Gel coat repair, is it worth it?

[craigman]

Fellas,
working on a classic Glastron/Carlson CV23 and getting ready to rebuild the whole boat. My problem is figuring out if it's worth fixing or not.
Here's a few pics of what I'm up against. My hull is full of the typical millions of cracks in the gel coat. I've got a handful of spots that are pretty bad. What I'm wondering is, does the gel goat have to come off all the way to the fiberglass to be fixed?

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmmm, Yeah, that's not looking real good. I'd have to say, I'd be seriously considering looking for another project.

 

[Bondo]

What I'm wondering is, does the gel goat have to come off all the way to the fiberglass to be fixed?

Ayuh,.... Fix any major cracks from the backside,....

Then fair out all the crackin' in the gelcoat, sand smooth, 'n paint the whole thing,....

 

[craigman]

that's what I was afraid of...

 

[ondarvr]

The type of cracking in the first pic are the difficult type, the others are normal. The crazing in the first pic indicates an actual issue with the gel coat, so for best results you need to sand it off and rebuild the surface, it's not hard, just a time consuming hassle.