Major Gelcoat Failure - Looking for repair Advice

[cdods]

As you can see by the pictures, this is an older boat. When we took it out of the water, I noticed a large (24" x 6") piece of the gelcoat had fallen off the bottom. As I have no experience with fiberglass I'm looking for some help.

1) Can you confirm this is gelcoat that has fallen off? Is there something else it could be? I'm pretty confident it is not anything structural. There is no sign of any fibers in the edges of the failure & the hull itself still seems solid in that area.
2) Looking at videos, applying new gelcoat doesn't seem too hard, but I'd love any guidance on what to do or not to do. What about using epoxy in stead of gelcoat as a fix?
3) As the boat is on a trailer, and the rollers are in the way of repairing it, I need to jack it up off the trailer. I have a few ideas on how to do this using hydraulic jacks, but if you have any suggestions on how to lift it 6 or 8 inches, I'm all ears.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[cals4200]

It`s jelcoat all right or maybe a old repair, It looks discolored on that whole side of the boat.

 

[gm280]

cdods, I honestly hate to tell you, but that isn't going to be a simplistic fix with some gel coat paint. There is some serious delamination going on there that has to be addressed first. I see way more that is looking like it is coming loose as well. And The only way I can see it is to flip the hull upside down to actually see what it is going to take to repair that damage. I know that isn't what you really wanted to hear. but that is my opinion from what I see. Maybe others will chime in with better and easier advice. :noidea: :sorry:

 

[ondarvr]

It looks like an old repair that failed. Is the section that fell off as thick as looks like it is in the pic?

 

[kcassells]

Sure does look like a bondo patch. Ouch! That's a large area. All of it will need to be removed, re-glassed and finished. I wonder how much area is like that. Looks like you can see the rough sanding from po prior to gelcoat.
How long have you had the boat?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

I agree, it looks like the repair was faired with a non marine filler not designed for below water line use and gelcoated over. When the filler absorbed water it got heavy and fell off. I can't tell if the fiberglass repair itself is in good condition or not. I would get under the boat and lie down on my back so my pictures are perpendicular to the hull. Post some overall pictures and some close ups to any area you suspect failing. Some pictures of the edges of the repair are also helpful.

 

[cdods]

No Title

Here's some more pictures, with captions added. Looking more closely at the edges along the damage, they are quite thick - up to 1/8", but it doesn't look like bondo. It looks more like thick resin without fiberglass in it, coated with a layer of paint or gelcoat. Does that make any sense? We've had the boat for about 25 years, and I know there's been no repairs while we've had it. It was a used boat, so it's possible there was repairs before we got it.

As far as fixing it, I really don't care what it looks like. The boat is getting old, so realistically, if we can get 5-7 more years out of it will will have served us well. It only gets 40-50 hrs of use a year.

I assume the first step will be to chip off any loose areas, then grind / sand back to what seems to be solid. What comes next? Can I just cover this in a couple layers of epoxy? Do I build up a bit of fiber glass then cover it with something? Again, my only real objective are to keep the water out and keep this from getting any worse. Any advice appreciated.

 

[ondarvr]

Whatever you don't scrape off now will fall off later, so scrape, sand or use whatever method works to get it off. That thick build up didn't offer any strength, so all you really need to do is make it look acceptable to you.

Some filler, a little sanding, a coat of paint, and you're back on the water.

Check the rest of the hull to see if needs attention too.

 

[Woodonglass]

Ditto^^^ Since cosmetics is not a big deal feather sand the area, prime with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer(works on fiberglass too) and then several coats of rustoleum off white paint and you're back in business.