Several small cracks and a hole

minifish

minifish

New Member
I inherited a minifish that I learned to sail on. Trouble is, it hasn't been taken good care of since I moved away :(
It's got a few cracks in the gel coat and one hole that is all the way through. The hole is about the width and length of your thumb. With as many cracks as it has in the gel coat, it might be worth it to just re-surface the whole thing. Any tips on fixing these?
 
Lara,
Check Bishops Sunfish FAQs on the National Sunfich section of this forum and Daniels How-To section at Wind Line Sails (windline.net). Marine Tex can be used to fill minor nicks and dings. Holes are best fixed with fiberglass and Epoxy. West Systems epoxy is the current choice (available at most marine stores and online). Do not use automotive type fllers, they absorb water. You will need "rubber" gloves and long sleeves to protect your hands and arms, masking tape to protect area around the repair, sandpaper, mixing sticks, a shallow pan to mix the epoxy in and time. You may also find that you may need to install an inspection port (or 2) to either get to the backside of you repair or dry the hull out. Again, most answers are found in the FAQs and Windline.
 
if you want to repair the cracks but mantain a uniform color i would buy a gel coat based paint. i think you would prob need a 1/4 - 1/2 gallon for a minifish. my friend did it on his sunfish and it came out great. i think it cost about $30-50.
hope this helps
 
I am curious what you mean by "gel coat based paint". Most paints for this type of job are polyureathane and are only recommended to be appiled by professionals due to the toxic nature of the fumes. I think re-gelcoating for a large project as this one would also be left to a professional.
 
my freind recently painted his boat a red color. i asked him how he did it and what kind of paint he used and he told me it was gel coat based. i know he did it himself. i can ask him what brand of paint. im not shure about health hazards that would be something to look into.
 
Lara, You might check with a local fiberglass boat repair shop. I took my sunfish to one and we discussed my plans to re-gelcoat the entire bottom of my hull. I did all the prep work; sanding the hairline cracks down to the fiberglass, sanding all other areas with 60 grit to remove gloss, then they applied several coats of gelcoat to the hull. After that I did all the finish sanding (lots and lots of finish sanding). The cost, $200 plus about $40 in various grades of sandpaper (300 to 2000 grit). I now have a like new finish on a 25 year old boat.
 
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