Deck Hairline Cracks

Greetings!
I recently purchased a 1980 16' Hobie. I am in the process of getting the hulls ready to paint and have been sanding off the old paint and repairing the osmotic blisters. After sanding the decks, I noticed that there are hairline cracks in the gel coat that are forward of the trampoline posts. Obviously, the previous owner has walked on the decks causing the cracks. The deck is definitely soft in the areas.
Should I enlarge the cracks slightly and use the Interlux Epoxy Filler that I am using to repair the blisters to fill the cracks? I have a Dremel with a needle grinding bit that will make the cracks only slightly wider. Or should I just paint over them with the primer and Interdeck? I don't want to have to do anything that would make it worse, but since the hulls are stripped down, is now the time to make the fix?
Thanks for your help!
Eric

You also need to fix the soft spots... MOST IMPORTANT. See the delamination FAQ or support area information on this.

Sailing forums FAQ: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewforum.php?f=18

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Matt:
Thanks for pointing this out. I didn't think that this was delamination until I started reading the posts. For some reason, I thought delamination was restricted to just the hull sides and not the deck.

I am concerned about the added weight fixing this may cause. I read one post where the poster added over 2 gallons of resin which added over 50 lbs to the boat. I am thinking that so much resin was used because there is a void between the gel coat and foam. To reduce the size of the void and thus reduce the amount of resin to use, I am thinking of drilling a 1/2 inch hole through the center of the delamination spot and then use a hollow wall anchor (one of those butterfly types that fold in half) and tighten it to reduce the size of the void. After I am done repairing the area, I would simply unscrew the hollow wall anchor and the toggle part would fall into the hull and stay there.

How does that idea sound? I know that when I start filling the delamination with resin, it will probably come out of that hole, but I was thinking that I could do it in 2 steps where I fill the resin around the hole first and let that harden and then follow up and fill the rest of the delamination area.

What do you think?
Thanks!
Eric

Just be careful when injecting the resin. It is thick and flows slowly. Too much pressure and you spread the layers apart and use more resin.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)