Moe wrote:
There are rubber sheets you can buy with various non-skid patterns molded into them that you lay in wet gelcoat to imprint it.
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Moe
Another trick is to wax an area with the pattern with carnuba wax, or if possible, an actual silicon mold release. Buy a tube of aquarium quality pure silicon caulk. Spread it about 1/2"over the waxed, and polished area. let it sit for a day or more. Be patient.... peel it off. Voila! Pretty much nothing sticks to a silicon mold. to be safe always spray it before using with silicon.
Good ideas, and with a Mac you become proficient with gel coat repair....part of owning it!
What I do, is go to a craft store, pick up a few inexpensive modeling clay chunks that are about 80 cents each, mold a small handle in the top, and work it into the pattern. Put it into the oven for a few minutes at a couple hundred degree's and I then have a permanant mold that will last years!
I have filled many voids, and do not hesitate to break out the gelcoat and go to town now! I am a novice and achieve great results! Practice,practice,practice!
Just my 2 cents but I wouldn't worry to much about the stress cracks. I had a 78 Century stink boat and there were hundreds of stress cracks on the deck. It was exposed to the weather for the six years I owned it ( and for most of the boats life I suspect) and I never experienced any softening nor degregation of the deck. As you stated you can live with the bubble on the liner so why not invest that $1000 savings on equiptment for the boat.
Good luck with your decision.
Bye the way are you buying this boat from Jim Allred?
I have a white hull, so I have not had the issues people have talked about re: the gel coat showing scratches. I do, however, have a few areas of what seem like "overspray" - you can see that the surface looks a little rough if you look at it from a very shallow angle; these are not noticeable from normal viewing angles, but I know they are there because of waxing the boat. Each time I wax it they get a little less noticeable though, so I guess they will eventually rub out. The mold must not have been perfectly clean inside when they sprayed the gel coat.
I also have a spot on the forward, starboard side where the gel coat is very thin. When the sun is shining on that side of the boat, you can see a light spot from inside the boat. I had this spot checked out by a pro, and he checked the fiberglas and said it is not structural - either the gel-coat was thin in the mold, or there was a flaw and when the factory or dealer rubbed it out they were a bit overzealous and got it thin. This spot is well above the waterline (about a foot above the level of the V-Berth cushion), so I'm not worryong about it - just keeping a close eye on it. If you look at ares of the glass under the seats, you can see that it is pretty translucent, so if there was no gel coat, the sun would shine through all over the hull.
I did a little more research, and at the risk of revealing my ignorance, discovered some new information. For one thing I did not discuss vinylester resin as a repair product. It just smells too bad, and is too toxic for me (styrene). Epoxies are toxic, but at least you can't smell it. I have no experience with vinylester, past knowing it has very good water vapour migration reistance.
Apparently, most knowledgable polyester lay-ups use a very thin gelcoat. That way it remains slightly flexible. In the 70's when gelcoats were applied thickly, they eventually cracked, and de-laminated. applying them thinly may show micro-fissures, but alleviates delaminating. There is no easy way to patch the "crazed" areas. It is not a seious problem. If you keep your boat on the water, it eventually can become a problem, after a few years. The best solution is probably a catalyzed urethane paint like Imron. Urethanes are flexible and very tough.
Michael, I met him at the Metro Beach boatshow several years ago. He is the salesrep for Michigan and he seems like a nice guy to do business with. He was discounting 2002 X's at an unbelievable rate. This was one week after 9/11/01 and my job was in jeapardy so I didn't buy one at the time. I bought a used 2000X last season and the previous owner had bought the boat from Jim. He was happy with the transaction but said that he had to do all the rigging and commissioning of the boat. This of course saved him alot of money. He eventually when to Powersailing in Ohio and had them add a lot of extras on the boat. He was very impressed with the service at Powersailing.
There have been many good replies regarding the structural side of cracks in the sole. It is important to assure structural integrity. On the cosmetic side, if you want to hide cracks on the sole, cabin or cockpit, take a look at Plasteak/Plasdeck products. They add an upgrade teak look in the cockpit or cabin, are ZERO maintenance, and avoid the soiled look non-skid gets from dirt, bugs, bird dung, etc. In the cockpit it can be power-washed if needed. It glues down like a vinyl flooring and is waterproof and not slippery when wet. In the cockpit you cut and prepare it in strips just like real teak. See it at http://www.plasteak.com/TAH.htm http://www.plasteak.com/boating/plasdeck/plasdeck.html
It's not real cheap but it looks good and has no maintenance.
It was mentioned above that a particular dealer "is the sales rep for Michigan".
I've heard from customers that a dealer they contacted said they were the exclusive dealer for that area, so that if they wanted to buy a MacGregor, they had to buy it from him. That is not true.
I've sold Macs to customers in nineteen states, so far, including Michigan. The first 26M I sold was to a customer in Florida. My three most recent sales were to customers in Tennessee, New York, and Colorado.
They come to me because they get a very good boat, rigged with very good equipment, at a very good price.
If you can get a better deal at another dealer, buy it there.
