gelcoat repair
 

after spending last summer pulling my boat onto sandy/rocky shores of lake superior, there is an area about 12" long and 3" wide of missing gelcoat on my bow keel...


how would someone go about repairing this??

Re: gelcoat repair
 

have you gone all the way though the gel coat?
i repaired about a foot long scratch on my boat using
a gel-coat repair kit i bought from west marine.
wasn't very difficult. (note my boat is all white, so minimal
color matching was required)
the kit gives instructions on how to repair the gel. lots of wet sanding.

Re: gelcoat repair
 

yes, all the way through, you can see the fiberglass....


thanks for the tip

Re: gelcoat repair
 

goto west marine or equivalent and get the WEST SYSTEM fiberglass repair book. Well worth the couple of bucks you spend on it. I think it will answer just about any question about repairs that any of us will ever have. Also if it is below the waterline, and you dont feel confident about doing it. Dont. Also marine-tex is another strong repair material. If it were me, be sure to use epoxy, supposedly it works better due to superior adhesion to already cured fiberglass material.

Re: gelcoat repair
 

make sure that the interior material around the damage fiber etc.. is dry. completely dry..when you begin any repairs, moisture can cause probems you wont want down the road!!!

Re: gelcoat repair
 

Don't breath the gel coat fumes, if you haven't worked with gel coat before.
The fumes sink to the ground, (where you are working) Gave myself a headache for a week.