Bad Gell Coat

[bbagin1969]

The gentleman from whom I purchased the boat has dementia, and he tried to explain to me that he thinks the last time he got the boat painted, they used regular car wax/gelcoat, and that's the reason it's failing badly. Does this make sense to anyone?

I just want to get it taken care of so it doesn't get worse. I paid to get it detailed, thinking they would sand it down and it would take care of it, but it did not.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Viper]

That looks like a clearcoat that's peeling off. It's usually a coating applied over paint however there are products like ceramic coatings that are used over gelcoat too. It's not gelcoat that's peeling. The question is whether the black coating is paint or gelcoat though it looks to be paint.

[bud37]

I agree it sure looks like a clearcoat product of some kind........I wonder if it could be one of those make your boat shiny again products from a few years back.

If it is you will have to find the solvent that removes it without damaging the gel below it. I would show a boat painting / resto shop that specializes and see what they say about that. You really don't want to damage the original gel if at all possible as it is not very thick.