"THODTORIALS" - REPAIRING SCRATHCHES AND GELCOAT BREAKS

WARNING  !!!!!!

THIS ARTICLE SHOWS THE WAY TO MAKE “COMBAT” REPAIRS, ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PROFESSIONAL REPAIRS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL(OR CHANCE)

The purpouse of this type of work is to restore the InTeGRiTy of the Gelcoat to avoid the exposure of the Fiberglass to incoming hits and its consequent DAMAGE. 

First, we have to clean the affected zone.

In little scratches,  the Acetone is enough  to clean the area .
 

In deeper scratches or when the Gelcoat is BROKEN, we have to remove  all the parts that may be damaged. To do this, we will tap around the area with a small metal bar (a Spade Drill Bit Works fine).

If the cleaned area is too BIG or if you can see the Fiberglass , just press in the middle of the zone to be sure that the Fiberglass layer is not damaged. If it IS the case, a full Fiberglass repair is needed.

Once the area is clean, it´s time to proceed with the Gelcoat…..or not?? 

Gelcoat offers a very good coating, but that imply a more carefull job. 

You have to isolate the Gelcoat from air using a Plastic Mold previously waxed. You have to  ensure that no air bubbles remain trapped inside… 

From OUR own experience we may asume that where you hit the Kayak one time, you will go it again, so that beautifull coating will not last too much, so we will use TOPCOAT (Gelcoat plus parafine), that is not affected by air. The coating is not so perfect but it makes a really simple and HARD “COMBAT” work.

HIT AND REPAIR - HIT AND REPAIR - HIT AND REPAIR

We have to mix the Topcoat with a Catalyst at 2% and aply it in the scratches and areas to repair. I usually begin with the BIGGER ones with one hand to cover all the nooks and crannies and then follow with the small ones.

When the Topcoat becomes harder we have to return to the first area to refill the whole affected zone. 

 Apply generous plasters to make sure that the whole volume of the affected zone remains COVERED.

When the repaired area will be totally hard will looks like a mountain range, but once you spent some minutes with your best friend, the Sandpaper, our patch will be on level with the original Gelcoat and our Kayak will be  READY to eat BARNACLES again !!!

Be good and HEY, LET´S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE !!!