: Good morning america...
: I´m reading Hanson´s excellent book SEA KAJAK TOURING, X-mas present, and
: come across the term gel coat finish on fiberglas kajaks.
: What exactly is this gelcoat and can you use it on the conventional epoxi
: finish of a S&G kajak. Is is better than varnish?
: Thanks Joaquin

Gelcoat is the first layer of resin applied in a commercial fiberglass boat mold which
contains the boat color and provides ultraviolet light protection for the fiberglass cloth..
It adds weight along with color.

Some boat makers leave the gelcoat off to save weight in their "light-weight"
lay-ups where you see the kevlar or carbon fiber cloth. Getting people to think
the raw cloth looked "Cool" was great marketing trick by these boat makers, since
they could save money and time by skipping the gelcoat step in the lay-up.

Further, they charge people much more for these boats AND they have increased
their planned obsolescence since there is no ultraviolet protection for the resin and
cloth, without the gelcoat. They do not apply a clear protective coating like varnish,
I've asked a number of manufacturers on this. This means the resin and glass will
break down, become brittle and fracture much faster than a commercial boat with
a gelcoat. Hey, got to keep selling new boats.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com