strange marks in fibreglass help

[P4Paul]

Who can repair this boat for me? who is the best out there?

Someone with a big shed for a start (which you'll be paying for) - I can see 20-25k+ being spent on this if you go the paint route any one else hazard an estimate ?

I agree, if I was pricing the gel repair, I would be thinking of around £20k plus the Vodka and Tonic and I would want the boat fully tented over before starting. It would be very easy to lose two guys for a month on these kind of jobs.

 

[Tranona]

Rather than guessing, there are plenty of specialists in the Solent area - google is your friend. alternatively speak to a GRP specialist surveyor like Tony Staton-Bevan for an opinion and recommendations. Doubt £6k would get anywhere near it as that will only buy you 150 hours or so skilled labour, never mind haulout and storage. What you have is not unusual on a neglected 20+ year old boat selling for less than 25% of the cost of a new one!

 

[JumbleDuck]

For what im saving on this boat i think i can allow around £6000 to have the gelcoat repaired. Is this realistic?

To replace every bit of gelcoat on a 44' motor boat and refinish to original standards? I suspect you're a zero out.

Other than that, the pictures you posted appear to show a very well used boat. If the gel coat is that scuffed, battered, cracked and knackered, what is the boat like?

 

[mattysupra]

So the guess is between 20'000 and 60'000 to have it done.

Umm, might get the same place that painted my 36' boat to do it. Finish is like a car but my only concern is that if you mark it you cant polish it out like gelcoat.

That cost 3000 if i remember correct.

For you that are guessing the prices above, i presume you have never had any gelcoat / paint work done?

 

[Tranona]

Getting a hull painted is a much easier proposition and it is possible to get a finish that can be repaired after local damage. The crazing on that boat is in areas that are difficult to repair and a paint job on a superstructure is in a different league in terms of the cost of preparation - removal of fittings, dealing with complex shapes etc. You really do have to get 3 or 4 quotes from specialists to find out what the alternatives are.

 

[Marine Reflections]

The pictures so far don't look that bad.

What percentage of the gel coat is deeply hazed?

Do you have any pictures of the boat as a whole?

 

[P4Paul]

For you that are guessing the prices above, i presume you have never had any gelcoat / paint work done?

Started, built up and sold a successful GRP company, in fact we may well have made some of the panels on that SS.

If you want invisible gel repairs, it will cost big bucks. Slapping some filler and a couple coats of dulux is the cheaper and faster option.

 

[mattysupra]

The pictures so far don't look that bad.

What percentage of the gel coat is deeply hazed?

Do you have any pictures of the boat as a whole?

the pictures show the worse of it all. Mainly on the back around the steps, the main door into cabin, two patches around 10cm x 10cm on one of the sides and the ends of the radar arch. There is the odd small patch here and there that your eyes have to be 6" away to see it but i would like the small bits done also.

Im thinking of going the paint route again as the finish on my other boat is perfect and you can not see any repairs. Every one who sees the boat asks how i got it so shinny . My only concern is how easy it marks. this time around im thinking of using a epoxy based paint as i used a 1 part paint before. International top coat i think it was called.

Also while i have been goggling around i have come across vinyl raps. Just read that a chap with 70 meter boat paid just under 20k to have a full vinyl rap. Looks amazing. Also a chap local to me that has done repairs before for family and friends thinks he can repair this boat for £4400. He is working off photos i have sent him so needs to see the boat in the flesh. Going to see if he can go and view the boat next week for me.

 

[P4Paul]

the pictures show the worse of it all. Mainly on the back around the steps, the main door into cabin, two patches around 10cm x 10cm on one of the sides and the ends of the radar arch. There is the odd small patch here and there that your eyes have to be 6" away to see it but i would like the small bits done also.

Im thinking of going the paint route again as the finish on my other boat is perfect and you can not see any repairs. Every one who sees the boat asks how i got it so shinny . My only concern is how easy it marks. this time around im thinking of using a epoxy based paint as i used a 1 part paint before. International top coat i think it was called.

Also while i have been goggling around i have come across vinyl raps. Just read that a chap with 70 meter boat paid just under 20k to have a full vinyl rap. Looks amazing. Also a chap local to me that has done repairs before for family and friends thinks he can repair this boat for £4400. He is working off photos i have sent him so needs to see the boat in the flesh. Going to see if he can go and view the boat next week for me.

In post number 6 you said there were patches all over and so I based my guesstimate on that statement. To be fair I am no longer in the GRP game and with the breakup of a number of boatbuilders such as Sealine, the number of one man bands will increase which will be good for boat owners looking for small repairs.

Hopefully you find a good gel coat colour match magician, don't forget that new gel coat fades faster than old gel coat due to the UV so the repairs will become more visible as time goes on.

 

[JumbleDuck]

For you that are guessing the prices above, i presume you have never had any gelcoat / paint work done?

You might like to see how much people pay to have osmosis treatments done. That's removal and replacement of the gelcoat, just like you want done, only over a small proportion of the boat, with a nice smooth shape, with few fittings to be removed and replaced, with no concerns about colour matching and with a much less critical finish. Painting it ain't.

 

[mattysupra]

In post number 6 you said there were patches all over and so I based my guesstimate on that statement. To be fair I am no longer in the GRP game and with the breakup of a number of boatbuilders such as Sealine, the number of one man bands will increase which will be good for boat owners looking for small repairs.

Hopefully you find a good gel coat colour match magician, don't forget that new gel coat fades faster than old gel coat due to the UV so the repairs will become more visible as time goes on.

Sorry, maybe my error (i have not re-read over the thread so not sure if im correct here as i have been speaking to a few different people over email also)

The boat has patches all over. In other words its not located in just one area. However the patches that are spread around are very small apart from a couple of patches around 10cm x 10cm on the side. The worse area is pictured and seems to be around the edges and also the edge of the door going into the cabin.

SO WE ARE ALL CLEAR, its localized and not the whole boat that is like this. If it was the whole boat i defo would be walking away.

I DO NOT WANT THE WHOLE GELCOAT REMOVING ! i just want the areas repaired. Im not sure where i have said i want the whole gel coat removing !

I also know what osmosis is, i have a had boat with it and removed in the past.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Just one mans opinion, but certainly nowhere near enough of a problem for walking, but it does seem you are after a first class finish.
You do have gel coat that has been curing for 23 years on there, that should be good enough, well most panels anyway

I would have thought the seller would just say it was to be expected for the year and they could be right.

It boils down to percentages really, what percentage of the surfaces have the plague (which looks like cold snap whilst or soon after curing?) all the other bits are common surface defects / scratches etc and are easily rectifiable.

10cm by 10cm being repaired doesn't really help you come up with a calculation as a whole, unless you are working the same process to each 10 x 10, like re-gel / paint etc.

Given that the areas need to be colour matched with the original colour and that this is achieved via exposing fresh gel, what you may want to consider first is getting the rest of the surface area up to the same standard as what the newly repaired areas will be.
This would serve as a standard to achieve as a whole, give you a colour to match and also will help focus the demands of the repairs that the correction was unable to rectify.

 

[William_H]

The OP certainly has a problem wanting a "Concourse de Elegance' level of finish on an old boat. IMHO it would require a complete respray of a 2 pack paint to get that sort of standard. This paint would also fix the cracking. I don't think gel coat repairs would ever reach that standard because the repair areas would stand out. Impossible to match.
I think however that a paint job is actually easier to repair damage in the future than gel coat. In my case an old boat I brushed 2 pack on. No it does not look brilliant just OK from a distance but it is easy to patch up scratches etc to that same standard. (each winter) I would certainly not be shy about buying this boat at a suitable price. But my standards are a lot lesss demanding than OPs I prefer to sail than looka t a boat. olewill

 

[rafiki_]

Can anyone recommend someone who can quote this for me?

Boat on South coast at moment, ideally i need someone down there to quote in next few days so i can decide if i buy the boat or not. Not sure if i get the boat repaired while its down south ( i think i will do this) or get it done when it arrives at its new home (Gloucester )

If you are to be based at Gloucester, then you should talk to Wayne at Gelbrite. gelbrite@talktalk.net

Wayne is fantastic with gelcoat, and well known in the Tewkesbury and Upton Marina's. He did warranty work for Sealine too.

 

[Jim@sea]

OK. You value the boat at £80k when finished. So its £50k now. You may have done a car up to perfection but some cars are to be looked at and admired. Boats are to be used. This defect in the Gel Coat is aging. You have said that you will accept minor blemishes. I suggest that you accept this boat as it is, after all its cosmetic not structural. You may spend a fortune and you will probably be unhappy as the blemishes could re appear. You will be without the boat for perhaps a year as anyone who is any good will be booked up months ahead.
You will never get your money back.

 

[mattysupra]

If you are to be based at Gloucester, then you should talk to Wayne at Gelbrite. gelbrite@talktalk.net

Wayne is fantastic with gelcoat, and well known in the Tewkesbury and Upton Marina's. He did warranty work for Sealine too.

Wayne is who I might be using, i have seen Wayne's work a few times.

What I don't understand is people say you will see the repairs, you can't see Wayne's repairs.

 

[rafiki_]

Wayne is who I might be using, i have seen Wayne's work a few times.

What I don't understand is people say you will see the repairs, you can't see Wayne's repairs.

Wayne's work is first class, and I agree, you really cannot tell where he has made a repair. I have a couple of jobs for him on my new to us Azimut.

 

[mattysupra]

Thought i would keep you all up to date.

Had some positive news back from a couple of GRP specialists and the quotes are coming in well south of the £6K i estimated.

Im assured i will not see the repairs and as i was invited to see a few repairs (before and after pictures) and actually see the repairs in the flesh on a couple of other boats they are spot on. Along with that the boat i have looked at today i know and it was a mess. It is now like new so im more than happy. I also had a look around some repairs that 'wayne' had done a while back and they are still invisible.

So im happy and the purchase of the boat has gone ahead. I will try and keep this thread updated with some before and after pictures as we progress with the restore of this boat.

Thanks everyone for the replies and the help.