Re: Gelcoat questions...
Boy, did the above folks miss the boat!!! Gelcoat is not paint.<br /><br />The gelcoat is a pure expoxy resin with color added. Its primary purpose is to "waterproof and seal" the fiberglass hull. The pure resin gelcoat cannot be penetrated by water. Water can penetrate and evenutally even soften exposed fiberglass matting which is always still somewhat porous.<br /><br />Gelcoat's second purpose is to provide a smooth surface for the hull to minimize drag.<br /><br />Gelcoat's third and least important purpose is to make the boat look good, although everyone likes a good looking boat.<br /><br />If your gelcoat is compromised (cracked, chipped, intentionally drilled into, or damaged in any way) you have a compromised hull that will eventually leak in some amount and manner, no questions asked!!! It is important to regularly check and to keep your gelcoat repaired in top condition. <br /><br />If you don't repair a gelcoat crack or hole quickly, water will enter into the hull cores and fiberglass matting. Any water intrusion (even just into the underlying fiberglass matting) will eventually weaken that area of the hull and potentially lead to expensive and disastrous dryrot if it later reaches the wood in your inner hull cores, stringers and/or deck areas. When any hole is intentionally drilled into your hull, it should always be drilled slightly larger than necessary and then resealed with pure expoxy resin, followed up then with its redrilling to the final hole size required. This seals off and waterproofs the sides of the hole. Be sure to slightly round off the outside edges of the redrilled hole (do this on both sides of the hole -inside and out) to prevent stress cracking.<br /><br />Finally, when mounting motors and other gear onto the hull, always use a special purpose marine grade sealant caulking around the holes as further insurance against leakage. Don't let a dealer skip or shortchange any of this process (although many do!) or you'll be the one paying the price to fix your boat down the road years later.<br /><br />If you don't believe me...do a google search and read results from 1000's of boaters dealing with costly water damage problems because they didn't know about the importance of the integrity of the gelcoat to their fiberglass hulls.<br /><br />In Google just enter the search word...+"boats" and then add any combination of these additional words...+"problems" +"dryrot" +"transom" +"deck" +"gelcoat" "stringers", and so on. This will get you started on your critical education why your gelcoat is one of the most important components to a healthy boat.<br /><br />Better yet go to the boat rehab forums on this website and read about all of the expensive and preventable problems those folks are now enjoying fixing vs. being out on the water having fun.<br /><br />PS - Its important, in addition to sealing the interior of any holes drilled in your hull, when mounting your motors, equipment and/or fixtures, to always make sure those areas have adequate hull or deck strength to handle the added stress and load factors of the mounted items in use. It pays to spread out the stress across a larger area than just that around the mounting holes. Expoxy and glass in extra backing support (ie- expoxy coated/waterproofed marine plywood or stainless steel) as necessary to secure and spread the load. Any extra upfront effort spent here will prevent your having to fix costly fiberglass stress cracks later on.<br /><br />Old Trailer Sailor
