A pleasant surprise!

[kep5niner]

Took possession of a 2012 302 this summer, black hull side with yellow boot stripe. I’ve always been partial to blue boats (trucks, airplanes, etc), but this 302 checked all the boxes except for the color.

Turns out, some of the gel coat damage / imperfections I couldn’t live with. So scheduled the boat with the fiberglass shop for remediation. I got a call last week, and the shop just wasn’t happy with blending of the black - there are “many” different black colors. He told me he was going to end up painting the starboard side with Imron. He told me if he was going to paint at least one side, it wouldn’t be much more to paint the whole boat, and while he was at it - I could pick any color I wanted. I flew to the lake yesterday to make a color selection, and we’re getting our blue boat

Here are some pics in the present state, and I’ll update this thread as we make progress.

[kep5niner]

More pics

[kep5niner]

In the shop prepping for paint.

[Titaniumboy]

Turns out, some of the gel coat damage / imperfections I couldn’t live with.

How bad was it? Any pics?

[kep5niner]

The pics I took of the damage didn’t really show much. It was worse when it was right in front of your face. Some dock rash on the port bow, previous repairs on the port side toward the stern - those were interesting. Imagine if you just took your finger and mushed it into cake icing. Pretty bad work on previous “repairs.”

On the starboard side, I noticed something I’ve never seen before in gel coat. Vertical cracks anywhere from 12” to 24” in three locations. I discussed it with Cobalt (KS), and they indicated that can happen with the gel coat, assuring me it was nothing structural (nor covered by their 10-year hull warranty, which is still in affect). I’ve had a good working relationship with Neodesha so far, and my dealer is…well, a dealer. They’ve “maintained” this boat since birth, and I haven’t been pleased with the level of craftsmanship I’ve had to repair thus far.

[kep5niner]

Progress

[NautiWeasel]

Blue Angel theme...
That's going to look fantastic!

[Paul275]

That is going to look great. You will love a big Cobalt bowrider.

[kep5niner]

Now it cures for 2 weeks before back on the water. Looking forward to seeing it in person! Many more pics to follow after that.

[MnLakeBum]

It looks great! Love the color.

[kep5niner]

Thank you sir! Just crossed my mind this morning that now I have to change the lettering on the stern to coordinate, the fenders, lines...maybe even the canvas. This may turn into an expensive proposition (at least the canvas). Or just roll with keeping the black canvas.

[BIGGUSBLOCKUS]

Chargers colors boat in Chiefs Kingdom. Love it!

Are you at LOTO? If so I hope to see it sometime. 302 is on the list of perfect boats for Lake of the Ozarks.

[kep5niner]

Yes, after much research, the 302 is very well suited for LOTO. I’m at MM5 from the dam. I’d definitely entertain linking up to show off the new paint job! I’m looking forward to seeing it myself for the first time tomorrow.

[kep5niner]

Finished product! The fiberglass shop did top-notch work. Mechanically this boat is prefect, now aesthetically she is too. Not bad for 10 years old!

[kep5niner]

More