Any advice on how to repair?

I’m hoping you could help me out with some advice on repairs to a 10ft boat, which I hope to use for messing about (picnics, kids, maybe fishing) on a narrow river on slack water. We’re planning to just row, so no immediate plans for mast, sail, outboard, etc.

Boat hull is fibreglass, covered in what I guess is gelcoat. However this gelcoat is still shiny but has many cracks and missing patches (see picture). The photo makes the missing patches look deeper than they appear in reality. Is it just paint, and not gelcoat at all?

Much of the wooden trims are in a sad state although the rowlock sockets seem sound.

So, for the hull should I sand back then epoxy then paint? Or do I need to worry about the fibreglass, given how much of the gelcoat has flaked off?

For the wood trims- if the areas around the rowlocks is sound, can I take off the worst of the rotten wood, use epoxy to save the rest and leave it at that?

I know I’m being very slapdash but my DIY skills aren’t likely to lead to a perfect finish.

 

It’s been painted and the paint is what’s peeling, you need to remove all that old paint if you want to repaint it, or just use it as is.

 

Welcome to the forum

Nice little picknic rower.

O don't see any structural damage. As Ondarvr points out It is just a bit of flaky paint.

Just to not turn a silken purse into a sows ear. How do you scale its current appearance? What is your desired appearance?

Don't bother to epoxy over any rot damaged wood. It will continue to rot unimpeded by the epoxy. Epoxy treatment before rot is a great prevention, but useless as a cure.

 

Thanks!

I’m very keen to get her in use, so if you can’t see anything that looks desperate (and I can’t, either, but am no expert!) then that’s v good news! I’ll look at the cosmetic stuff in the autumn/winter (when I can put her in the greenhouse to do the work).

I was poised and ready to buy epoxy so you’ve just saved me a lot of cash and effort. Much appreciated!

 

granted we only saw two pictures.

Splash her. Learn how to not bash her too badly. Then make her pretty.

No point in showroom cosmetic refinishing then setting her on the rocks.

Enjoy a summer of waterside piclnicks.

 

Old Saying: paint hides a multitude of sins. If you worry about how it looks, just repaint it with a nice enamel paint. As for the wood, what Blueknarr said. Replace rot with good wood. Otherwise it'll just keep rotting. Those products like Gitrot are just bandaids. Nice looking boat. Take the kids for a row. They'll love it. make sure they wear their lifejackets (and you too. Set an example)

 

Perfect, thanks all.
Need to clear some trees and buy daughter a bigger life jacket (any tips to get kids to stop growing out of their clothes?) and we’ll be set!