Metallic gel coat repair

[Pgrider]

Thanks for the add. I just purchased my first new boat, it’s a 2019 Nautique 210. Love the boat but second day I had it, against my better judgement my brother and I tied together and a wake boat went by the wave dislodged a fender and the boats touched. Few small dings in mine. Then last nite while camping some *** hat keyed my boat. I’m in British Columbia Canada, any ideas how much this will cost to fix. No one in my area to do this kind of work. So will need to travel.

[bturner]

Wow really sorry to hear and see this. The small scratches may be able to sand out or clear then sand/polish. The latter not the ideal fix but I've had some luck making them not noticeable like this.

That scratch though that's insane. I would have lost my stuff right there. unless it's really nowhere near as bad as it looks that is going to be expensive, as in call the insurance company now and maybe file a report with the police. The way I've seen them do flake is to pretty much blend a large portion of the panel being repaired which in this case would include removing the lettering on the side. Wild a$$ guess..... $3K maybe more for everything. Looks like the lettering alone is $215.

[NautiqueJeff]

I have had a LOT of gelcoat repairs done, although none has been metal flake. My thought is that it won't be as bad as you think. If it was not metal flake, I'd say less than $1,000. Not sure how much more repairing the metal flake will be though.

You might get really lucky and be able to sand most of it out. That would reduce the cost quite a bit if it is possible.

I can't imagine how mad I'd be if someone did that to one of my boats.

[Pgrider]

Oh trust me I’m furious, now that I own a surf boat I watch other boaters. T Ed minds me of when snowboards first hit the slopes skiers hated them. I find the same thing boaters do pretty stupid things in front of surf boats try to disrupt the wave. I try to stay away from small boats and shorelines but some guys just go out of their way. Reason I mentioned this is there were 2 boats that saw me come and trimmed up to put the nose high to give me a wave. Right in front of me. Thinking one of those clowns. Anyhow I spoke to my salesman he figures about 1000 for the long scratch and others both sure I’m going to say 2 k. Lettering won’t have to come off. Taking to a guy 10 hours from here as we have no one here. But I am assured it will look good they are a certified Nautique dealer for gelcoat repairs. All marks are all 1/16 th of inch deep For the worst ones. I will be making some changes to how I boat that’s for sure.

[bturner]

Please update us on this repair and cost. The guy at the shop I use told me they quote 2 to 3 times what solid colors cost for repair but that would be about 5 years ago that I had that conversation, maybe it's different now. Their biggest challenge is getting the flake to match. I worked in a body shop while going to University (that's college in Canada for those of you not located by a border city) and we had the same problems then. Even if you got the color spot on you still had variables like the amount of, color of, or mix of colors of flake that can throw the match off. Then there was how the flake "flopped" or laid down when it was shot which could be affected by the amount of air pressure you used in the gun while shooting it. It wasn't unusual for us to paint practically the entire side of a car for a dent or scratch in the door. When possible we would would paint to a break or body line to mask the possible color or flake mismatch.

It'll be interesting to see what your guy has to say. Maybe all these challenges have gone away with new technology or the scratch isn't as bad as it looks in the picture.

Best of luck!

[Pgrider]

So, I’m taking my boat to the shop that my dealer uses. Without seeing the boat just from pictures that I sent him. He is figuring about 3600 Canadian. May be less once he sees it. The other side he is going to try and cover it up and polish so that to will drop the cost. Will give a final tally when I get the boat back.

[Pgrider]

Sorry i did not post sooner but total repair was 5 k Canadian. I went through insurance