I searched and searched, but couldn't find what I was looking for.

1994 Nacra 5.5
Bottom is a little scrathed because of my not having beachwheels, and launching on a sandy shore with shells

I flipped her over the other day, and found some chips near the daggerboard trunks. I mixed up some 2 part epoxy and cabosil, and filled them in. Wet sanded back with 100, then 220, then 400 and finally 600. I filled in a few scratches down there as well, sanded etc... Is this a good way of fixing these problems? The one area that concerned me looked as though it was almost through the gel-coat, and thats the one I concentrated on the most.

My problem is, I want it to look new again Can I wet sand the entire boat, and then buff/polish it out, and then finally wax? DO I need to dis-assemble the boat, and take the hulls somewhere to have more gel sprayed on them?!?!

One thing that bugs me is where the factory pinstripes used to be, and how that area appears to be raised up from the rest of the boat.

Somewhere I saw an article about someone that refinished some nacra hulls, but can't seem to locate it anymore..

help!

Hi Theo,

I own a 1990 N6.0 that looks brand new, I disassembled the entire boat and sanded down the Hulls.
It was a hell of a job but is was worth it.
You did not say anything about the age of your boat.
I ask this because if your boat has a vintage age like mine you will find some tiny cracks in the hulls that you can fix with gel-coat the problem is getting gel-coat in the same color as the original hulls with a older boat this is almost impossible.
When we finished my hulls we did paint (sprayed) them with a 2 component boat paint which is very hard.
Now after two seasons the boat still looks better than some boats manufactured two years ago.
The only problem with this is that you will loose the non slip structure of the upper decks these will be filled with paint so I have sanded them down.
If you want I can send you detailed pictures just let me know.

Before:


After:

it's a 1994

Doesn't look too bad, in fact, after polishing it up the other week, it shines again (mostly)
Pictures would be greatly appriciated though!

TAftonomos@cfl.rr.com

Theo,

I painted a hobie 18 with Imron which is a two part paint, and the boat looked great and the finish held up good. I would not paint another small cat for several reasons paint chips easy, paint peels off bottom if hit with sharp object,adds extra weight.
I would rather spray gel coat or try and sand and buff if there is enough gel coat on the hulls.

Just my thoughts

I've painted my boat before. Its true that the bottoms scratch, but it doesn't scratch as much as I thought it would.

Do you want high resolution pictures ?
Or low resolution.
In other words do you have a modem or an ADSL connection ?

I've got cable, so you can throw whatever ya want at me