Looking for pros and cons to using Marine Tex. I have a small gouge, less than a 1/4" wide about 10" long from an old dock pipe under the water. I've done several fiberglass patches myself on my old boat, but was recently recommended Marine Tex for something small like this. I really want to avoid shop pricing or an insurance claim if I can do it right myself.

I think the limitation you will find with Marine Tex is available colors. I have never tried to color it but I am sure it can be done. Is easier to work with than gel coat and should be fine in your application.

We used to to patch a similar spot on a friends champion and it worked great.

We used a putty knife to smooth everything out and ligthly sanded it to make it flush.

I use a gel coat resin (from west marine) and tint works better. I have used Marine Tex and had to dye it red and it was a pain to mead the red in only to find I needed more red and had to mead it more. If your doing white you have to know if its white or dull white. Regular white on a dull white hull looks bad.

Thanks for the responses, gonna head up to Fun N Sun and pick some up. I'm not really worried about the color as the little gouge I'm fixing is only visible if your laying under the boat between the trailer axles.

I got a gouge in the same spot from a cinder block under water right by the ramp, the MT was pretty easy to apply and smooth out. A little sanding after it was dry and it's as good as new. Been there for 6 months now and still holding fine.

just before it sets up, you can wet your finger and really smooth it out to where it will need very little sanding..

I applied it yesterday afternoon and kept a flood light under the boat last night to keep it from getting below the recommended curing temp of 55 degrees. Its hard as a rock today! Once applied I dipped my putty knife in some water and smoothed it all out. Looks like about 15 minutes of sanding on a few edges tomorrow afternoon and she'll be ready to float Sat morning. I must say, having done several repairs on my old boat with fiberglass, Marine Tex was so much easier and less mess. Thanks for the input yall!