Here is a picture of some damage to my portside hull about 18 inches below where the shrouds meet the deck amidships. First, I have no idea how the damage happened. The only thing I can think of is we had a gale warning recently, but the forecast did not seem worth throwing on the extra (and larger) fenders. But maybe things got more tumultuous than I expected, maybe my lines were not secured properly, and possibly banged against finger causing the damage. I have since taken slack out of the docking lines. But you can see signs of rubbing either from a dirty fender or perhaps the rubber on the finder pier.
My question is how to repair the gelcoat scratch? It goes down to the laminate. But I don't see damaged/torn laminate. Just exposed. The scratch is 10 inches long and maybe 1/8 to 3/16 inches wide.
I haven't done this repair yet and I've been reading up. I see contradicting opinions all over. I'd rather get my opinions (even conflicting ones) from this site. Would it be fine to clean up this type of scratch with only a gelcoat paste, or would it need more prep sanding and filler than that?
Thank you. Jay
My question is how to repair the gelcoat scratch? It goes down to the laminate. But I don't see damaged/torn laminate. Just exposed. The scratch is 10 inches long and maybe 1/8 to 3/16 inches wide.
I haven't done this repair yet and I've been reading up. I see contradicting opinions all over. I'd rather get my opinions (even conflicting ones) from this site. Would it be fine to clean up this type of scratch with only a gelcoat paste, or would it need more prep sanding and filler than that?
Thank you. Jay