Quick Gel Coat Repair

Hi,

I have a 1973 Laser. The gel coat on the hull has seen better days. There are a couple of spots on the bow that have quarter size sections of fiberglass exposed.

What is the best 'quick' fix job for this? Will sailing like this cause damage to the boat? I'm really looking to get the boat in the water quickly without doing a lot of work. Maybe next season I will do a more extensive hull re-work job. I just want to get on the water right now w/out doing more damage to the exposed fiberglass on the hull.

Thanks

It's best to keep fiberglass coated so it doesn't soak up water. If you don't have a marine store near you where you can pick up some gel coat or maybe some MarineTex, just seal it with some two part glue. The gel coat is simple to mix and apply and is a more attractive option than glue, but then again, you may not be able to match the old boat's color very easily. Easiest thing is to get the glue out of your junk drawer...
;-) An ugly boat is still fun to sail!

I had a few spots to repair on my boat and I used the evercoat gel coat scratch patch (http://m.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/...a=X&ei=GU-0T8m6N4iQ9gSJ4Lz-Dw&ved=0CGAQgwgwCA). It's a lot cheaper than buying a whole thing of gel coat and it works just as well with out having to mix anything.

Dan Granger said:

Hi,

I have a 1973 Laser. The gel coat on the hull has seen better days. There are a couple of spots on the bow that have quarter size sections of fiberglass exposed.

What is the best 'quick' fix job for this? Will sailing like this cause damage to the boat? I'm really looking to get the boat in the water quickly without doing a lot of work. Maybe next season I will do a more extensive hull re-work job. I just want to get on the water right now w/out doing more damage to the exposed fiberglass on the hull.

Thanks

Click to expand...

You can get a gelcoat repair kit for around $30.00. You can also seal it with a two-part epoxy paste, that is available at any hardware store.

MarineTex

Lots of crunches in the bow when I was learning. Didn't have time to repair between several regatts. Tapped over the damage spots with rigging tape (worked really well kepping out moisture.) Boat was new so I repaired with matched gelcoat from Vanguard, (bought 1 of each color.) Got tired eventually, of making repairs perfect. Later repairs are now made from basic inexpensive precolored gelcoat. Don't care anymore about matching perfectly, but do care about a good smooth and durable finish. Nowdays the boat is whitebowed even more but I haven't crashed in a couple of years.