Gelcoat repair vs Paint

[Jazzmanic]

I brought C-Dancer to Bitter End Boatworks for detailing and gelcoat repair after reading the rave reviews by Pat Anderson. C-Dancer is 10 years old and has mostly been dry stored but has spent a few seasons outside. She definitely has her share of scuffs and needs a really good detailing. Several years ago I scratched the green stripe on the starboard side pretty bad and pretty deep (probably 8-10 horizontal scratches about a foot long) and it's always bothered me that it was never repaired. I also attempted to fix a few gouges by myself using gelcoat and wet sandpaper. It turned out ok but definitely amateurish and not an exact color match. 

So I wanted these gelcoat problems looked at and fixed, as well as buffing out some surface scuffs and dings, a good cleaning, waxing and deoxidizing the brow. After looking at the problem areas with his fiberglass guy, here's the question I was asked: 

There are two ways to go: 1) If I really cared about bringing the boat back to showroom condition they could just tape off the hull and paint the stripe, I'm guessing with awlgrip or 2) they could just concentrate on repairing the gelcoat and color matching. 

For some reason, I didn't want to paint over the gelcoat and opted for repairing the gelcoat. Would there be a downside of painting over the stripe? They told me that if painted, if there were further damage down the line, it would be easier just to paint over again. I answered that if there were significant difference in cost to paint vs. gelcoat repair, then I would consider it. They said there wouldn't be a significant price difference. 

What would you opt for in this situation? I do want to get the boat looking as good as possible, not necessarily show room condition but close.

Peter 
C-Dancer 

[Easyvictor.14]

I had an older Albin painted with Awlgrip several years ago and it was as good or better looking than new gel coat! They paint most megayachts with the same product.
I've tought about panting a C Dory hull solid blue like the Cape Cruisers you see on occasion. Looks good to me.

[ssobol]

In order to get a good finish, wouldn't they have to fix the gelcoat anyway? Yeah, you wouldn't need a color match, but you'd still have to fill in the gouges.

I had some gouges on the lower side of the hull (in the colored area). Fixing it with a gelcoat repair kit worked pretty well. It took some time mixing the color, but unless you know where to look (and look close) you can't see the repair.

I have some gouges on the starboard aft side in the white area. These still need to be fixed. Maybe this summer...

[williwaw]

Man, I feel your pain. My green stripe also has a couple deep gouges that bug me.

When I asked my local yard their expert said it's very difficult to match dark colors and that I probably wouldn't be happy with the result. They've done good work for me in the past so I tend to believe them but I'd be interested in any real-world experience.

They recommended painting the strip but said you had to be careful which paint you used as it had to be tolerant of gasoline. Not sure about the 22's, but on my CC23 the tank vent is right in the middle of the stripe so it's likely gas will hit it with some frequency.

[thataway]

Getting a match on most of the C Dory colors is difficult for the gel coat. The black is probably easiest to match.

With Awlgrip, you will get 10 to 11 years of like new look. Yes, the underlying surface has to be prepped to perfection, but you will use an epoxy filler, not gel coat. Properly done, the area is sanded, filled, sanded again, 2 part epoxy primer, most likely sanded and a second coat of primer, then several coats of color Awlgrip, and finally a clear coat, for the very best look.

I have had a number of boats done that way, and it is far easier to care for than the gel coat, but not cheap!