Considering purchase of Wenonah Minnesota II. I might want the durability of the Gel-coat finish put on. Any idea on do-ability, who, and how much? Nw Indiana -BOB
Gel coat
is applied to the mold before the hull is laid up. Trying to spray it on a hull and get good adhesion and a good finish would be …interesting.
no cost option
If you order it from the factory, but it doesn’t make it a Flexcore layup. There’s a lot more happening in the layup other than just a gel coat. I would not consider it possible after the boat is built, but to have it done at the factory will add about 7 lbs for that boat to the ultra lite weight.
Sorry…It’s a used boat.
Not going to happen huh?
You could roll on epoxy mixed with
graphite powder, but that may not stick well enough either. Maybe the best approach is just to be reasonably careful and to do spot repairs to those areas that develop surface damage.
You might consider
painting on a polyurethane finish. Although expensive, PU is now being used as a coating surface by some composite sailplane manufactures and is favored for its durability compared to gel coat. A few cedar strip canoe builders have tried it and like if for canoes. I’m not sure how it’d hold up on a Flexcore hull but I have thought that if I bought a used canoe needing resurfacing, I’d try PU.