gouge

[salty pig]

well tried to dock boat  by myself and I have a big boat next to me  current was strong and engine died out as i was pulling in so current pulled me out and turned me into the guys boat next to me. his prop hit my side and gouged it . anything to worry about what i should do when i pull it?

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Salty,

Depends how deep the gouge is? Did it just nick the gelcoat or is it into the fiberglass?

I would not worry about it until I pulled it ... as long as there is epoxy or gelcoat still protecting the hull.

When you remove it, you can either buy a gelcoat kit or get someone to fix it. A small gouge can take an hour or two of labor ... so figure $250 to fix ...

Of course, this is without seeing the damage.

SOrry to hear about this but it can be fixed and you will not even know it was there ... these folks that do these types of repair can color match very well.

Good luck,

Ed

[salty pig]

guess its just gelcoat  i didnt see any fiberglass sticking out. not sure the depth of the  gelcoat on boats.

[Capt. Mike]

Hi Salty,

Is the gouge below or at the water line? How deep is the deepeast part of the gouge from origanal surface? Do you see any fibers?

[salty pig]

above water line few inches didnt see any fibers so i think its just gelcoat. lets not tell wife how much this cost i may i have to front for new F Finder

[mboy]

Samthing happened to me earlier this season. Mine is at least a foot or so above water line. May have gone thru gelcoat. A 2-4 " gash.

Oh well. I will worry about it over the winter

[Capt. Mike]

As long as you are above the water line, and without having any exposed fibers of the glass I would not sweat it. If you do see some fibers and again it is above the water line you do want to seal that so you do not have a delamination problem. A little rough up with some sand paper, dab the area with acetone and brush some gelcoat on and that will get you through till you pull the boat in the winter.