Look VERY carefully around the perimeter of the flaking area and on the
inside of the hull in the same place. This may be a sign of a fiberglass
repair from previous damage. Look for any uneven areas in the glass and for
signs of older gelcoat that may have a slightly different color. If no old
damage evidence exists, the most likely cause is some foreign matter or
impurity that got between the gel and glass during the buildup process. If
the fibergalss isn't waterlogged (use a moisture meter), you can probably
just paint over it without worry.

James
"KB" wrote in message
. ca...
Hi there

I'm looking at a 1978 o'day 25 sailboat in very clean condition except for
the gel coat flaking off on the inside of the port side of the hull. The
starboard side is fine and the outside of the hull looks fine - no
blistering or anything.

It looks just like paint chips flaking off and it's exposed the fibreglass
underneath.

Please can someone let me know if this is cosmetic only or anything I
should
be concerned about?

Thanks

Kevin Bennett

Thanks for the input

I'm going to check it again. It's a beige color, shiny surface about 0.3mm
thick (it the thickness of a couple of layers of an oil based paint). Flakes
off just like dry paper, I could strip the inside of the hull in about 3
minutes with a screwdriver!

Funny that it's not on the starboard side though - that side is fine. I
wondered if it was a sign of inpact or something. As best I can tell the
hull has not been repaired at all. In fact, for a '78 it's a very clean
boat - much more presentable that many newer boats I've looked at. The guy
that owned it before apparently had it for some time and maintained it
rigorously. Sadly he passed away, but his legacy lives on I guess.

Cheers

KB




"Steve" wrote in message
...
There are a couple possibilities here.

It may not even be gel coat since the OEM may have just sprayed paint onto
the interior surface of the molded hull.. And the area you see flaking
didn't have the wax (surfacing agent) removed. This stuff is always
present
in the final resin applications of the layup process.

If it is gel coat resin, then the probable cause, again, is the OEM
neglected to clean the surface of this wax.

Odinary paint often flakes off interior glass surface, over time, due to
the
dampness of the glass surface or due to improper priming.

If the stuff that is coming off doesn't cantain any glass fibers, the I
don't see this as a structural problem.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions