Pulpit repair

[Boy N Sea]

I hope someone can give sound advice please. Have a 2003 Grady Seafarer with OEM pulpit. The lamininate has cracked and a few pieces have fallen off after someone dropped anchor on it. Structurally the pulpit is sound and solid. Can you please recommend the procedure to repair properly and cosmetically prep,proper filler and gel coat to appear well . Have worked with spectrum gel coat in small patches over the years. Polyester,epoxy or vinylester as filler then gel coat on top? I do know that depending which filler you use either allows you to top with gel coat and some don't trying to make this as easy as possible but have good results any light You can shed is deeply appreciated with detailed materials and process I know if I don't address this eventually the solid material in the pulpit is going to deteriorate still looks solid and good thank you so much all of you!

 

[Hookup1]

My pulpit looked like yours. I added a pivoting anchor roller and had rework to do. Try this thread... Take pulpit off the boat. Grind out the cracks and chips. Epoxy fairing compound. Refinish complete pulpit - paint or gelcoat. Non-skid finish if you like! Throw the Horizon windlass away! Get something like a Lewmar ProFish 550. Different mounting so do it now when refurbishing the pulpit.

Post in thread 'bow pulpit repair'

Jul 23, 2023

I installed a 5-Oceans pivoting anchor roller. Search her for the post. Requires some glass work to widen the groove it sits in and to allow the roller to tilt down. Great improvement!

Pivoting Self-launching Anchor Bow Roller, Length 16-1/4", Stainless S

MARINE-GRADE HIGH-QUALITY ANCHOR BOW ROLLER- Our 316 stainless steel roller bearings are much more durable than standard 304 stainless steel (common in the industry) and are specifically designed for marine applications.HINGED DOUBLE BOW ROLLER - The top and bottom sections of the roller are...

www.five-oceans.com

This roller is wider than the original. It was filled underneath. The front of the pulpit had to be notched to allow the stainless frame to sit inside the pulpit. The roller pivots nicely and allows the anchor to self-launch and re-load when coming up. The pivoting...

• Hookup1

Post in thread 'Pulpit'

Apr 15, 2025

It has been a while since I did this work, but like Hookup1 said, just work it with prying slowly and slide in a thin piece of metal if you have something like a long spatula or even a long filet knife (be careful not to cut yourself) to release the caulk. I think I had one spot that released on the top of the deck, just filled/faired and painted gel coat over it since it would be covered by the pulpit again.
I used 3M 4000 to re-attach. When removed the second time to fill in the roller channel, it came off without much trouble.

• ROBERTH

 

[DennisG01]

There's actually been tests done that show gelcoat bonds just as well to epoxy as it has historically done to polyester. But I'd repair and then paint, like Hook did. One note... that repair is going to be a lot bigger than you think - it looks like pretty much the entire top is separated and the core is compromised.

 

[Hookup1]

That "potato chipping" of the gelcoat on older GW's is a difficult repair. GW uses something hard to core the pulpit - feels like parking lot sand mixed with some resin. Similar problem with hardtop and hatches. You have to grind out cracks below the surface. Remove all the black mold and grind out the gelcoat edges. If it's not clean you're defects will probably return. I filled mine with AwlGrip's epoxy fairing AwlFair Fast. Primed with AwlGrip epoxy primer and finished with AwlCraft 2000 OffWhite Revisited (I call it Faded Grady OffWhite).

Old gelcoat will absorb water. Like blister on a hull. That's why they use an epoxy barrier coat. AwlGrip epoxy primer will seal the gelcoat.

Take a look at my hardtop repair. Edge "potato chipping", chalking gelcoat and mold growth.

D

Post in thread 'Considering painting vs. Gel coat'

Sep 17, 2024

Need clarification. When you say "paint is rather shot" do you mean paint or gelcoat? Refinishing the hull and having it look good will come down to proper preparation. If the paint or gelcoat is not adhered well its going to have to be sanded off and filled.

I called several glass guys about refinishing the hardtop. Could not get anyone to engage. Decided to do it myself. Probably would have been too expensive to have someone do this work if I could have found someone.

My hardtop was in bad shape. Gelcoat chips along the edge. Topside badly weathered, dried out and chalking. I took...

• divendish

 

[ROBERTH]

Agree with Hookup's approach....grind, fill with epoxy filler, epoxy primer/sealer and paint. I re-did mine the first time with evercoat polyester filler (had bigger chunks missing in mine and one large crack I had to grind down quite a bit) and re-gel coated. I have a post on here somewhere showing the results. It turned out great! But after a couple seasons, more gelcoat was still cracking in places as I think it was too think to be flexible as the pulpit will bend and flex more than other areas, so I resanded, filled and painted with Interlux.
Now, after a few more seasons and some flexing, still have a couple of small stress cracks in the gelcoat where the stantions from the rail connect, even though I tapered the holes where screws go it. It is just the flexing causing it, but I don't have any chunks missing.
If I do it again, I will remove most all of the gelcoat or sand it very thin, epoxy prime/seal and coat with Alex Seal or Awlgrip.
It is not a bad job once you get the pulpit off the boat. That is the hard part! Crawling up into the anchor locker and then trying to break the seal from the bow without taking chunks of fiberglass/gelcoat off the bow can be a challenge.

 

[Hookup1]

Agree with Hookup's approach....grind, fill with epoxy filler, epoxy primer/sealer and paint. I re-did mine the first time with evercoat polyester filler (had bigger chunks missing in mine and one large crack I had to grind down quite a bit) and re-gel coated. I have a post on here somewhere showing the results. It turned out great! But after a couple seasons, more gelcoat was still cracking in places as I think it was too think to be flexible as the pulpit will bend and flex more than other areas, so I resanded, filled and painted with Interlux.
Now, after a few more seasons and some flexing, still have a couple of small stress cracks in the gelcoat where the stantions from the rail connect, even though I tapered the holes where screws go it. It is just the flexing causing it, but I don't have any chunks missing.
If I do it again, I will remove most all of the gelcoat or sand it very thin, epoxy prime/seal and coat with Alex Seal or Awlgrip.
It is not a bad job once you get the pulpit off the boat. That is the hard part! Crawling up into the anchor locker and then trying to break the seal from the bow without taking chunks of fiberglass/gelcoat off the bow can be a challenge.

Harbor Freight has large screwdriver blade ratchet set. Inexpensive and helps to get the 4 large flat blades unscrewed. Getting the pulpit off (never use 3M5200 or 3M400 - use a good GE silicone instead) shouldn't be that difficult with 2 guys. One guy lifts and one gets a blade or hacksaw blade on edges. After grinding out cracks and chips epoxy primer cost (brush or roller is OK) to give epoxy fairing/filler something to bond to. Light sand, acetone wipe and get filler on within 24 hours for the best chemical/mechanical bond. Remember the crap GW builds these parts with is hard and difficult to adhere to.

It takes a little longer to repair the part but "Done right - done once".