Gelcoat cracking options

[matt6669]

I bought a Rebel 16 that was in rough rough shape. I'm finally to the point where I have almost all of the old paint off of this boat. Unfortunately under all of this paint it seems I have spider webs worth of cracks in what I'm assuming is the gel coat.

I've done some research and they say you should carve our the crack wider so that you can get an epoxy filler in there to seal up the cracks. Looking at the amount of cracks on the underside of this boat, I just don't see that as a viable option.

I was wondering if I could just coat the bottom of the boat with a barrier coat and then put my regular paint on.

Here are some pictures of what I am talking about.

Thanks for the help
M

 

[finding41]

Wow.

 

[Manureva]

i v grooved my cracks and all of the one i refilled with gel coat have disapered, the one filled with putty have all came back...I would at lesat v grove and fix the biggest one

 

[Dubo]

Mt 2 cents

I would rough up the gel-coat so it has a good tooth, wipe with acetone and fair epoxy with proper filler over the worst areas. For the severest cracks I'd groove it too. With 4-5 coats of barrier coat on top of the epoxy I'd say you would be fine. I am puzzled why the webbing? Dried out or gel-coat too thick or stress or age?

 

[matt6669]

The boat is on the older side. It's a 1974 I believe.

Guess I'll have to try and groove out the larger ones and just rough up everything else. Oy this is going to be a tedious process.

If I were to do nothing with the cracks and just covered it with like 5 coats of barrier coat and then painted, chances are, I'll just get the cracks again right?

 

[Joe]

If you can rent an electric peeling tool, I'd consider removing all the crappy gel coat and go with a new epoxy barrier coat bottom and two part topside paint like Perfection.

 

[Robert M.]

The gelcoat on your boat has too many cracks to repair individually and all of it should be removed down to the fiberglass laminate. If there are cracks in the laminate they should not be just widened and filled with resin putty because there's a good chance that they'll reappear. If there are only a few cracks they can be repaired individually with fiberglass and resin (epoxy, polyester or vinylester). Widen each crack and then fill it with individual chopped strand mat (CSM) fibers and resin. If there are lots of cracks the failed laminate should be removed and replaced with a new laminate of CSM and resin (epoxy, polyester or vinylester). If an epoxy is used antifouling bottom paint can be applied while it's still "green." If a polyester or vinylester resin is used it's better to apply polyester gelcoat to the surface prior to applying bottom paint.

 

[matt6669]

oyyyyy I was afraid these were the answers I was going to get.

At this point I don't think stripping all of the gelcoat off is going to be a viable option. I'm not sure if I am going to be able to end up keeping the boat as I might be moving to Florida so I'm trying to get the boat to a point where it is sell-able if I go that route, but still good to go if I end up being able to keep it.

So in everyone's opinion the gel-coat is too far gone, that painting over it, or repairing it would just be a waste of money?

 

[Ray Bowles]

Judging by the age and size of the boat I'd guess that you bought it to use as a day sailer. If you plan to leave the boat in the water all summer then you might need to do some major repairing. If you plan to splash it for the day or even 2 at a time then that is a different story.
Day Sailer.
These cracks don't appear to penetrate clear through the gel coat. If they don't then you can fill the cracks with fiberglass bondo (available at any marine store or NAPA), sand and paint. You could even do a seal coat after sanding the bondo if you have the time and money.. Since the boat won't be left in the water for a long time the hull can be painted with hull paint. Or, sail her "as is" until you can really justify doing all the work.
If left in the water for the season.
Don't do a Peel job! A 16 foot boat isn't worth the time and money to do this too unless it is very rare or valuable. I would fill the minor cracks with bondo and cracks that go through the gel coat to the underlayment I would mildly grind and fill with bondo and sand. Do a seal coat, paint with hard bottom paint and sail.
Later, when you are really hooked on sailing, you can buy a different boat that will be up to your new skills. Then you donate the 16 foot boat to the kids.
I have 2 14 foot boats that the grandkids love to sail in. These type of boats get the hull bottom scraped up fairly well as the kids beach them so that is what the new paint and all that hard work runs into.
Good luck,
Ray

 

[matt6669]

I bought the boat as a day sailer / racer because the lake I live on actually has a Rebel Club that races every Sunday morning.

As far as leaving it in or taking it out, I haven't determined yet. It'll be in fresh water though.

So seems like I'll take care of the larger cracks, leave the smaller ones alone and go from there.

When you say a seal coat, do you mean a barrier coat, or are we talking about something different.

Also I was planning on using the Interlux VC17 Performance paint for the bottom side, any opinions on it?

Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses, they really are helping me.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Generally the gel coat on daysailors thickness is much less than the larger boats. I have seen other small daysailors to include the rebel class spiderweb. I would suggest that the best way is to fill in any areas devoid of gel coat and apply barrier coats over it. If leaving in the water, then apply anit fouling and enjoy the boat.

 

[bffatcat]

hull repairs

Listen to Robert M He knows what he`s talking about. Small cracks in jell coat also called crazing are not a big deal. They are mainly cosmetic. Through cracks on the other hand are
another story. These have to be repaired PROPERLY If not the boat will leak. It takes some know how to fix the cracks properly. I just had a crack in the transon and 2 cracks one on either side of the bow on my 1974 Pearson 26W repaired in a yard. I had back surgery in Jan and I`m 74 so I was not about to attempt this myself. The cost of repair was 4 figures. You have a 40 year year old 16' boat in poor shape. The cost of materials without your labor could be substantial. You might consider other alternatives

 

[Ray Bowles]

Matt, The seal coat I mentioned is the same as a barrier coat. Vc 17 is a good paint. Enjoy you boat, they are a blast to sail. If your real lucky you will get to swim.
Ray

 

[Robert 47]

Joe has the right idea. Rent a gelcoat chipper, which is like an air/electric wood plane, and take all of the old gelcoat off. You are going to spend an enormous amount of time and matieral trying to get those webs to look presentable. The PO of our Hunter 31 hired a guy to take the gelcoat off our boat. He then came back with 4 or 5 coats of West System epoxy and paint. Looked really good. Four years later after we bought the boat we pulled and sand blasted the bottom and found the hull in very good shape, but I had to do some extensive fiberglass work where the keel meets the hull. I think it was a bad idea to shave the gelcoat in this area. But is just my opinion. I left the West System on and added 6 coats of Interlux Epoxy bottom coating, then 2 coats of bottom paint. I think you will be hours ahead on your project by doing this, instead of gouging and filling with gelcoat, or epoxy. Get the boat in the water and enjoy. Thats what it's about. :dance: