Gelcoat crazing getting serious

[Joe Myerson]

I've sailed Crème Brûlée, my 1982 25D for 11 seasons now. She had a good deal of crazing on the gelcoat on deck and in the cockpit when I bought the her, and most people advised that I ignore it, which I have done. Now some of the cosmetic crazing has turned into cracks, and the edges of some of the cracks are starting to curl. Clearly, this can't be good.

Is there a remedy, short of grinding off the gelcoat and putting on a new layer?

Whatever that remedy might be, is it something that I can do myself, or am I better off turning the boat over to the pros, who charge more than $100/man-hour in my neighborhood?

Thanks,

--Joe

[Jim Walsh]

If the areas to be repaired are not extensive, and you are willing to do it your self, one of the gelcoat repair kits might be just the thing. $40.00 will be well spent. If the areas to be repaired are large or numerous you may have to call in the pro's.
I have a couple battle scars I asked our local pro about last year. He considered the job too small and said he'd have to charge too much. He advised me to get one of the kits pictured or prepare myself for a shocking estimate as the process is labor intensive and the pro's reputation demands an invisible repair.

[Gary M]

Joe,

When I was shopping for my CD22 I saw 2 boats with exactly what you are discribing. The area on both was each side deck, and both were in my view large, running from the coaming boards forward about 2 feet or so. Neither owner seemed worried about it, both said it was there for as long as they owned the boat, and I passed on both boats because of it.

Just saying.

Gary

[psjanker]

I took care of the cracks by grinding in a V shape channel, filling with west and sanding smooth, followed by coating with E2000 and hidden by a coating of Kewi antiskid. Areas on the cabin I painted sections with Perfection. I felt that gelcoat was too hard to match colors and texture for long cracks.

Pete

[Joe Myerson]

When I was shopping for my CD22 I saw 2 boats with exactly what you are discribing. The area on both was each side deck, and both were in my view large, running from the coaming boards forward about 2 feet or so. Neither owner seemed worried about it, both said it was there for as long as they owned the boat, and I passed on both boats because of it.

When I first bought CB there was only one significant gelcoat crack in the foredeck. Since I was having a yard do a lot of work on the boat, I also had them repair that one split. I think they ground it out with a Dremel and filled it with either gelcoat (like the kit Jim showed) or some kind of fairing compound. That repair has held for all these years.

I wonder if I should have been waxing the deck and cabin sole to protect the gelcoat, like I do with the topsides. But that seems suicidally slippery.

Just a thought.

--Joe

[Joe Myerson]

Oops, Pete, your response came in while I was typing the last response.

Would Kiwi Antiskid help protect things?

--Joe

[Jim Walsh]

When I was shopping for my CD22 I saw 2 boats with exactly what you are discribing. The area on both was each side deck, and both were in my view large, running from the coaming boards forward about 2 feet or so. Neither owner seemed worried about it, both said it was there for as long as they owned the boat, and I passed on both boats because of it.

When I first bought CB there was only one significant gelcoat crack in the foredeck. Since I was having a yard do a lot of work on the boat, I also had them repair that one split. I think they ground it out with a Dremel and filled it with either gelcoat (like the kit Jim showed) or some kind of fairing compound. That repair has held for all these years.
I'll bet they applied gelcoat

I wonder if I should have been waxing the deck and cabin sole to protect the gelcoat, like I do with the topsides. But that seems suicidally slippery.
I use a "cleaner wax" to keep the vertical surfaces in the cockpit looking neat. I never use anything but boat soap on the topsides and the horizontal surfaces in the cockpit. As you say, anything else is suicidal.

Just a thought.

--Joe

[oldragbaggers]

We have the same issue but since we plan to paint our decks is no big deal. We will use a Dremel to open the cracks up into a groove, fill with thickened epoxy and paint. Those in the non-skid area will hopefully be concealed with the new non-skid paint. We also have a couple that are starting to curl at the edges a bit. those will need to be ground out a bit more.

[shavdog]

Lance....on my 22 I used interlux interdeck on my nonskid...cracks filled in nicely but they came back in a couple of yrs....I just re nonskid every three yrs to freshen up the deck