Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

[jasonmd13]

My 1996 Rinker i just bought has a place where the gel coat is rubbed off all the way to the fiberglass. The fiberglass is in good shape and is not disturbed. I was wondering the best thing to put on it and what to paint over that with. My boat is an off white color. Thanks for your help. Jason

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

Hi jasnomd13,
Welcome to the best site for anything boat related...
Check out the sticky at the top of this forum, titled "How to's and other great information"...#14, stress cracks...
Not exactly your problem, but should get you started...
Also, some of the heavy hitters here will probably chime in soon and help you out.
Best of luck,
GT1M

 

[BWT]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

I was wondering the best thing to put on it and what to paint over that with. My boat is an off white color.

Hi Jason,

gelcoat would be the best thing, and you have a couple of things working for you here.. 1) it's on the bottom of the boat 2) it's an off white (easy color if you decide not to bottom paint).

A couple of things I would look into first. Try and come up with how that patch got the way it did (are you sure there are no underlying issues going on with damaged glass, etc) Look for spider cracks around the area and pick at the exposed glass to make sure it's a solid bond. If the above things check out, clean the area well with acetone, order up a pint of white gelcoat (NO wax), catalyze it with some MEK (roughly 12 drops per ounce of gel) and apply it with a brush. Build it up a bit so you have a good thickness to work with; may have to do a few coats half hour apart. When last coat has tacked up fairly hard go over top with some PVA and let cure. Next day sand it down with some 120 grit if you'll be applying some bottom paint. If no bottom painting is in your future, then you'll have some awkward sanding ahead of you ..

Easy fix. Hope this helps!

~BWT

 

[jasonmd13]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

It does have some spider cracks in the ridges further toward the bow, but not close to this area. It also having trouble closing the walk thur window. it overlaps. I dont think it is related

 

[BWT]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

What are the chances that the spidey cracks on the hull or the area you have in the pic above is directly below the console where the steering wheel and walk through window are?

 

[jasonmd13]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

The area is a couple of feet from the back of the boat and the spidey cracks are in the front. The hull under both sides of the consoles looks good. The floors seem solid. The is a square board under the drivers seat, but nothings seems to move. The window overlaps about an inch, but it is equal on the top and bottom corners. Doesnt appear to be from a sag.

 

[BWT]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

K, I was a little concerned that maybe there was a bit of a heave on the dash from a raised stringer in the bilge which could possibly be caused by an impact on the hull..

~BWT

 

[oops!]

Re: Great site, My first boat has a bad place in the bottom, Help

lets see some pics of this window....

good on top is unusual