I had my previously white 1983 sailboat gelcoated blue in 2020 by a hardworking local guy mostly known for fiberglass repair. He prepped the crap out of it but something obviously didn’t go right. After 2 yrs of usual dock bumps etc, it now it looks like this. A lot of the scratches go through to the previous gelcoat. Now it’s on the hard for the winter, trying to figure out how to best salvage this situation. Most straightforward (and cheap) option is to wet-sand, compound, polish and wax. I can also try to repair, the guy left me the leftover blue GC, but that seems like a lot of V-cutting, filling and feathering. I can also just throw in the towel and have it redone but before I spend the cash, I wanted to know what you guys thought the best possible outcome would be with the other two methods.
I'm afraid the deep scratches will need to be repaired with new gelcoat and the 2 year old gelcoat that you have has probably passed its shelf life.
While dark hulls look great, they make minor scratches and dings far more obvious.
While dark hulls look great, they make minor scratches and dings far more obvious.
unfortunately it’s time to do over. I’d advise you to go back to white. Anything else and you’ll always have very obvious tells when you get even a small scratch. Remove all the blue gelcoat then paint it. Roll and tip. Much easier to touch up in the future.
That's not gonna be easy to break to the wife...That was her one contribution to my peaching up of this long-neglected boat (I bought it from an estate and it had been basically untouched and exposed for 8 yrs). I'm color-blind and tasteless and she picked out (and paid!) for the blue. This is gonna take some strategizing, not looking forward to it. What's the outcome if I have a guy put on 2 more layers of gelcoat? I thought GC was like armor, surprised it scratched so deeply and easily
You could fill the scratches, sand it and put on more gelcoat layers. Let’s be honest, you‘ve been rough on that boat. It’s got dock rash. Unless you start babying the finish and using clean soft covered fenders, in another 2 or 3 years it’ll probably look like it does now.
Edit: Your second picture looks like something was banging repeatedly against the hull. Did you leave a fishing rod out with a sinker hanging? Also, the upper-right part of that image looks like the gelcoat is too thin - is that white showing through? Gelcoat isn’t paint... it needs to be thicker. Also, it doesn’t look smooth or shiny. After 2 years it should not chalk.
You can try a heavy compound or wet sanding with 400/600/800 grit. Start in a limited area and see how it looks. The blue might be too thin for that, though, and it won’t fix the white showing through.
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@Captain Larry-DH has given you the bad news.
Gelcoat is tough, but it is not bullet proof. Neither is paint. I'm speculating a bit, however, when the new gel coat was applied, it was probably thick enough to give a nice finish, but it was probably not as thick as the original factory applied gelcoat. That, and darker colors show defects more than lighter colors, so any damage becomes more apparent. One of the reasons white or off white gelcoat is the goto color for boats.
As for the chalking, different formulations of gelcoat have different tolerances for UV which is what causes chalking and fading. Color also makes a difference. Red gelcoat is terrible, chalks and fades quickly. Some blues also chalk easily. Annual waxing with a good quality wax will slow the process down.
Andy Miller on the BoatWorksToday YouTube channel has many videos on gelcoat and painting. Before making a decision and spending big bucks, spend sometime over the winter reviewing those videos so you can make a well informed decision.
For the next year it might be worthwhile to just clean things up as well as you can. A good machine buffing with a good quality buffing compound followed by a good waxing will improve the looks, but not get rid of the deeper gouges. This will give you some time to think about your options and practice docking and protecting your hull.
In the end you will have 4 choices, live with what you have, gelcoat again, paint it, or use a vinyl wrap. Apparently a lot of aluminum boats have gone with the wraps, less expensive than painting and easier to repair.
Remember, you bought the boat to sail and travel, not to have dock walkers ooh and awe over the nice blue hull (although we all kind of like having others admire our boats).
Sorry to be the bearer of difficult news.
Gelcoat is tough, but it is not bullet proof. Neither is paint. I'm speculating a bit, however, when the new gel coat was applied, it was probably thick enough to give a nice finish, but it was probably not as thick as the original factory applied gelcoat. That, and darker colors show defects more than lighter colors, so any damage becomes more apparent. One of the reasons white or off white gelcoat is the goto color for boats.
As for the chalking, different formulations of gelcoat have different tolerances for UV which is what causes chalking and fading. Color also makes a difference. Red gelcoat is terrible, chalks and fades quickly. Some blues also chalk easily. Annual waxing with a good quality wax will slow the process down.
Andy Miller on the BoatWorksToday YouTube channel has many videos on gelcoat and painting. Before making a decision and spending big bucks, spend sometime over the winter reviewing those videos so you can make a well informed decision.
For the next year it might be worthwhile to just clean things up as well as you can. A good machine buffing with a good quality buffing compound followed by a good waxing will improve the looks, but not get rid of the deeper gouges. This will give you some time to think about your options and practice docking and protecting your hull.
In the end you will have 4 choices, live with what you have, gelcoat again, paint it, or use a vinyl wrap. Apparently a lot of aluminum boats have gone with the wraps, less expensive than painting and easier to repair.
Remember, you bought the boat to sail and travel, not to have dock walkers ooh and awe over the nice blue hull (although we all kind of like having others admire our boats).
Sorry to be the bearer of difficult news.
As mentioned above, the blue gel coat does look thin. So thin that minor scuffs show through to the white.
All I can think of now, is to offer a healthy first prize for the best bull
story which you can feed to your wife as to why you are once again gel coating the hull. And this time with white gel coat.
My humble submission for first prize is as follows :
Tell her you just received it by registered mail. She'll never catch on to this.
All I can think of now, is to offer a healthy first prize for the best bull
story which you can feed to your wife as to why you are once again gel coating the hull. And this time with white gel coat.My humble submission for first prize is as follows :
Tell her you just received it by registered mail. She'll never catch on to this.
Try repairing yourself and compound / wax and see how it looks & holds up. If you decide to have the topsides redone, I would paint it with white awlgrip two part epoxy.
To get a good paint job you will have to clean and repair the surface before you even before you prep it for paint at the correct temperature. On the other hand you can probably clean and repair significant blemishes in less than half a day and begin applying vinyl as soon as you're ready. Brand new finish on a 40 year old boat that could be exchanged for a different color just by stripping the old color in an hour- no special painting skill required.
(Generally, good vinyl is more fade-resistant than paint. Many wraps come with warranties that they won't fade for at least 5-7 years. With vinyl, solid colours have better fading resistance than metallic colours.) from web
(Generally, good vinyl is more fade-resistant than paint. Many wraps come with warranties that they won't fade for at least 5-7 years. With vinyl, solid colours have better fading resistance than metallic colours.) from web
You got me curious about this vinyl wrap, I've only heard of wrapping sports cars and cigarette boats. Where is a good place to start looking? Good companies? Googling vinyl wrapped sailboats doesn't show much.
I'll likely go with sand/compound/polish/wax, see how magical it is, and then motor down to the Rockaways is the spring for a re-gelcoat.
Yes, I'm not the gentlest owner.
About the "oxidation", I launched 2 days after the new GC was applied and there wasn't time to wax before launch (I was at a rail car YC where I cold only launch on the moon tide). That fall I ungainfully "employed" my 13 y/o to wax it and there was a lot of residual. Hence I'm hoping a new sand/compound cycle will get rid of a lot of the powdery look
Gelcoat is basically a polyester resin, most resins have a "post cure" phase where the resin feels cured, but it isn't. It is still a bit soft and will take more time to fully cure and be as hard as it will be when fully cured. The post cure phase may last a week or more. This is when the gelcoat is most vulnerable.
See the link below for solid advice on how to restore a faded or chalked gelcoat.
See the link below for solid advice on how to restore a faded or chalked gelcoat.
Tips For A Great Buff & Wax
Buff Polish & Wax Try these products (for Gel-Coat only not intended for Awlgrip) The Cliff Note Version: Steps: #1-Clean the hull with an acid base cleaner like FSR, oxalic acid or On & Off to remove rust & tannin staining. (only if necessary) #2-Wet Sand by hand 600 (if real bad)...
forums.sailboatowners.com
In an earlier life I was tasked with putting identifiable colors and labels on small fleet of company vehicles. The vinyl labels lasted significantly longer than I did and still look better too. Because that was my only direct experience with vinyl I decided to call a vinyl wrap car company and check on what they had to say about putting it on a boat. Their answer was paint would be better because vinyl was a more short term answer because it was not designed to be underwater or in the heat of direct reflected sunlight so much. On the other hand there was a guy who had put a vinyl wrap on the boat in the slip next to me that made it look like a pirate boat and it looked very pretty. 
Our "boat neighbor" wrapped his hull with vinyl. It lasted about two seasons before it began to show tears and flakes from encounters with docks and general wear & tear. (The boat was kept on a mooring, so not subject to constant rubbing against fenders or docklines.) It might be worth it if you can find an advertiser who will pay for replacement every so often and you can stand what it might have to look like, but otherwise it does not seem like a good long-term solution.
Your gelcoat is in poor condition. Lots of porosity as well as the scratches we see in your photos. If the white we see is what is below the blue, then wet sanding is futile. If you had scratches that did not go through the blue color, wet sanding the entire hull and then buffing might make it look pretty good, but I don't think this is the case here. It is better to paint a hull than re-gelcoat it in my opinion. Today's Linear Polyurethane paints, like Awlgrip have better color retention, abrasion resistance, etc. Pretty toxic stuff, so if you do it yourself, you should protect your lungs, eyes and skin. It is sprayable or can be rolled and brushed on. You just have to pick the right products for the job, which is explained in their product information. Interlux also make a linear polyurethane roll and tip formula for the DIYers which you might find more user friendly. The color selection from Awlgrip is much greater than what Interlux offers, if that matters.