Gelcoat Damage… can I wait until I pull the boat in October to repair?

[Stagger]

As the title says I have some gelcoat damage, and I’m wondering if I need to get a shop to repair it immediately, or if I can wait until the end of the season which is October here and repair it myself. I’m a relatively new boat owner, and know gelcoat damage isn’t good, but just not sure how quickly it needs to be repaired. Thanks!

 

[Golfman25]

As the title says I have some gelcoat damage, and I’m wondering if I need to get a shop to repair it immediately, or if I can wait until the end of the season which is October here and repair it myself. I’m a relatively new boat owner, and know gelcoat damage isn’t good, but just not sure how quickly it needs to be repaired. Thanks!

It looks like you're on a trailer. Why don't you just fix it now? At a min, you could get some marine tex and fill the spots. You could go back and fix better later if you wanted.

 

[Stagger]

It looks like you're on a trailer. Why don't you just fix it now? At a min, you could get some marine tex and fill the spots. You could go back and fix better later if you wanted.

That would have been a good idea, but it’s not on the trailer anymore, I just pulled it to check it. And because of where it sits on the trailer and where the damage is, I would need to get it on jackstands to properly repair it. I pulled it out today with an suv that doesn’t have the capacity to really tow it, though it got it the few feet in the parking lot so i could look at it. But it was well over the tow weight of the vehicle. It’s already back in the water, I have a shop that can repair it that is on the water so I won’t need to pull it again if I go that route. I wasn’t prepared to make repairs today, I was just checking it, but it hindsight that would have been a smart move.

 

[JHornsby3]

Gel coat under the water needs to be repaired. That resign and chopped glass will absorb water causing more damage. If it were me, I would pull it out of the water for at least overnight with it as warm as it has been(at least here) and let it dry out for about 24 hours. Then get you the above mentioned or the gel that will match and mix it up with some cab o sil. Rough up the damaged spots with some 80 grit paper, real good. Work with a table spoon of the gel/cab mix at a time and put a drop of MEKP on it and mix real good. Then use a bondo or decal squeegee and work it into the damaged area. Try to keep it at least a little larger than the damaged spot. You could have it done in a short time. Either sand and buff the spots or leave them until later. At least put some wax on the repair to help it seal good.

I have spots on the lake boat that have been like that for two years now. I just can't seem to get the motivation to wedge my fat butt under the trailer and boat to sand and clean them up. I took a nap under there to wait for them to set up then just rubbed some liquid wax on and left it like that. For now.

 

[fwebster]

As many spots as you are dealing with here the ambient temperature for gelcoat repairs is going to guide you in when you do the repair. Gelcoat needs 70˚F or above to kick and cure properly outside or t he repair will need to be done in an enclosed space to control the temperature. You don't have your location in your information so when to do the repair is something you ae going to have to figure out yourself.

 

[Stagger]

I am going to have the shop look at it tomorrow and at least quote it out, and depending on what the total bill will look like I will make my decision to get it repaired or do it myself

 

[Pirate Lady]

Lee, (stagger lee, get it? No? Was before your time) anyway like webster said you better doing glass repair when warm. Unless you in Florida, might not want to wait till weather cold at end of season.

 

[Stagger]

Lee, (stagger lee, get it? No? Was before your time) anyway like webster said you better doing glass repair when warm. Unless you in Florida, might not want to wait till weather cold at end of season.

Actually is is Stagger for Stagger Lee which is a grateful dead song I live

 

[Stagger]

I ended up getting it repaired by the marina, $700 for the pullout, cleaning, repair and it was done in 5 hours and I was back on the water for sunset. Easy decision

 

[Strecker25]

I ended up getting it repaired by the marina, $700 for the pullout, cleaning, repair and it was done in 5 hours and I was back on the water for sunset. Easy decision

i see you're also in Rochester, who did the repair? always good to know the good/bad locally just in case

 

[Pirate Lady]

Actually is is Stagger for Stagger Lee which is a grateful dead song I live

Loyd Price. Good deal on the repair, one day this time of year is amazing.

 

[Stagger]

i see you're also in Rochester, who did the repair? always good to know the good/bad locally just in case

I had Shumway Marina do it. And to be honest I dont know how good or not good of a job they did, since it was already back in the water when I went to pick it up. But the price was right, so hopefully they did a good job

 

[Strecker25]

I had Shumway Marina do it. And to be honest I dont know how good or not good of a job they did, since it was already back in the water when I went to pick it up. But the price was right, so hopefully they did a good job

I'm sure it's done well, Skip runs a good operation

 

[Stagger]

I'm sure it's done well, Skip runs a good operation

Yea I’m not too worried about it. They were quick and great to work with and I’ve never heard anything bad about their work