Hull repairs

[newdeckshoes]

Towards the end of last year I acquired a 13.5 ft GRP hulled runabout/ski boat complete with 40hp Mercury and remotes.

It had been left standing for a while and though the motor is sound; the seating, deck and wooden deck supports were all rotten. (Not a problem as I'm a dab hand with wood)

The hull on the other hand has needed some attention... I've sorted out the little nicks and cracks repairing with fibreglass wadding / resin and epoxy filler where necessary. I now come to the prospect of finishing.

The point.... how on earth do i apply a gel coat?? and is it necessary to gel coat the entire hull as the bits that are not covered with a gel coat are those repaired & filled.

Thanks in advance.

[pescaloco]

Originally Posted by newdeckshoes

Towards the end of last year I acquired a 13.5 ft GRP hulled runabout/ski boat complete with 40hp Mercury and remotes.

It had been left standing for a while and though the motor is sound; the seating, deck and wooden deck supports were all rotten. (Not a problem as I'm a dab hand with wood)

The hull on the other hand has needed some attention... I've sorted out the little nicks and cracks repairing with fibreglass wadding / resin and epoxy filler where necessary. I now come to the prospect of finishing.

The point.... how on earth do i apply a gel coat?? and is it necessary to gel coat the entire hull as the bits that are not covered with a gel coat are those repaired & filled.

Thanks in advance.

Hello

Since you have made repairs in epoxy your best best is to paint the boat with a polyurethane paint. Gelcoat is not compatible to be put on top of epoxy.

To answer your question directly, gelcoat is generally sprayed on a sanded & preped surface. Often times the is a good deal of orange peel (stipple) in the finish, which is then multi-stage wet sanded to a very smooth surface then compound polished to a high gloss.