I just bought a green Old Town Canadienne that has some impact damage and scores on the gelcoat. I’m trying to source a gelcoat to do some repairs. I was wondering where is the best place to source gel coat and should I just apply the standard white gel coat and then paint over it, or should get the kit with the color additive?
I have a green kevlar OT Canadienne from 1989. It had a few cracks in it so I repaired them with epoxy and cloth, ground them out and painted them with Rustoleum marine paint. Gel coat is hard to work with. Paint is easy. It makes the canoe look 20 years younger. The paint protects the gelcoat from UV light.
Great canoes by the way. The quote I keep reading is “no one has ever passed me on a river.” Extremely fast boats.
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Gel coat is not very hard to work with. Same as you did with the epoxy.{mix the Gel with actuator, stir …and apply }
{I use un-waxed gel and then either spray or brush with PVA to cure it, some people like to use waxed gel instead of using PVA} only don’t need paint if you get the color on the gel correct. then it is all buff-able the same. Paint on the bottom of a boat shows it’s wear much more than Gel will.
To source the correct color of Gel, if you don’t care to do the pigment yourself, Get your gel from your boats manufacturer. Call them or e-mail them . Some have a web sight that lists repair items and Gel in the standard colors they use and is many times easiest to order from them.
Also…if you only need a very small amount of gel. Find a local shop that does marine fiberglass repair. Many marina’s have both a shop and a store.
Thank you both. I might check out a marina shop and see what they have available.
I used Evercoat 105670 https://www.amazon.com/Evercoat-Step-Finish-Kote-105670/dp/B0000VBZEE . Very easy to use. Just mix the gel coat and hardener. I just brushed it on where needed but you can thin and spray it. Reasonable working time. Clean up with acetone. Bright white. Tint if desired before adding hardener. Color matching is an art. With an older boat even factory gel coat will not be a perfect match. Available at many boating and RV stores.
As I was just repairing a few scratches on the bottom of the hulls of my 21 year old Necky Arluk 1.9 and my wife’s much newer QCC 600 I didn’t worry about matching the slightly off-white hulls and it was smooth enough that I didn’t bother sanding it. Perfection is the enemy of good enough. Beach landings will eventually sand it down.
If you just use white gel coat and then paint it you will have more maintenance with time and any scratches will show up bright white.