Repair of small surface cracks in the non-skid surface

[Skipperjay]

I have some small surface cracks in the grey non-skid on the deck of my 04 C-34. The in question is about the size of a fifty cent piece. I would like to
fill the cracks to insure that it does not become any wider.
I know there are many gel coat repair products on the market but I'm not sure which one to use.
I would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations on what to use.

Much thanks 

[tonywright]

I have similar problems with the non-skid on mine: serial number 1657. It seems that there was a manufacturing problem that left voids in the gel-coat. The good news apparently is that this is not structural. The bad news seems to be that it is time-consuming and therefore expensive to fix. I have been quoted approx three hours of labor for each void. I started with about a dozen voids, and and have now found about twice that many.) Not all are in the non-skid, some are in other parts. (Multiply the local skilled labor cost by number of hours and number of voids, and you will see how expensive this gets in a hurry!)

By the way, you have to get all the void open and repair it, which means cracking the gel coat as far as the void extends, and then it needs to be faired with a dremel tool or similar.

I did purchase a mat with the exact Catalina 34 non-skid pattern. All experienced gel coat repairers tell me that they won't use it, because it creates more of a problem than it solves, unless the area being repaired is extensive.

Doing it yourself is only recommended if you have a lot of experience doing this kind of work. Otherwise the colour and texture of the repair will look terrible.  All gel coat changes colour with exposure to sun over time. So even buying the "original" won't get you a good match.  For a $100K plus boat, I personally don't think this is worth attempting unless you already are very confident in your skills. I am in the process of getting a final estimate on the work needed to repair this manufacturing defect, and then I plan to call Frank B to see if they are prepared to cover some part of the cost. 

[Jim Price]

I would call Catalina first.  I know of 2-3 boats in the 2005 range that had their voids repaired by Catalina just this year.  As stated, if the factory had a problem, then you should be able to get them to do the work for you.  May take a while for them to get to your area but worth the try.