Cracks in Jel-Coat, What causes them????????

springer9861	I have been looking at buying a used boat for fishing. It seams like every fiberglass boat I look at has some small cracks in the jel-coat. My questions are: What causes the jel-coat to crack and how hard is it to fix the cracks? Is it something a do-it-yourselfer can do? Thanks for any and all info...............Larry	2001-09-08
J.B. Cornwell	Hi, Springer. Tiny "spiderweb" cracks in the surface are pretty normal and are the result of normal stresses and aging in less-than-top-quality gelcoat. They represent no loss in strength of the underlying reinforced resin. Cracks that can be seen to allow flexing or obviously go deeper than the gelcoat surface are BAD news. Run!! Red sky at night. . . JB	2001-09-08

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