Hairline cracks in fibreglass

[dboyes]

Does anyone have these on their boat?

[attachment=1]IMG_0087.jpeg[/attachment]

And what should be done about them? If water infiltrates there could be problems I guess.

[jhance]

Can't view attachment.

[dboyes]

I think the attachment is there now?

[NorWyn]

David,

I think I have very similar cracks at my stanchion posts as well. So far I have ignored them....but perhaps that is false economy.

I googled “spider cracks in gel coat”.

There is a lot of useful information including this which looks like a easy fix if the have not progressed or deteriorated too far. I doubt the ones in your picture are letting much water in yet. I suspect waxing would be effective in the short term. Another site showed ones that had progressed much further and needed to be ground out with a Dremel. (I doubt you need do that at this point).

https://magicezy.com/repairing-hairline ... r-gelcoat/

No affiliation and not sure if you could buy it online or not.

Good luck. Let us know how you end up resolving them.

- Chris

[dboyes]

Chris,

Thank you for this, very informative.

I think for the winter I will do an extra wax on the cracks and observe in the spring.

[hwhit44886]

I have used the magicezy on two boats, works great, and the offwhite is almost a perfect color match..

[dboyes]

Thanks for this idea.