Voids in Gel coat
 

Have just taken my boat out for it's 6 months undercover winter. For the 2nd year we have had to repair some small voids in the gel coat. Really annoying! Does anyone else have the same problem and does this indicate a more serious fault in the manufacture?

They are in a very noticable place so I contacted the Mariah dealers in NI and RoI re getting the exact gel coat colour of white. This has to be shipped from USA and the cost is £120 for 1kg which I think is not worth it.

We have used the gel coat for a Moody Yacht which we thought was a close match. You would hardly see it and I think when the hul is polished up they will be almost invisible. Cost to repair£30.

Re: Voids in Gel coat
 

Hi Billy, I too have the same problem, I bought some gel coat repair from my local boat shop. THey had a look at my colour hull and matched it with what they had in stock - perfect.
Buying a local product would be the way to go.
I have been told by a guy who builds boats, that the reason for the blisters can come from the hull not being left long enough to cure before being removed from the mold. Not sure if that is right but sounds feasible.

Re: Voids in Gel coat
 

I'm surprised that Mariah (Sea Fox Boats) is not warrantying this under their lifetime hull warranty. These issues are definitely not from anything the owner could be doing and as Dudders said, might well be a manufacturing issue. I'm guessing you guys already went down that road and were told it wasn't covered.

Just curious. Good luck!

Re: Voids in Gel coat
 

Hi Ryan, the place that used to service my boat was the dealer for Mariah (not any more though). They did repair these blemishes as part of the warranty, no questions asked. But because I dont take it there any more, I just fix these myself.
If Billy has somewhere to take his that looks after Mariahs then I am sure they would still cover them.

Re: Voids in Gel coat
 

Very much doubt that I would get the voids fixed as I bought the boat second hand with no warranty.

I know a really good fibreglass man here in N Ireland and he has fixed the voids found so far (approx 6 No) at minimal cost. Not sure the dealer could do as good a job plus it would be more of a hassle for me getting the boat to his place for repair.

Am interested in knowing if this is a widespread problem with Seafox Mariahs and if I am likely to get a lot of these voids appearing in the future.

Thanks

Billy