Tarp Damaged Gelcoat, Help!

[Andrew93]

I was down the Cape working on the boat yesterday after uncovering it a few weeks ago. I uncovered it quick and didn't do too much else that day. Yesterday when I was walking around the boat something caught my eye. When I looked closer I saw the gel coat is chipped like it was sand blasted where it looks like the tarp edge was. I never had a problem like this before, but this time the boat was parked close to the house maybe making a wind tunnel effect. I attached some photos below and was wondering if here is any kind of epoxy or finish I can apply and maybe wet sand it and fill in the nicks to try and repair it. The rest of the hull is in good condition and I am really bummed out by this and am hoping there is a reasonable repair solution.

Andrew

 

[onoahimahi]

Bummer - is it just where the grommets were or along the whole length? I've seen that sort of damage on a lot of boats.

Your Grady dealer sells gelcoat repair kits that are color matched. If I were you I would take a minimalist approach for now and only repair the deep ones that went all the way thought to the fiberglass. I only saw one or two of those. Then enjoy your boat and see how you feel about in the fall. This could be a little bit like that first scratch on a new car - seems like a big deal at first but before you know it, there are a few more scratches and that first one seems insignificant. The blue Grady lettering and tape is easy to replace, however.

 

[mboyatt]

Bummer for sure. X2 on what Ono posted. Spectrum (or from dealer) gelcoat repair four your hull year for the deep nicks. Also agree that wet sanding will take down the minor stuff. Start with 800 grit to see if that will do it, then 1000 grit followed by compound, etc. If it is only the spot in the photo, no big deal to repair yourself. If it spans the entire hull, you may want to have a gel man do the work for you. The stripes and logo cannot be repaired to my knowledge. You just would need to replace those. Remove with heat gun, clean with acetone, and apply new. I removed my stripes permanently because I like the look of the hull withou the stripe. I did replace the logo though. Easy project, just takes time. Make sure you prevent this from happening again! And yes, just use the boat this season and repair on down time.

 

[Andrew93]

Thanks for the replies. I will check in with my local dealer this week. The damage was over a 2-3' length along the edge of the tarp, doesn't look like the grommet had much to do with it. The boat was parked on an angle close to the house which must have made for the tarp flapping, and since it is a summer house we were not down there too much.

I am thinking on keeping my eyes open for something newer in the fall anyways so I guess I will just enjoy it this summer since last year was a wash with a bum motor. I love the layout of the boat and and hope to stay in The Grady family!

 

[langski93]

This is a post I wrote awhile ago, but I think it applies. Good luck

Great Results w/ Grady Gelcoat
Postby langski93 » Oct Tue 09, 2012 4:48 am

I have always hesitated to fill in a couple of cosmetic dings on the topsides of my 208, figuring I would just make it worse. Recently, I had an incident with an unfamiliar dock that left the corner where the topside and the transom meet with a good sized snake bite down to the darker fiberglass. I had no choice but to make the repair. Long story short, I bought the repair sized jar of Gelcoat matched by hull year, at the Grady dealer, and used wet sandpaper from 400, 600, 1000 to 2000 (could have stopped at 1000) and the results are excellent! A few minutes to tape around the area, a few minutes to mix and apply, 10 minutes with the boss's hairdryer on warm setting to cure (optional) and a few hours of lawn mowing and errand running while it did final curing. I took my time to sand out about 30 minutes and was done. I used the leftover to cover the cosmetic dings referred to earlier and the toughest part of the whole job was paying the $32.00 for the 2.0 oz jar of Gelcoat from the dealer. Seriously though, if your boat has a ding that has been bugging you everytime you look at it, go for it. The gelcoat is very forgiving and you will be pleased in the end.
langski93

 

[fishbust]

I have some of that from the tarp at aft stern port side. Personally I do not think it is fixable, figuring it is impossible to match 14 year old gelcoat with magic in a bottle.