Gelcoat Repair

[JRW160]

Found this while I was under the boat today. The fiberglass is slightly recessed, and it's right on one of the steps in the hull. Do I need to use some kind of filler before I gelcoat it or should I just fill it with gelcoat?

[mikeg205]

http://www.spectrumcolor.com/Index.aspx?key=cat for the gel coat...look like a gel coat repair no filler needed IMO

[JRW160]

Would a crack in the gelcoat like that cause the boat to take on water?

[GMC190]

Looks like a basic air void. They will show up when someone at the factory didnt do their job correctly.Voids happen when chopped or laid fiberglass are not completely rolled out into all the nooks and crannies when the boat is in the mold. So then you get an air pocket inbetween the fiberglass and the gel-cote. Most often you will see them exposed when you bump them at a dock, on trailer bunk boards or from beaching.

Easy repair: sand the area with 320 grit (including the exposed fiberglass), fill with thickend gel-cote (let harden), sand out with 600, 1000, 2000 and then polish the area.

[mikeg205]

Originally Posted by JRW160

Would a crack in the gelcoat like that cause the boat to take on water?

shouldn't... the one pictured definitely not.

[JRW160]

Thanks. I'm going to order the gelcoat and get it fixed.

[sand2snow22]

Yeah, air void going to be tough on a corner like that...

[willyt]

What about the barrier coat?