The final step – for this year – to resurrecting the gel coat was to fill the four holes in the hull from the old Turnstone signs, plus repair a small scratch on the port side of the hull… there was also some sort of, err, goop that needed to be sanded off just below that scratch.
Armed with West Marine’s Gel Coat Repair paste, a spouse who is not as color blind as me, some dry and wet sand paper, it went pretty smoothly. Filled the holes with polyester resin, then topped with gel coat repair paste, let is all dry. Sand the gel coat repair smooth, use 220 grit and a power sander (gently) to remove the old name and flatten the gel coat repair down. Wet sand with 400, then 600… another round of rubbing compound, wax, buff, and voila:
Not a perfect color match (the gel coat repair keeps a wetter look once dry than I would have thought, probably should have lightened it up a tiny bit) but a massive improvement over how it started. Check the gallery for a good before and after video.
Click here for a full gallery of the last parts of the buff.
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