Boaters either enjoy their time when working on their boat or consider its maintenance a chore. A ding, scrape, or scratch on a recent hull modification will quickly draw one's eye from the rest of the boat. A minor gel coat repair is a frequently recurring problem that boat lovers can repair by following the steps below:

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1. Wet-sanding can work where the problem is just a little scratch. While wet-sanding, always use a sanding block to prevent you from over-sanding a particular spot. This process also needs to be done gently and in a circular motion.

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2. If wet-sanding does not clear the scratch, arm yourself with a gel coat kit, gel coat paste, hardener, pigments, and a plastic spreader.

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3. Gel coats need the scratch shaped in a "V" shape for it to be effective. In this step, use the corner of a knife or screwdriver to shape it. Then clean the area with water and let it dry. A Dremel can shape much larger scratches.

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4. The next step is to mix the gel coat paste with pigment to match the boat's hull color. You keep adding pigment to the gel coat paste until the two colors match.

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5. Now you can fill the scratches with the gel coat using the plastic spreader. You can also use a putty knife.

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After the gel coat paste is all dried up, the area requires wet-sanding for smoothening. You can then apply a compound polish with a soft cloth and finalize the process by waxing the repair and surrounding area.

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These few steps are simple for any boat lover who enjoys spending time on their boat. You can save your new hull modification with a simple gel coat repair. It also saves you some bucks from the repair shop, and at the same time, you get to learn an important repair skill.