Best way to repair scratch/gouge?

[bassin_man]

Need to repair some bow damage. Probably about a 12” long sideways V. Gets progressively worst right to left. Not into fiberglass but all the way through gel on left side where it comes to a V. Best way to go about it diy? Don’t want to shell out $1,000+ to get it fixed but would like for it to be somewhat less of an eyesore. See picture for reference.
7F0D2F20-0C7F-4C30-844D-4492150B315D.jpeg

[rojoguio]

Well you did a good job, through the flake so filling is needed. Expect to have to work a larger area than the gouge if your looking for a match with the flake. You may consider filling with tinted material until you have enough to let a pro fix. Are you looking for waterproofing the gelcoat only or full blown repair. Answering this helps to give you some direction. FYI no matter how nice I make something I own, I invariably put some kind of "Love Bit" on my stuff. Once I recovered my helm seats just to stand up with a screwdriver in my pocket and the blade stabbed a hole into the backrest. The good thing, that was a long time ago, things have not improved, but my disposition to letting it upset me has. Now I just shake my head and know "The Cherry is Off"

[bassin_man]

Quit honestly I’m just looking to waterproof and try to somewhat color match the current hull. Money isn’t an issue as far as having a professional do it. It’s that the boat is a 95 and there are already other areas on the hull that the previous owner did touch up repair via black marine tex. Don’t see the point in spending $1,000+ on a repair when other spots on the hull have black marine tex showing. Thought about trying evercoat and the 10 step process that has been outlined here on the forum.

[rojoguio]

Well you can carefully clean the gouge area with sandpaper. I will glue it to different shapes of wood and carefully scratch and clean within the gouge. Mask around the damage well, you will be wiping the sandpaper through the gouge and it finds a way to pop out of the gouge and cause more damage. It needs to have a acetone wash afterwards. Wash & Dry, separate rags, you have to strip any waxes too. I have had great success filling with thickened gelcoat tinted after thickening. Use a high quality bondo spreader cut into a narrow wiping blade to fill the gouge with the gelcoat. This just waterproofs the gouge. Spreading bondo or thickened fillers takes talent. I've been doing it since I was 13, now at 59 I can spread it level where no post sanding is needed in gouges like the example. This really can't be taught. If you have a West Marine buy their "Natural" gelled gelcoat. It may not need any further thickening just tinting. I hope this help.

[rgsauger]

You can use epoxy resin and thicken it a bit with Cabosil. Scratch it up with 400 grit, wipe with acetone, paint it in, and let it roll!