DaySailer.org Forum

Hi all,
Regarding nicks and cracks in the gel coat, the manual (ds1man-spindrift.pdf) says:
"These small damaged areas should be repaired before placing the boat in the water to prevent a wicking action through the fiberglass which could possibly result in more serious damage."

That horse left the barn once the boat got rained on. I'm guessing that a week without rain is enough to dry it. The typical problems on my boat are as show in the photo below. I am assuming I need to chip to the loose stuff, sand lightly, vacuum, tack cloth, the gel coat repair resin.

My gel coat has yellowed some (see photo) and has a matte finish rather than a shine. Will rubbing out the finish wear off the yellowing? I ask because if I tint the gel goat repair to match to the yellowed, then buff the whole thing, the repair will not match anymore.

Yellowed white gelcoat will definitely change as you sand/buff on it, getting whiter. It is very difficult to maintain and even color. Fortunately, white is very forgiving in this regard. I just did the bottom of a very scratched up Sunfish by squeegee-Ing gelcoat repair with a credit card. It filled in like bondo and wet sanded reasonably fast. The general rule of thumb is error towards lighter on light colors and error towards darker on dark colors when you patch for a less conspicuous repair.

I'm actually plenty happy with the results of whiter patch on somewhat yellowed white. I did thoroughly clean with Comet with bleach before hand.