The day I caught that big chinook, I somehow wound up with a hole in the gelcoat on my hull. I don’t really know how it happened, since it’s too low for a dock collision. A Boston Whaler is technically unsinkable, so I didn’t have to worry about that. However, it’s not good to get the foam inside the hull totally waterlogged. I got through my last crabbing trip with some tape, but I knew I had to fix it soon. The dealer was surprisingly willing to get me in soon, but their repair would take ten days to cure and cost over $500. The downtime during fishing season was a deal breaker, so I learned how to repair it myself.
You can buy a patch kit locally, but you can only get it in white. I special ordered a color matched one in Boston Whaler Desert Tan, and paid for overnight shipping. When I got it, one jar was rolling around open in the box, but I determined that I could use it anyway. I mixed the two part epoxy together and slathered it on. Today I sanded it down, first with 220 grit, then 400, then 800, then hit it with some wax. Unfortunately I sanded a hole through the tape that created a new crater in the gelcoat, but I can fix that later. It’s not professional quality by any means, but not bad for my first try, and a hell of a lot better than duct tape.
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