Cracks in Gelcoat

[Spence]

Does anyone know how to repair superficial cracks in gelcoat?

The deck has some hairline cracks that don't go any deeper than a hair thickness. I was wondering if auto body crack filler(white) in pencil form with a follow up buffing would do the
trick. Would rubbing compound be good?.

I guess their due to the stress of sun expansion and contraction and mechanical movement
of people and weights on it. The deck is nice and smooth and shiny in spite of them.

Thanks.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

There is a lot of DIY illustrations on the internet explaining how to...

Suffice it to say you open them up, fill and fair. Maybe someone else can give you some google search results

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

This was recently discussed here.

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1063129&highlight=cracks

As mentioned, take it slow and just fill one or two, every so often when you've nothing better to do, and you'll be fine.

 

[Maine Sail]

Unless you want to re-finish the decks I would advise just living with them. The only way to make them go away is to Dremel them open, fill, fair and re-finish. Gelcoat can be very tough to match and you could spend hundreds of hours blending, fairing and buffing and still not have a match two years out, even if you got it spot on today..

This is what it will look like after being routed, filled and sanded.