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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

1989 gelcoat repair below waterline

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Daniel
1st Mate

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78 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/07/2004 : 17:32:12

I have a 1989 C25. I just finished removing the old antifoulant, down to the grey original gelcoat, which mostly looks great. I plan to repaint the bottom - the manual for this model specifies a no-sand primer, followed by the new antifoulant (a couple of coats).

There are a couple of flaws that I think should be fixed before I re-do it. One is a rather deep scratch about 12" long, which appears to have been filled with caulk by the PO, and some thin cracks just forward and port of the keel emanating from one point, which might be due to flexing when heeling (?). What would be best to fix these? Clean and fill both with epoxy before painting?

I plan to sand down and coat the lead/faired keel with InterProtect 2000.

Incidentally, I used the Peel Away Marine Safety Strip from West Marine. It worked rather well if I left it on a full 2 days (temperatures were cool - 50 - 65F), but I still needed to take off a thin layer remaining in some spots after the first round. I did this by re-coating with a thin layer of the stripper, then scrubbing after it worked about 1/2 hr. Most came off very well. I liked having the old paint remaining on the paper, which kept the mess and contamination to a minimum and made disposal easier. I used about 6 gal. of the stuff.

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 05/07/2004 : 18:20:09

Why would you want to bother repairing gel coat below the waterline. Gel coat is just pigmented resin. If you have the bottom that clean why not go back on with a good barrier coat of epoxy and then your bottom paint. Make the crack repairs with West systems epoxy kit. Flex cracks are common problems where there is a hard spot in the interior like a bulkhead or a linner suport. If the cracks are small then clean them out before the epoxy coat. They are more than likely spider cracks and limited to the gel coat. If they are larger clean them out using an old style can opener(Pointed End) I.E. scribe or scrape them open and fill with a filler made with the West System kit. As for the type of bottom paint (epoxy berrier coat) here is what I recomend. http://www.epoxyproducts.com/4_epoxypaint.html also read this artical here http://www.epoxyproducts.com/barrier4u.html If you have looked at some of the posts about bottom rework the above product is the Sky Blue stuff and its wonderful. Best of luck

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/08/2004 : 09:50:17

Maybe a coincidence but we stripped the bottom of a 1986 C25 and discovered what we thought was a grey primer or barrier coat - which we left in tact (hull color was white.) Is your hull gelcoat grey or is this a primer coat . . . ?

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5913 Posts

Response Posted - 05/08/2004 : 09:50:38

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Why would you want to bother repairing gel coat below the waterline.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">On the other hand, why not? When I find a gouge or opening in the gel coat on the underwater surfaces, I fill it with an Interlux product called Watertite Epoxy. It's specifically designed for use on underwater surfaces, and it's very easy to work with. It's a quick, easy repair.

With regard to the spider cracks, I would not gouge them out unless they are apparently deep and already partially open. If they are just little hairline cracks, I would cover them with barrier coat, and then paint over them with antifouling paint, and see if that solves the problem. If the problem recurs, you can always gouge the cracks out and fill them.

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Daniel
1st Mate

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78 Posts

Response Posted - 05/10/2004 : 14:23:47

Thanks for the suggestions. The grey surface is original gelcoa, not primer (above water is all white). On this model it is (acc. to company lit.) a water-resistant type that should not be sanded. Apparently no barrier paint is needed, just a no-sand primer and then the antifoulant. I will be using a barrier paint on the keel, however, after I finish preparing that. Mostly I just want to know how to repair the cracks and a very deep gouge. It looks like the PO filled it with caulking. I think I'll try the Epoxy repair. I hope I don't have to do any more paint stripping!

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2004 : 22:10:21

Hey Daniel:
thanks for the information on the 89 hull. I have an 89 wing and didn't know that the gel was grey. I know that they used a vinylester resin which is blister resistant. Some of the ablative paint on my boat has come off and I think the hull is white. Are you sure that the grey was factory original, and not some primer added? I used the interlux 2000 system on my old 22 and it was grey. It hardens like steel.
I guesse I should look at my manual.
As Homer Simpson would say: DOH!

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2004 : 22:21:05

On my '83, Silver Girl, as delivered from the factory, the hull below the waterline was white below the bootstripe although the hull is grey. I suppose they thought why waste pigmented gel coat?

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Daniel
1st Mate

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78 Posts

Response Posted - 05/12/2004 : 18:31:36

Gloss: The glecoat below the waterline is indeed gray, based on an examination of some scratches and imperfections.

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/12/2004 : 20:56:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Daniel
 Mostly I just want to know how to repair the cracks and a very deep gouge. It looks like the PO filled it with caulking. I think I'll try the Epoxy repair.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

West Systems has very helpful and inexpensive manuals on all aspects of fiberglass repair - not to mention very user friendly products.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.