Gel coat repair advice needed

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

It's hard to tell from your photo what luck you might have filling with just a gelcoat paste. That might be fine, but not sure. It's going to be about how it looks, and is probably worth a shot as a start. If you were actively working with epoxy, it would be easy to mix up a small batch thickened with a fairing type filler and blend this in. Have any friends who play with epoxy or other projects on your list that would use some? If the gelcoat past didn't work and you aren't into epoxy, you might want to look at some of the automotive waterproof fillers - not your standard Bondo, but one that is a polyester or epoxy based resin that won't absorb water. Just trying to think of something cost effective and easy to work with that is easy to obtain in small quantities. The issue you'll run into if you fair it in with a filler is then blending in the topcoat. You almost need to spray it without masking the surrounding area so you can buff in the edges. This is one where suddenly you have a large area that's gone through several iterations of sanding/fairing etc. This takes me back to the first thought of trying the gelcoat paste and see where it lands. It really might make the most sense in the long run to keep this an easy touch up versus what turns into a much bigger effort. I don't see anything structural issues here that would call for epoxy and a high strength filler. I think this is one where your goal is sealing it and making it look decent, and there's a good chance you could do that with a gelcoat paste.

I'm with Emerald on simple. When you polish off those other marks you may not notice the scratch.

I would probably dab on some white paint, then wipe it off so only the scratch retains paint (or some other cheap trick like that).

Thanks for the helpful advice. I'm leaning toward introducing myself to working with gelcoat. Given what I've read and tried to decipher about gelcoat, many say that epoxy and gelcoat don't mix. (but of course some say it they can work together). But also, like I said the scratch is thru the gel coat and you can see what's underneath. I zoomed in on one of the pics I took of the scratch. Seems like paint would leave a visible indent on such a deep scratch. But is seems to my unexpert eye that doing some sort of flller would not be necessary on this significant but not super deep scratch.

So, gel coat paste? Simply follow the directions one finds on line? Thanks.

Free Advice, and worth what you pay...

I have filled divots similar to yours with new gel coat on several of the boats we have owned. Note that "gel" coat is a variant of poly resin, and is different than epoxy. I would not fill the scratch with epoxy.

If you keep your repair simple and only fill the actual gouge, there will be little to notice. Color matching is hard, and the color "white" is harder to match than many folks would imagine.
Having said all that, if you are close to a match and the area is all buffed out, it's unlikely that anyone will notice.

First, clean it up with acetone on a rag. Be sure that the gouge is clean to the bottom of the opening.
Then decide what to fill it with. Stores sell base-white gel coat and tinting paste in little overpriced tubes to change the color. Tint the gel first, and try some on a piece of plastic for comparison. Try it as the base and then with a drop of gray. Then a drop of yellow. After you let each sample harden, hold it up to the hull in a place where you have buffed off the grime and stare at it with the ol' Mk One Eyeball. Whichever looks best will do.

One you press the repair gel material into the scratch with something like a small plastic edge or spatula, cover the repair with a wide piece of Scotch magic tape, smoothed flat, and not indented. This keeps air off and lets the gel cure.

Buff it all out, and remember that what you are trying for (besides a repair that no one will easily notice) is an Improvement.... and not Perfection.
I have seen pro's do repairs that faded differently than the original surface after a year and become obvious, so do not get depressed.
If you have other little divots in the hull, this would be the time to clean 'em up and fill them also. Mark each spot with a big outline of blue tape so you can find it when you have the new gel coat mixed, and are suddenly working against a 15 minute clock!

As for all those high-dollar "pro's", our boat has one long scratch that was repaired invisibly by one yard, and another much smaller one that was horribly color-matched by another yard. Even folks who do this work for a living have their off days.

Go for it. You'll do fine.
:nerd:

Gel Coat Patch

Hi JPS
Color match will be the hard part. I did the same scratch in RockPort MA on a piling nail under Motif#1 :<))) before I could get a docking board out. I messed with the some pre matched material from the factory (this must have been early 80's). The patch worked great but the color is a little off. Fortunately it is like yours and it is small enough so who cares. Just don't set your expectations too high. We had a pro do a perfect match in the cockpit shifter hole when we changed to wheel steering. Hope you get lucky! Another thought... local paint supply store did a perfect match for me with oil based enamel. The new hardware store color match computers are really amazing.
Best Regards Pat 1981 E28+ Universal 5411
Just saw Lorens post. 100% excellent advice.

Pat O'Connell said:

Color match will be the hard part.

Click to expand...

+1

Hesitating to reinforce gender inequality (!) but... if possible, have a female help you on the color matching. 30% of men are red-green colorblind to some extent, and that can make it really difficult for us to distinguish between a pinkish "off-white" and a greenish "off-white" or a yellow-ish "off-white.

Or so I'm told. They all look like the same shade of light gray to me...

I did a much bigger scratch 2 years age and all i did is dab in gel coat catalyzed and over fill the area , spayed an Hair spray over it to aid in curing, once cured good a small block and used wet and dry paper ,wet sanded area to flat and then buffed to blend in to surrounding area's . The repair passed the 5" test

a mixed repair

Judging from your photo, you may be able to deal with 25% of the damage with a cut polish. That is 25% you don't have to fill with gelcoat.

Do that first. If the scratch is not through the gelcoat it is probably best to polish and don't fill. Use a polish that does not have wax (most do), and keep it out of the deep scratches. As Loren says, you are looking for an improvement, to ameliorate the appearance. The less gelcoat you use the better in this.

The long deep scratch is best left with sharp edges, no need to widen it or feather it.

Good luck.

Rob

Thanks for all the great advice and encouragement. Hopefully, I'll do a good enough job to share the results.

Jay