Gel-coat repairs?

[huszmann]

hi there, i am new to posting and looking for any good advise on my boat. it is a 2001 glastron, and when cleaning the hull last week, i noticed what i consider to be a large and deep crack in the gelcoat. there are many hairline and spider cracks throughout, but this one definately looks like it needs some attention. so what i need to know is if this crack(as pictured) is repairable by the average do-it-yourselfer, or if is best left the the pros. (ps.appears to be only gelcoat and not fiberglass damage) any advise is appreciated. thx.

 

[solar7647]

Re: Gel-coat repairs?

It s can be fixed pretty easy it just takes some time. It will take a ton of space to explain it out so a link to a how to video.
part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWEE6SFUdpg

part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en-8SbhdF_k&feature=related

 

[huszmann]

Re: Gel-coat repairs?

thanks for the link. so, is this a relatively common thing to occour? and if so, are there any measures i can take to minimize future damage? thx again

 

[solar7647]

Re: Gel-coat repairs?

Cracks in the gel-coat are caused by flexing of the area eather because of poor design, hitting of a sold oblect or in most cases with gel-coat cracks on the bow from hitting waves to hard. You have to remeber gel-coat is a resin and is pretty brittle when it sets and only alows little give.

The best way to prevent them is to support places that have a lot of flex.
For examp, I have a cuddy cabin on my boat and it had a door and try fold window that opened, but when the try fold window was open it left a large area of the dash un sapported and caused a ton of cracks in the gell coat over time because the dash would flex back and forth. So now that I am re-fitting the boat i removed the window and gave it a solid wall to better sapport the dash.