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Im 19 years old and love boating, crabbing, fishing. My grandmother has a 18' Boston Whaler that has been unused for years. My dad said it is atleast 25 years old. Has 70hp Evinrude, and like new trailer. I probably can get this for free . However the gelcoat has many many blisters and spider cracks like crazy. When i say spider cracks i mean cosmetic. Not from any structural damage or weakness. It looks like a dried up river bed. A quick inspection revealed it goes all the way to the glass so it would have to be completely sanded off. The engine would need at the least a new impeller and a carb rebuild (plenty experience doing that). The engine work and electrical is no problem for me however i have never done any fiberglass or gelcoat. Ive been reading for days about gelcoat vs paint. No stories ive come across involve an application as serious as mine. What should i do? Restore it or look on. I dont need a boat as i can used my dads however id like to have it if not too much of a hassle. Im in no rush to use it and love projects. Any advice?

Thanks, Jason

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Welcome to the board Jason.

Here is a thread of a project I am doing. My boat had the same issues the one you are considering does. I chose to regelcoat the boat but that process is very costly. The cracks you are describing are referred to as "crazing".

http://www.whalercentral.com/forum/vi...ad_id=4340

If you look closely at this picture you will see what I am talking about

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/sraab928/1973%20Boston%20Whaler%2019%20Outrage/S6001172.jpg[/IMG]

As for the boat - are you sure its an 18? If so 70 doesn't sound like the right power for it. If the boat is for free and you are handy I would certainly go for it. The crazing is cosmetic. You could use as is.

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Jason,
As far as gel coat or paint, you'll get as many opinions as people you ask. The bottom line is paint takes a bit more prep work to provide a great final product, while gel coat requires a bit more work after you spray it to remove the orange peel and create a shine. It is a higher-build coating than paint though so the surface doesn't need to be 'quite' as perfect as for paint. Some say gel coat is easier to repair in the long term than paint, but honestly both products are getting to be pretty advanced these days. I am using gel on my boat but I made the decision more on the fact that I simply wanted to learn how to spray gel coat. You can't go wrong either way as it is really just a preference. I will say however that if you decide to remove all the old gel, do so slowly and carefully. I was a little too aggressive and have spent countless hours fixing my errors. Slower grinding will produce a faster restoration...trust me.
Jeff

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Thanks for the replies, yea sraab928 my gelcoat looks exactly the same. What did you do on your interior since the floor has that factory stamped anti slip. Did you just sand it off and paint it smooth? Also how was spraying the gelcoat? Was it difficult? Also how expensive is it to do?

Thanks Yiger for your input on the paint vs gelcoat. Ill really have to give it all a thought.

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Yea it is pretty underpowered..sigh haha. But the motor has less than 200 hours on it so its solid. I dont know maybe i could sell it and get something with some more kick....Whats the average motor for this size..bout 115 or so?

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My boat is in a shop right now - I have handed the work over to the professionals at this point. My gelcoat is completely removed. When they spray the new gelcoat they will press in the molds to replicate the non skid pattern. My understanding is its quite labor intensive and costly. I will have far more invested in my boat then she will be worth - but I am ok with that as I will have a brand new 73 Outrage for the fraction of the price of a new boat today and with, in my opinion, much more class.

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Just get the boat. Free is even better than cheap. You need to sand off all the crazing, spider cracks down to the original glass hull, (not hard to do, or expensive, just time consuming) and sand the rest of the boat to a smooth finish. If you don`t have any major glass work to do, you are lucky, but if you do, you can do it yourself. Paint or gelcoat the boat yourself, there is plenty of info on this site. to take you through it. It time to learn this hobby, your already 19. I started when I was 16, and still doing it at 71. I`ve had a number of boats, and can proudly say,all were project boats.