to dry before I can put it back in the water?

You'll know. It gets hard as a damn rock. Heat will make it kick quicker, too. A heatlamp or blow dryer will set it off much faster.

I'd guess somewhere around an hour.