Hi Folks,
I’ve read the previous posts regarding deck crazing but mine appears to be more serious. The entire surface of the deck including the nonskid and the smooth areas is covered with thousands of tiny cracks. I’ve had professionals give me different answers. Some have said a simple sanding and repainting would be fine, others have said no, you have to tediously grind out every crack, fill it then paint, and still others say it’s just cosmetic don’t do anything. I’d love some insights from you fellow Freedom sailors about this problem.
Richard Meltz
I have seen this before on old grp boats, the worst was on a Hurley 18 built in the early 60’s her deck moulding was a complete mass of small half moon shaped cracks, ihave also seen similar on macwesters. On old boats severe weathering will cause this but i suspect if severe there is some degradation of the gelcoat itself. If its only superficial you could try wetsanding with 600, 800, 1000 wet n dry & then re polishing with G7 . Risk is you go through the gel & leave the laminate grinning through which looks horrible. If it doesnt polish out then its sand down & two pack paint time.