spider cracks + rust stains

[Bob1757]

me again, the work on my boat is in full swing + she's looking great except for many spider cracks in the gel coat and a rust stain on her jib. since rust is oxidation, i purchased a (base) cleaning paste from shaklee but since it is slightly abrasive, i was hopeing that someone out there might have a bit of knowledge that would help me out.the spidercracks are another matter. i know that there are gel coat repair "kits" but really want to here from someone who has actually used one of these or maybe something better.if the cracks are on the rails and seats, is there anything wrong with filling them in and then epoxypainting over the whole cockpit? thanksbob

 

[roger]

marine bondo gelcoat

I used a half pint of marine bond gelcoat to repair numberous spider cracks in my rudder where the prop had run into it. Some were quite deep, so I widened them a bit with a dremmel tool then applied the 2 part gelcoat. I sanded the roadmap of cracks down smooth then applied a tremclad paint over the rudder. The repair stood up very well. I have numerous spidercracks in the deck as well, and hope to use a gelcoat paint to do the whole deck at once. I have an older daysailer (1974) so the area we are talking about is significantly smaller than what may be on some bigger boats.