Spider cracking

eastont

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I thought I posted this earlier, but I can't find it, so I'll do it again.

I have spider cracks in various places along my hull and deck. The worst is the area where you step in and off the boat by the rail opening.

Is there any easy way to fix these?

Or what is the correct way to fix these?
 
They are not "easy" to fix as you are talking about cosmetics, but can be fixed by a good gel coat guy. The real problem is that fixing the cracks does nothing to fix the problem that causes them to crack in the first place. Until you do that, there is no point in trying to fix them.

You have to put in the structure to prevent flexing that the mfg did not. That means adding bulkheads/bracing, or whatever is missing that allows the skin to flex in the first place. Sometimes there is just not enough boat there to truly fix this. Especially when the skin itself is too thin to stabilize without adding additional layup.

As far as how..., you have to open them up to remove all the fractured gel, and also to create a large enough area to "key" new gel in using a mechanical bond. That basically means a V shape. A can opener is almost ideal for this (the old metal kind, not one of those things with a crank...P) Then you fill with new gel coat. Finally, you sand the entire area and spray a surface coat of gel that you color match individually to the particular area you are fixing (different sides of the boat will have different colors due to sun and fading). Lastly you then finish sand though all grits and finally cut/polish using a buffer. This is a lot of work with quite a bit of art to making gel colors blend in. You won't be pleased if it simply cracks again after you do all this work within a few days or months of doing the repair.
 
What Ghost said is correct, just a note that what you are referring to is called "crazing".
 
Geeze, this sounds as difficult as the bottom. I will have to have a fiberglass guy do it.
 
Yes...and be wary of fiberglass guys who will take your money confident they can 'fix" the cracks who don't volunteer to "fix" the boat flexing. There are many/most who will happily do just that and then accurately tell you later that the reappearance of the cracks had nothing to do with the quality of their work. Something of a technicality, but I'll make a bet right here that the first TWO guys you talk to won't even suggest doing anything but fixing the cosmetics. If they do, that in itself is an indication you are talking to someone with integrity.
 
Ghost is right on page. Fixing it is nice, but solving the problem so it does not happen again after the repair is another story.
 
You are likely stepping on the boat in a "thin" area. You can help prevent further cracking by installing a step plate either entirely of teak or teak and stainless. This will help distribute the load across a larger area, thus hopefully preventing new cracks. I also agree with everything said above. That is, you have to add more structure beneath the crack to prevent if from coming back after a repair.
 
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