Here’s what I’ve learned in my week-long quest to repair dozens of little cracks and holes on our Parker. I don’t know if it’s right and some experts can point out the flaws in my approach but once I distilled it down to this everything became a lot less daunting!
1. Liquid 2-part resin for small holes and coating exposed wood on larger repairs
2. MarineTex for filling larger areas to build it up to a level surface.
3. Color matched gel coat from Cecil Marine
4. Supplies: 180, 220, & 400 grit sand paper, some plastic spreaders, a stack of Dixie cups, blue painters tape, rubber gloves, clear plastic sheet protectors, and lots of paper towels. Can of acetone for cleaning up.
The “magic secret” that unlocked everything for me was stumbling upon the idea of the clear sheet covers. I was cleaning out my office cupboards last week and getting ready to thrown them away (“why do I still have these!?” I was literally in bed later that night unable to sleep and the idea of using them just came to me.
The secret to getting epoxy or gel coat (or resin) to not sag out from a repair which is not perfectly horizontal is to tape a small square of this plastic sheet over the repair material tightly enough that it forms a smooth surface. The repair will cure and you can just peel the plastic off. Very little sanding will be required to make it all match perfectly! I’m sure this is probably an “old trick” used by pros but it really is a game changer. I’m shocked I’d never read about it before (that I can remember)
It also works brilliantly for repairing corners and other irregular edges that used to give me fits trying to patch with putty that I let set long enough to be stiff but workable. Sooooo much easier!
So I’ve spent the entire weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) drilling out old holes that were filled with 5200 by the PO, cleaning up other dings and gouges with 180 paper, and identifying all the repair spots with a tiny square of blue tape.
Then I mixed a pot of resin and went all around the boat wetting out the large repairs and filling small ones level.
The following day I did a bit more sanding with 180, made a batch of MarineTex and then went around again to all the large repair areas (or spots where aluminum window frame had corroded through, etc).
While those repairs were curing I also replaced corroded bright work, refinished all my teak trim, and stripped and refinished the aluminum trim around the main cabin door with almond appliance paint (turned out great but wow what a messy job!). I also removed the starboard window to make a template for a replacement from Wynn Inc ($575 + crating and shipping)
Now I’m just waiting for the heavy fog that has suddenly descended to lift so I can go back and do my final gel coat repairs in the exterior.
I am no longer afraid of doing gel coat repairs!
