Work as a glassfiber and gelcoat worker around ?

[Happyamateur]

How is it to get work around the world as a glassfiber and gelcoat worker with 15years experience ? If i fill my boat with everything i need to cover 90% of the normal damages people get on their boats and 25diffrent gelcoats, would it be a safe income ?

[neilpride]

Hard, dirty, well paid...
Normal damages? haha no, you can find anything from a simple scratch on the hull to having to patch a hole the size of a window.

One thing is clear, if you are very good with gel color match , you have a job anywhere....

[Happyamateur]

I work with this everyday, so if its smaller than 1x1m, its just a normal damage for me if i'm selling everything i got, i can buy a 45-50ft boat and fill it up with everything i need, i have all the tools i need, have 50-70 different kinds of gelcoat colors, 30 of them different white. Then i know its would be a safe income when sailing around

I get the color to match real good on 8 of 10 boats on first try, if not its just to mix again.

[Happyamateur]

Now i'm one step closer to actually pack all my **** and just follow the sun for some years

Is buffing/rubbing/polish/gelcoat care s good source of income of you sailing around the world ? I can get a 30 year old sunfaded boat to shine like a new one

[Celestialsailor]

Any gelcoat repair match (and I have done a lot of matching) I have done has been with a base white gelcoat in a can and 3-4 tints. I have never heard of carrying 30 different gelcoat colors mainly because any white on any hull will change over time due to sun and salt bleaching.
Just curious...where are you from?

[Happyamateur]

I have different colors to different boats, i use most original gelcoat, its alittle different in the start but it would fade together with the other in a while. All respect to the guys that mix it from a base, i'm from the new generation that have all different kind of RAL colors, then adjusting the one thats most like. I guess its cheating

I'm from Norway

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Happyamateur

I have different colors to different boats, i use most original gelcoat, its alittle different in the start but it would fade together with the other in a while. All respect to the guys that mix it from a base, i'm from the new generation that have all different kind of RAL colors, then adjusting the one thats most like. I guess its cheating

I'm from Norway

Ahh…I wondered when you called it glassfiber. I do not think it is generation as much as it is the way it is done here in the colonies.

[Happyamateur]

We have 150 different kinds of gelcoats on my job and a scheme what the different brands use on their boats. If i pic out the 10 most normal colors i would be pretty safe

You got a pm, there you can see alot of the work i have done. Is it good enough so i can search jobs here and there ?

[donradcliffe]

Is there a market for what you want to provide? Certainly is, but when you go to another country there will be local people who want to provide the same services. You have two choices--work under the table or work for an established local (with or without work permit).

You will be competing with the local work force, and the yachties tend to get work done in places where the workers get paid a small fraction of what they get paid in Norway.

Neilpride has been doing this for some time. PM him and ask which option he has used and where. But don't put that conversation on the open internet.

[neilpride]

Yep, I have been repairing boats since the 90's, refits, rigger for many years, anything, I have worked in different countries, from Florida for two years, Canada, France, and many years with my own business in St Marteen, I have always gone the legal way, work permit, or business permit, that is something that will condition you if you look for work here or there, in many places the skilled labor is minimal, in others you have to stand out, the competition is fierce, but if you are good, legal, honest and have problem solving skills, you will have plenty of work to do.

[JPA Cate]

Happy Amateur,

It sounds to me as if you're wanting to work in foreign countries [not your citizenship country]. Most countries require you to have a work visa to work there, just as Norway would have for me. Work visas are available, when your skill is in demand; companies sponsor people and handle the interface with Immigration. But for a cruiser to work under the table, no, the pay would be very low, and local resistance very high, even leading in some places to assaults.

You could still work some places some of the time, if isolated enough, but imho, those opportunities will be few and far between. Also, cruisers tend to be pretty careful of their boats, and not generate need for cosmetic repairs. The upshot is that serious reconstructive work is unlikely, except where there are harbors and haulout facilities, and for those, the work permit route would be the way to go.


Ann

[SailingHarmonie]

Completely aside from the legalities of work in countries where you are a temporary visitor, it is difficult to make a good living at skilled labor while traveling. The issue is that people normally hire skilled labor on reputation and recommendations, and your reputation will NOT precede you from one island to another.

This is doubly true if you are trying to sell services to cruisers, who as a group, are famous for being extremely tight with their money. There certainly are skillsets that are very rare in more remote locations, but repair of FRP is not one of those skills.

I respect the skill and talent needed to do good gelcoat repair. But it is a very tough business when you show up in town and look for people with damaged boats that you hope will pay you to fix.

[Happyamateur]

So, this kind of work will not give me a safe income around the world, i was thinking 500 bucks here, 1000 bucks there, then sail another place, maybe get a 1000dollar jobb there.

Then i need to earn my cash before i leave on a trip like that, since i would not earn my cash when i'm out sailing. Thats a dream killer :/