Cracks in gel coat below waterline

Sleeves

New Member
Dec 4, 2010
18
Lake Michigan, Indiana
Boat Info
I have a 30' Weekender "project" on a trailer not running.

I have a working Twin 165 1974 24' We
Engines
30' has Twin 255 GM inboards

24' Has Twin 165 I/O's
IMG_2669.JPG IMG_2671.JPG IMG_2672.JPG IMG_2668.JPG i have a 1976 300 weekender that I bought last year. When I bought it it had the bottom painted over a barrier coat. Before I put it in this year I noticed a few cracks showing through the paint. I had the yard fiberglass guy look at it and he suggested blasting the paint off to get a look at it. Well, the whole bottom is full of cracks. Most do not appear as though they are deeper then the gel coat. The yard fiberglass guy is suggesting a flexible epoxy that can go over cracks. I'm not sure this thing is Sea worthy. Here are some pictures what to you all think.
 
I'm certainly not a bottom paint expert but I did say in a Holiday Inn Express once.

I'm thinking the best course of action in your situation would be to remove all the paint and barrier coat from the bottom so you can see what you have in terms of how deep the cracks go.

Then I would put the barrier coat and bottom paint back on, making sure I had good coverage on each paint.

That's just my thoughts, maybe someone like MonacoMike will chime in. He's in your neck of the woods and knows a lot more about this than I do. Frank Webster would also be a good one to have take a look at your photos. Both know MUCH more than I do about stuff like this.

Please keep us posted on what you do and how it turns out.
 
From those pictures, I don't see anything that worries me. In order for there to be a structural problem with the actual fiberglass hull, there would have to be MAJOR impact/damage. Nothing in those pictures looks anything like that. How does the hull "sound"? Solid? Any dead spots? Assuming all sounds good, epoxy/barrier coat it and then re-do the bottom paint and go boating.
 
Looks to me as if the barrier coating(s) have just shrunk over the years and caused the spider cracks.
 
I'd go with the yard fiberglass guys recommendation and put on a good epoxy barrier coat followed by bottom paint.
 

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