New old boat with bad cracking

[John Montgomery]

Hi,
I'm new here, poked around and didn't see a topic with my issue. So here it goes. I bought a 73 Clark 21' might be a San Jan 21. Which ever it is the hull is good, no bad scratches, still a little shiny. The deck however is another story. It has bad cracks, two small spots I can see the weave. Together both spots might be the size of two quarters. My question is what's a cheesy fix for the cracks? I know the proper fix is to grind away to mat and go from there. Since the boat cost $975.00 and I got a 4hp two Stoke and '50s seagull I'm happy. So what's a cheap fix?

 

[Skipper]

Paint.
Sand down the bad gel, paint on top of the gel with topside paint. You can tint white paint to sort of match. Won't match exactly, but it'll hold for a good while. Cheapest fix. And it'll look a giant amount better.

 

[John Montgomery]

Thanks skipper, Kinda what I was thinking. Any need to fill anything(aside from the two spots of mat showing) or let the first layer of paint fill it?

 

[Daveinet]

While I've not ever tried it, I wonder what scuffing the surface and spraying it with bedliner would do. Most of that stuff is intended to stay flexible so I don't know as it would crack.

 

[John Montgomery]

It's a thought, however that stuff isn't cheap. I think it's a bit more that paint and doesn't cover as much area. I'm looking at doing the entire deck after I do a cheesy soft spot repair.

 

[Skipper]

Thanks skipper, Kinda what I was thinking. Any need to fill anything(aside from the two spots of mat showing) or let the first layer of paint fill it?

There are fillers you can use. But they might be more trouble later. If it were my old boat and I didn't want to invest cash in cosmetics, just sail, I would paint right over the divots. Nobody will likely notice or care.
If you want to do it differently later, paint is relatively easy to remove from the divots.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Having done this sort of repair almost since the earth cooled, I know you cannot paint over the slightest crazing/cracks to cover them up and then not have them ever appear again. You can be guaranteed that the cracks will show through after a while. There's no question that the best way to approach this is to grind out the cracks and apply more fiberglass cloth, then sand that smooth, fair it out with putty, grind that smooth and then spray gel coat (not paint) over it and then wet sand the cured gelcoat and buff it out for a shine. All the photos show that the gelcoat is not adhering well to the laminate beneath. So, the only really good solution is to grind out the bad areas and smooth them out and spray them with gelcoat. It looks as if the production schedule wasn't adhered to (if they had one). The fiberglass cloth beneath doesn't look properly wetted out and maybe they stopped for a cup of coffee instead of applying it right over the gelcoat, which is the first thing they spray in the mold. Waxless materials must be used to give it a chemical bond otherwise, if they let it cure between applications, you merely get mechanical bonds. I do know that some badly crazed boats can be filled and painted with Interlux Interprotect epoxy barrier coat, which must be sanded smooth and then you can pant over it with good results. No magic fixes, especially if you want it all to look good when done.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

You may have bought the boat cheaply but if you want to make it seaworthy and looking good, I would first sand the gel coat smooth in the affected area, apply a two part epoxy that goes on smooth ( I use water tite but it is not cheap but spreads well and cures slowly which is the strongest), wet sand smooth (may need a second application, then resand using wet and dry with water, then apply Krylon plastic paints if you want to go the cheap route. I do not suggest Krylon but it will work if your desire is to minimize costs. Do not minimize costs on the two part epoxies and stay away from the putty style.

 

[John Montgomery]

Thanks for thereply , your referring to the interlude watertite? I believe it comes in 48oz?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Not sure but it could be Interlux. I think the can was partially green on the out side I think like a green frog called Kermit

 

[LeeandRick]

Our '76 San Juan 21 (owned 2011-2014) was like that. We just sailed it. Fix things that keep the rig up and go sailing.

 

[John Montgomery]

Thought of that too. The cracking isn't just in the photo , it's on both side, starboard mostly. I'd like to clean it up a bit. Plus I kinda like doing that stuff....I think I need my head examined ....

 

[Brian S]

I'd like to clean it up a bit. Plus I kinda like doing that stuff....I think I need my head examined ....

There's nothing wrong with fixing stuff up. The problems arise when the fixing vs. sailing ratio gets skewed too far. Only you know what your ratio is. I have done quite a bit of work on boats the past 6 years, and I'm at the point where I don't want to do it anymore, I just want to play with them for now.