Do I need hull repair?

[u/jdkdjdiwowkdndn]

Forgive my ignorance, these are my first skis and I don’t know a ton about them. Do I need to repair these spots in the hull or is this considered cosmetic damage? If so any recommendations on the best way to go about it?

[u/cleetusneck]

So I do lots of these kind or repairs.

If you see fiberglass, you have to repair it or at least paint it to get you by.

Don’t need water just working its way in. The paint/gellcoat is like your skin.

How I do it for yours would be scuff and sand the area just lightly- remove any loose bits. Clean with acetone. Use a fan to really dry it overnight.

Onnthe morning clean with acetone and mix up some good epoxy (small kit is fine) I use west systems. Add in some filler like 405 to make it sandable and like peanut butter. Use a bondo knife (small flexible like a credit card) skim it - you don’t want excess, lighter is better.

Then sand and repeat the process.

Lastly I paint with epoxy appliance paint. It’s cheap and comes white and black. It adheres and it’s fairly hard and cheap.

I would be confident just painting your scratches and then doing the repair before next season or at the end of this one.

[u/OsmeOxys → u/cleetusneck]

Don’t need water just working its way in.

Seriously, people need to not put it off for years.

The other year I fixed the bottom of a hull for my soon to be FIL, got a bunch of little dings and cracks in the bottom of the hull several years before. Didn't look bad, quick easy epoxy smear n' beer job! Right? Right...?

Everything within 0.5" to 1.5" of the visible damage and up to 1/2" deep into the hull had to be ground away before I found good fiberglass again. Shop's probably charge a bit extra for fiberglass work...