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I know this is a common thing among many of the older whaler hull owners, removal of cracked gelcoat prior to refinishing...

My questions for those of you who have completed this task before are as follows:

1) To what level did you remove to? My boat previously was skimmed with filler and painted, so of course I have removed all of that, I have removed all of the gelcoat on the starboard side, fine line between the black (some kind of bonding agent?) and actual glass. Mine is to the glass pretty much everywhere but that is what it took to remove all signs of cracks

[img]http://www.meierweb.com/bw/starboard.jpg[/img]

2) How nervous where you when you realized the thickness of the gelcoat and the underlying glass is anything but consistant? I have a few areas where I swear I can see foam, and one where I know I can by the carry handle on the transom. But it seems solid and the areas around do not flex or otherwise appear weak. What have you done to seal a hull at this stage? I do plan to Awlgrip it...

[img]http://www.meierweb.com/bw/foam.jpg[/img]

3) Last but not least. What have you had success with when trying to reach the bottom and corners of the splashwell? My hand is barely big enough to fit down there let alone any grinding/sanding tool I have, and this is one the worst areas on my hull. I want it smooth as silk but can't seem to find anything to get in there to clean it up.

[img]http://www.meierweb.com/bw/splashwell.jpg[/img]

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I can`t think of any way to remove the gelcoat from those areas that you can`t reach. I would hand sand those areas, and then fill them with a skim coat of bondo. Also if you have gone through the glass into the foam, I would cover those areas with mat.

rich

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Maybe a dremel with some sanding attachment? Stick with low speed or you could fly right through the glass.

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Hello Robmeier,
First of all,You're doin' a great job on that 13...
If you're hitting glass than you'll be fine.
If youre using a grinder to take her down than you will experience some kind of grinding marks that is left behind from your grinder.
Two thing can be used,Putty(that's cabisil sp? mixed with resin)and hardener of course. Or left over gelcoat or fresh gel coat.
Putty the deep imperfection..than roll some gel coat to catch all the tiny imperfection,than sand her down.
As for that spot that you can NOT sand or get the DA to...well,My guys here has a distinctive nick name for it..They call it "FINGER-F%$#@ it ":)

Best Regards,
Richard

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Thanks for the comments and support,

FYI For the most part I am using a paint scarfer, very similar to this product

http://www.paintshaver.com/marineshav...haver.html

except the one I am using has two blades instead of three. Two passes with it reveals some glass, then I am hitting it with a sander swinging 80 grit. So far only one bad gouge...

I do plan to lay some glass over the really thin spots and fair it in, And I probably will delete the handles on the transom, they seem exceptionally thin around them ...
(sorry purists)

I can't wait to tell my wife I have to go finger the boat!

Let's go watch the fireworks...

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Wow - now thats a cool tool.... Watched the video - that puppy is aggressive!