Peeling and Cracking Fix

[Alexandria]

I would love to repair/refinish the fiberglass myself, just not sure where to start. Sanding away the old seems pretty obvious

 

[Alexandria]

 

[Alexandria]

 

[sean9c]

Grind it all back and start again.

 

[lwarden]

That looks like it could be paint and not gelcoat. As stated above. it's all needs to be ground back to solid material, primed then sprayed. It's going to be a challenge to prep the non-skid area, it will probably need to be ground all the way off and an alternative non-skid applied, or some form of synthetic teak might be better. Either way, you have a serious task ahead.

What is the maker of the boat and any past history that would explain the condition?

 

[Lou_tribal]

Looks like what is peeling is paint not fiberglass, sand, clean, prime, paint.
Good luck and happy sanding!

L

 

[Alexandria]

That looks like it could be paint and not gelcoat. As stated above. it's all needs to be ground back to solid material, primed then sprayed. It's going to be a challenge to prep the non-skid area, it will probably need to be ground all the way off and an alternative non-skid applied, or some form of synthetic teak might be better. Either way, you have a serious task ahead.

What is the maker of the boat and any past history that would explain the condition?

It's an '89 Ocean Alexander 39'
Thank you very much for pointing out that it's probably just paint. That actually lowered my blood pressure.｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡.
I'm a true novice to living on the water. I'm assuming there's specific primer and paint for protection against the assault of the elements? The guidance on this forum from what I've read and received so far has been a huge help -Tom

 

[Comodave]

If it is indeed paint, then sand it off and paint it with Kiwigrip. Much less prep and it will hide minor flaws in the surface.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. C. Kiwi-Grip is great for horizontal surfaces but I wouldn't coat it much above 1" from deck on vertical surfaces.
When we painted our boat there was quite an area of spider cracking (Mr. A's first picture) spread about. A good heavy sanding and paint completely covered them.
Mr. A's second picture suggests loose coating which, IMO, should be removed, faired and then painted. Can highly recommend the Alexseal system. No need to completely remove all that area, just the loose material.

 

[lwarden]

There appears to be a large amount of what looks to be poor quality fairing compound (Bondo) in the second image. Perhaps this was an area where a patch was made for an obsolete piece of electronics? Either way, as RT suggested above, Alexseal in roll and tip application would make the most sense. There are a number of compatible primers around after the fairing has been corrected, but Alexseal 442 would be a good choice.
I find quite a few Ocean Alexanders have been painted, seems the gelcoat guy was heavy handed and laid on too much material which led to cracking, especially in the corners. I have a friend with a newish 64 and it had been repainted a couple years ago with a cost well into the six figure range!

 

[tiltrider1]

Picture 1 is a common issue with OA from the 80’s. The gel coat was very thick in those years. The second picture is not factory work. I agree with those pointing out some very shoddy patch work and repaint.

 

[Comodave]

Greetings,
Mr. C. Kiwi-Grip is great for horizontal surfaces but I wouldn't coat it much above 1" from deck on vertical surfaces.
When we painted our boat there was quite an area of spider cracking (Mr. A's first picture) spread about. A good heavy sanding and paint completely covered them.
Mr. A's second picture suggests loose coating which, IMO, should be removed, faired and then painted. Can highly recommend the Alexseal system. No need to completely remove all that area, just the loose material.

I painted the bow and side decks on our last boat with Kiwigrip. We used it as a CG patrol boat so the crew was wearing combat boots. (Yes, I used to tell our son that his mother wore combat boots…). So to keep the shoe scuffs from damaging the decks and cabin sides I painted up the cabin sides about 8” to a knuckle in the cabin side. It worked great and wasn’t any different from painting the horizontal surfaces. No sagging or other problems. And the Kiwigrip didn’t show any scuffing from the boots.

 

[sean9c]

It's an '89 Ocean Alexander 39'
Thank you very much for pointing out that it's probably just paint. That actually lowered my blood pressure.｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡.
I'm a true novice to living on the water. I'm assuming there's specific primer and paint for protection against the assault of the elements? The guidance on this forum from what I've read and received so far has been a huge help -Tom

That makes sense. OA has lousy gelcoat. They gelcoat all the parts in the mold but then end up doing so much cutting and patching during construction that after it's all put together they spray on a bunch more gelcoat then sand and polish it all back. Ends up being really crappy gelcoat. And, ya, lots of polyester putty under a lot of it.
As I said, grind it all back and start again, that includes the putty.

 

[Comodave]

On our last boat President put the gel coat on way too thick also. It had stress cracking in large areas. One section it was almost 1/8” thick. I ended up using a belt sander to remove it down to the glass and then faired it out before painting. The nonskid had stress cracks all over so I sanded all the nonskid off and painted the decks with Kiwigrip. By using the Kiwigrip I didn’t have to grind out all the stress cracks, just sanded the nonskid off and then rolled the Kiwigrip on. It came out great and was fine 4 years later when I sold the boat.

 

[Alexandria]

There appears to be a large amount of what looks to be poor quality fairing compound (Bondo) in the second image. Perhaps this was an area where a patch was made for an obsolete piece of electronics? Either way, as RT suggested above, Alexseal in roll and tip application would make the most sense. There are a number of compatible primers around after the fairing has been corrected, but Alexseal 442 would be a good choice.
I find quite a few Ocean Alexanders have been painted, seems the gelcoat guy was heavy handed and laid on too much material which led to cracking, especially in the corners. I have a friend with a newish 64 and it had been repainted a couple years ago with a cost well into the six figure range!

Thank you for the good orderly direction friends.
Alexseal 442... I'll certainly start with that. Also ordered some kiwigrip, I'm sure I'll find a spot here and there to touch up, maybe even coat the swim platform.
Thanks again -Tom
IWarden&RT

 

[Alexandria]

I'm thinking prime area's for the kiwigrip you kind folks clued me into?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. A. Alexseal make an excellent 2-part (mix 1:1) fairing compound. Beautiful to work with and sands quite easily...and is compatible with the rest of their product line and it's got a fairly long pot life unlike Bondo which can flash over in minutes. AFAIK, it is NOT polyester (Bondo).

 

[Alexandria]

Agradezco sinceramente ese consejo. Sincerely appreciate you -Tom