So, back to my boat. After the initial clean-up I set about figuring out what needed to be fixed. It might be easier to list what didn’t need to be fixed, but since I’m blogging here I can just post pictures. 🙂 First off, the hull, while structurally sound, was rough around the edges. The outside of any fiberglass boat made since the early 80’s or so is a material called gelcoat. Gelcoat is crazy stuff to work with. More on that later. Some images of problem gelcoat areas on my boat:

And, the most ugly scar of all was this spot where the nose must have been repeatedly rubbed on a dock, or a beach or something. It wore through the gelcoat and even through the first layer of fiberglass. It is somewhat interesting to look at the pattern of the weave on the fiberglass and see how the boat is constructed. Happily, the only damage here is to the the outer layer of fiberglass which is more of a filler type of material, but the woven stuff underneath is still solid as a rock.

The ugly part on the bow

So, that’s the outside. The inside wasn’t a whole lot better. That’s next.