1996 SeaRay Gelcoat issue

SundancerDan

SundancerDan

New Member
Jul 1, 2021
20
Buffalo, NY
Boat Info
1996 Sundancer 240
Engines
5.7 Mercruiser w/Alpha I
Hi, I'm having an issue and im not sure what is going on. I just pressure wash it for the end of the season and it certain spots it looks as if the shine of the gelcoat is coming off. I just got this boat over the summer so I don't know what has ever been done to it. Does anyone know what this is or how to fix it??!!
20210923_101120.jpg
20210923_101125.jpg
20210923_101148.jpg
20210923_101157.jpg
 
Looks like a bad wax job to me.

May want to compound, polish and wax this winter to get it ready for spring.
 
I didn't know wax was applied that thick? Would the wax come off and change the color like that? I hope thats all it is because I can compound, polish and wax. I'm just afraid its the gelcoat itself.
 
Well I wouldn’t recommend you ever pressure wash gelcoat to begin with.
 
Based on those pictures, my guess is some previous owner painted that boat (poorly) and it appears the paint didn’t bond in that area. The pressure washer took it off. It’s too thick to be wax or a ceramic coating.
 
The last time I seen something like this was when I pressure washed the clear coat off my Burb. It looked exactly the same.
 
You didn't hurt the gelcoat by pressure washing - the only way you could possibly do that is by using the 0* tip. There are no "layers" of gelcoat.

My first thought is that it looks to me like some kind of clearcoat or paint or something like the others have said that some owner applied somewhere along the lines. I've heard of one by, I think, a company called SBS? But I don't know much about it and have never used it. But check into that regarding repairing the flaking section.
 
Thank you everyone for the replies! Lazy Daze is looked it up and KBS coatings. It does seem like that could be what is wearing off. I'll look more into it but I have found another spot and areas that if you catch the angle right you can see where the gloss is starting to wear down. If this clear coat is what they put on maybe I would be better off just redoing the whole thing. Its only from the bottom paint to the rub rail. Also I was using a 25° tip and was not up close enough to where i feel it could've done any damage.
 
SundancerDan said:
I didn't know wax was applied that thick? Would the wax come off and change the color like that? I hope thats all it is because I can compound, polish and wax. I'm just afraid its the gelcoat itself.
Click to expand...
It’s weird. The pictures look different on my computer vs my iPad. Definitely looks like some aftermarket finish of some sort.
 
Ok, thanks everyone. You've made me feel a lot better about not having to re-gelcoat the boat. Would it make sense that if I stripped whatever this product is off that my gelcoat underneath would not be glossy? When I run my hand across where its coming off it feels kind of rough. Would this mean I would have to reapply whatever product was put on it?
 
You should be able to wet sand compound and wax once you get it all of and restore the gelcoat.
 
That most definitely does not look or act like any polyglow I have ever seen. Nor does it look like clear coat. That looks like the owner painted it. If you are seeing fiberglass ie. the gel coat is thin, that would explain why he painted it. He may have been fighting the chalk e ness for years until he finally buffed through the gelcote. Your options are limited but your product choice is not.
 
Riptide III said:
That most definitely does not look or act like any polyglow I have ever seen. Nor does it look like clear coat. That looks like the owner painted it. If you are seeing fiberglass ie. the gel coat is thin, that would explain why he painted it. He may have been fighting the chalk e ness for years until he finally buffed through the gelcote. Your options are limited but your product choice is not.
Click to expand...
I just zoomed in and you may be right. It does look like it was put on right over the boot stripe and down to the bottom paint. So my bet would be some kind of clear-coat paint that was sprayed over everything, including the boot stripe. It might be worth trying a solvent in a spot to see if there is a way to chemically strip it that does not impact gelcoat and may save some time with the final wetsanding process. Probably only two options after the coating is removed:
Wet sand and polish the gelcoat to bring the shine back or repaint with proper marine paint.
 
Gelcoat is restorable so once you get that stuff off, you're basically just back to the original. Getting it off could prove time consuming - although I say that without knowing what's involved since I've never worked with anything like that. However, seeing as how it sounds like it came off easy with the pressure washer, I'd try the pressure washer again like Scof said. The dilemma will be whether or not it CONTINUES to come easy. And, of course, the big question will be... do you start down that path or try to figure out what's on there and repair it. If it was me, I think I'd try to repair, first - sand/feather the edges and spray some clear back on there to blend.
 
Last edited:
I'm afraid that looks like a repair. Is this localized to one area on the hull or are there other areas?
 
PlayDate said:
I'm afraid that looks like a repair. Is this localized to one area on the hull or are there other areas?
Click to expand...
There is one other area that is bad like that but at the right angle you can see where it will soon start to happen in other places.
 
Any chance the hull was repainted with Awlgrip or another epoxy product? I have been around boats and repairs a long time and have not seen gelcoat act like that.

The color difference also troubles me. Gelcoat is a layer on top of fiberglass mat. When it does go or when it buffed off you see the mat start to appear.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,350
Messages
1,430,888
Members
61,197
Latest member
Larry Hogg
Back
Top