Gel coat damage from trailer bunk

[Mebassn]

I have noticed wear on my hull from both of my center bunks on my 882 trailer. The damage has actually gotten deep enough to expose the fiberglass below all the layers of gel coat. This has been an ongoing problem for some time and now needs to be fixed. What would be the best way to fix the boat? The area is about 3" x 5" on each side of the keel about 2 feet forward of where the boat sits on the bunk. I have also thought about shortening the center bunks back to the forward most bracket, would this help the "contact" spot during loading, as this is when the wear occurs or would this become a problem when trying to load? Any advise would be great, especially for repairing the damage.



The only fix I have tried to date is using a gel coat repair kit to cover the spot but that only lasted a year or so.



Thanks,



Eric

 

[Berry Lindley]

Time to get out the American Express card....I'd probably have that fixed by a pro due to where that is. If you don't fix it you will regret it down the road with a potentially larger repair bill. Sounds like you may not have enough padding on the bunks and possibly don't have the trailer in the water far enough when you load.

 

[Mebassn]

I will agree with you Berry, i most likely do not have the trailer far enough in the water. As for the fix, since the glass fibers are not showing, I am going to try and fix it like I used to do on surfboards with resin layers then use a gel coat repair kit to try and color match it back. If this doesn't work then I will have no other choice. Thanks for the info.



Eric