Expert: Jeff Grigg - 11/8/2006

Question
jeff  never hit anything to my knowledge however i had noticed some stress cracks then i was launched by a freighter wave and after i looked under boat and noticed the damage there no fiberglass damage but i worry about water wreaking the fiberglass i cant afford to pay someone to fix it so any help would be great thank you hans
-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
i have 99 triton bassboat i have two pieces of gel coat about the size of softball missing exposing the fiberglass would like to repair it myself any ideas? on bottom on the pad
-----Answer-----
Hans there are some kits on the market to repair gelcoat however on the bottom they probably won't work. First we must determine why they are there? Was there water blisters? Physical damage from a collision etc. Post back and we can go from there.
Don't use the boat until properly repaired as you can peal the gelcoat off and possibly some of the fiberglass with it!
Post back.
Jeff

Answer
Your best bet would be a professional repair.
If you are going to do it yourself it will depend on the area. If there are more stress cracks you will need to check for hull flexing. Get under the boat a push up with your legs. If the hull is flexing you will need to go inside to strengthen the hull first. If the hull is solid, grind down the area and clean it with acetone a couple of times. If the area is already rough then you may need to put a patch of mat and fiberglass on the open area. If only the gelcoat is missing then you can buy gelcoat at a marine supply store and patch it.
When a boat is made the gelcoat is sprayed or rolled into a mold, it is soon followed by the actual fiberglass and resin mixture, This is built up in numerous layers. Depending on the boat a coring is also used.
What has happened in your case is the gelcoat has separated from the fiberglass. If not done properly or if the broken bond between the gelcoat and fiberglass is greater than the damaged area, then the damage will be hard to fix and may spread. This in a worse case scenario could cause de-lamination of the hull and hull failure.
Only an experienced fiberglass repair shop can tell you exactly what is happening.
Jeff