Scratches in gelcoat on bottom of hull

sharkbait

sharkbait

New Member
I'm rejuvinating an '85 boat that had a couple of holes in the side and section of hull/deck separation.

The deck joint is now fixed (West 105/205/404) and the holes in the side are just waiting for gelcoat.

Looking at the bottom of the hull there are quite a lot of scratches in the gel down the centreline - especially near the bow and on the trailing edge.

Seeing as I want this boat to look it's best I'm wondering about how to fix the scratches. Should I get some white gelcoat and sand then fill the scratches with this or use gel coat filler?

I also have some spider cracking on each side mid way down the hull just below the waterline. When I run my hand over them it feels rough - should I just sand it flat or go a bit further and re-apply the gel coat?

b.t.w the hull has not been cleaned in any way for at least a couple of years (but has been stored inside) hence the general colour of the bottom! Pics show the condition of the bottom and repaired holes waiting for gelcoat.
 

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Is that good??! It's a limited edition boat ("Black Magic"), white deck and below the waterline, black topsides. Black spars.
 
Hi Steven,

Thanks for the info. I did find that one yesterday and have made a start.....looking forward to lots of sanding.....not.

:(
 
Your lucky to have a '79 in that shape. Mine is awaiting the wiinter to get the topsides Redone. Soft as a Pillow.
 
Hey LQT420, I'm Lucky that I do fiberglass and gelcoat for a living. since the racing season is over in about a month, I'm just going to cut the deck off and recore it and reglass it. Lot of work fora little boat, but i think that it's worth it. As soon as I start, I'll post pics about the project.
 
SGTLaser,

Thanks for your response. Are your going to cut out the soft sections of the deck or are you going to remove the entire deck at the hull / deck joint?

Thanks,

- LQT420
 
I'm going to take the whole thing out because you never know what you might find when you cut into a project like that. Also, my deck is about 80% soft. I'm still sailing with t like that, and if you had just spots, I wouldn't do what I'm doing. For small soft spots, I would just inject resin and weight down that area. But mine I would be anding too much weigh to the boat if I did that. Wouldn't be no fun to race like that
 
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