Gelcoat repair

[GenesisCaptain]

Bottom work is done. New motor mount done. Radio fixed. Inside scrubbed. We're ready for splash time....except for one tiny thing. Well, not so tiny actually. When we had the boat hauled I know noticed two discolored spots that upon further inspection were really bad gelcoat repairs the origins of I know not. The one looked like someone had just tipped some white paint over some scratches. The other looked like a bad drywall patch that required quite a bit of filling, sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, and now she's ready for final coat. The yard where she's blocked was supposed to give me an estimate yesterday but hasn't gotten back to me yet and my last conversation with the yard owner gave me the distinct impression that he really didn't want to do the job nor could he guarantee a color match. So here's the deal. We splash Thursday and then will be sailing for 3 days to home port for the summer. This is not an option, we have to get her home this weekend.

So here's my options as I see them. First of all, I'm not anal about a boat, I want her to look nice and function safely but could care less if she's perfect. To me a boat is for sailing, not working on. That being said

Option #1 - Beg the yard to Puhleeeeeze give me an estimate and get the work done toot sweet for a fair price(not a real option, just for humor....OK, not really that funny)

Option #2 - Slap some paint on 'er and be done with it for 2 years until she's hauled again and I can get the job done right.

Option #3 - Do the job myself right now and hope for the best. I seriously doubt I can do a great job but I feel confident I can do a decent job. She's a '78 C27 with neglected gel coat so getting a perfect job is probably not possible at this point. If I decide to do this myself I will be rolling on gel coat and tinting it myself Wednesday afternoon for a Thursday morning splash. Will I have enough drytime??

Any opinions or other options are most appreciated.

[sailingdog]

I'd point out that once you go with paint, it is almost impossible to strip the boat and go back to gelcoat. If the night temperature drops low enough, you may have problems with the gelcoat curing. Why not wait until you get her to her homeport and do the job there, when you have the time to do it right???

[scottyt]

here is a recent thread with 2 ways to go at it.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...ne-please.html

here is a google search of sailnet with the terms of gelcoat repair

gelcoat repair site:sailnet.com/forums - Google Search