How to Repair Crazing on Your Boat | Boatworks Today with Andy Miller

I've watched a lot of boat and fiberglass building and repair videos over the past decade, and I can honestly say that Andy Miller of @BoatworksToday is about the best there is in terms of content (info & tutorials) and delivery.

Excellent!!!

Thanks, allways no-nonsense and very informative. Love it- Cheers 🍺

I so needed to see that, thanks!

Great video as always.

As someone who has done thousands of repairs over many decades as a professional fabricator, I can say that, apart from impacts, star cracking/crazing is a result of two things; 1. The laminate is too thin (or too dry in a minority of cases) causing the laminate to flex excessively. While gelcoat doesn't want to flex, especially as it ages. 2. The gelcoat is initially applied too thick (this occurs in corners or difficult to spray areas). The thicker the gelcoat is, the less it will be able to flex along with the laminate. This is exacerbated by time. As the gelcoat ages it becomes more brittle and less able to flex as the styrene leaches out over time. Without styrene, the resin in the gelcoat becomes brittle. This is why a gelcoat which has been applied too thick will usually not show up as a problem until after a few years when the styrene begins to evaporate. Cheers

Not every boat. I don't know of any on by 32 year old boat. Just got done buffing and polishing every bit of gelcoat.

Could you just sand the cracks back and then gel coat without going all the way through to the fiberglass?

Are they structural or cosmetic? Does crazing leak?

Andy is that you! It's like you've been assimilated into AI. What do your girls say about their Dad ?😅