gel coat restoration

[dcobbett]

I’m looking for some advice and opinions regarding refinishing the exterior of Potter era hulls.

I’m currently talking to the second owner’s of a 79’ 20MA that is located down south. The hull color is what I would call a light Robin’s egg blue (is that what is called Potter blue?). The images the owner sent me showed small, white patches on the hull. Apparently, the original owner (79’ through 02’ +/-) used white gel coat patches on minor nicks, etc.

In general, can these be removed/redone with any hope of blending back into the hull’s current finish?

The other day, I had a conversation with the owner of one of the area’s more highly regarded fiberglass shops and came away with the following prices and opinions (on a 20’ hull, Algrip + $2,400+/-, strip and repaint the bottom with 2 coats ablative + $600+/-, 5 coats of epoxy barrier coating on the stripped hull + another $600+/-). The shop owner also said that chalky white hulls can usually be brought back to somewhat near original condition, but he didn’t think it was worth trying that with chalked, colored hulls.

Again, in general, do these prices seem in line with quotes that others are getting, and what are your experiences and thought about trying to restore the gel coat on colored hulls vs white?