How to repair gel coat on a boat - Yachting Monthly

[@Jarek12010]

as an ex pro I have a word of warning; it is not nearly as easy as it may seem. A trick for matching gelcoat; when you put you drop of matched gelcoat on, sprinkle a tiny bit of water around and put on a piece of celophane, like the one on cigarette packs. This will stick to the area and give the test drop and the surrounding area the same sheen, making it easier to judge the colour match. Also, when sanding the filler, do go below the existing gelcoat level on the filler, otherwise your repair will be a bump and be standing out like sore thumb. Half a milimeter to a milimeter is good. In some cases, like on horizontal or slighlty inclined surfaces it is possible to skip the filler step and use gelcoat only. Gelcoat is thixotropic, so it will not run easily. Don't do the repair in direct sunlight. It is hard to judge the colour match and sun heat speeds up gel times.

[@joeltatham5673]

Thanks for this series! Its a really helpful set of hints and tips.

[@choimdachoim9491]

Amazing how little color it took to match.

[@sailingfromswitzerland]

Could you please provide a list of the products you used? I'm a total newbie and it would be nice to be able to read a little about each of the products to help with my education before purchasing them and trying this on my boat.

[@lou198]

Did you use waxed or unwaxed gel coat?

[@DS-pl5hi]

Were the final layers waxed? Did you sand between layers?

[@alanmikkelson8691]

Really Helpful thanks

[@Jayr2374]

You forgot about cleaning first with solvent

[@davidgulliver8690]

He used waxed " filler" which is in fact gel coat. He says don't worry we'll be adding gel coat ! Aren't you supposed to use unwaxed and then wax the final coat ? Also ..do you color match three separate batches to add three final coats ? Asking for a friend

[@sailingyoumeandjosapea6770]

All these knobs going on about PPE do not know what they are talking about . It’s risk assessment and I’m sure this guy knows more about what risk he is at than you do. People like you will make people not want to bother making this type of content and your presents here among us is not required nor wanted so just go and do one ☝️

[@Superfandangoo]

Agreed, recently got into an argument about why a guy sanding his boat didn’t have safety glasses, me saying as a tradesman you get to know when and when not to use as hampering your sight with dust on glasses could result in finger/hand injury, well the snowflakes tried to cancel me as if I’d ripped a puppy apart.

[@kiwiwifi]

Its typically not the job that'll get you. Its the tool or disk @@Superfandangoo

[@steveburton5825]

Honestly, all these prima donna's with the PPE and comments about lighting... this is FREE content and about 0.01% of boat owners are going to suit up with gloves, eye protection and masks for a repair like that. I thought this was quite well done, very well explained and whether or not you could easily see the repair actually depended on how well the repair was done - very well. You idiots are going to have Yachting Monthly not bother to do these types of videos in the future.

[@____EA____]

If you wanna something strong and long-lasting protection use Line-X coating

[@audengrumet3985]

Author not replying to comments gets a thumbs down.

[@milesbuckhurst504]

Excellent series. But I wish PPE was being used. Gloves and safety specs are a minimum.

[@denislyons8723]

Interesting, but not really complete. For instance when rubbing down the gelcoat final coat, what grit? Going up through the grades, or just the top. Rather than a DIY instruction, it’s more “this is why you need an expert”.

[@richardlangro5461]

nice job but you keep saying the word “obviously”. If its obvious, do you need to say it?

[@rogerdinnis3816]

Sorry, not your best video. More close ups required.

[@DeanColegate]

Sorry but I thought that was poor. You could not see the repair areas because they were in shade (why not turn the boat around?!) the guy was vague with his terminology, and just not enough explanation. Yachting Monthly, come on, you can do better. That was minimal effort and it showed.