Fine gell coat cracks - how do you repair them

affinite

affinite

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I have a number of very fine cracks in the coach roof. They are no more than 3-4 inches long and resemble a number of small spiders webs ...
They are mostly around the mast area and are probably the result of mast compression. This mast compression was apparantly identified and cured before I bought the yacht but the cracks remain. Although now hopefully a cosmetic issue (the cracking is not progressive) I'd lke to fill them so that they don't allow any water to get to the balsa core so ...

I am looking for recommendations re repair options. I have considered sticking treadmaster over the top but Id like to repair the gell coat if possible. Any ideas or experiences gratefully received ??

Rgds
Steve (Affinite)
 
Filling them is not hard but getting an exact colour match is almost impossible - so your idea of covering with deck tread makes good sense to me.
If you really want to fill them before covering - use a dremel tool and etch out along the cracks to get depth enough for new gel coat to stick. Really clean out / off any dust before filling with new gelcoat. Once the filler is hard use wet and dry progressively from coarse to super fine to get it all flat - and then apply your treadmaster.
I would imagine if all you want is a seal - the treadmaster and glue alone might give you what you want.
Cheers
JOHN
 
Why do anything about them? Various boats of mine have had such crazing cracks. They sailed OK, they sold OK. Are I bovvered? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
First of all, are you confident that the mast compression problems have been sorted out? I had a similar problem but on a much more local scale (a piece of plywood under the mast foot laminated between two GRP skins had rotted). Obviously, if this hasn't been replaced properly, the problem will continue (at least until you run out of adjutment on our rigging screws)!

Assuming the problem HAS been sorted, if you're going to put treadmaster over them anyway, I'd just rout them out as described above but I'd fill them with epoxy. It sticks much better to polyester resin and if you warm it, the lower viscosity helps it "wick" down into the crack and / or the ends of any exposed fibres. If you have a balsa core, I'd say it was well worth doing.
 
I would only add that if you dont have access to powertools,the jagged end of a snapped off hacksaw blade works pretty well for raking out the cracks prior to refilling.
 
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