Recommendations on helm station repair

[Grahambda]

Hi fellow trawler owners..

I am a recent owner of a 1990 DF 44 OC trawler. The upper helm is in pretty bad shape, with old redundant/broken switches and a variety of badly filled screw holes. Also the gel coat flaking. Attached photos that give you some idea of the challenge (this is just a small section, the helm station is at least 10ft wide and >3ft deep. My first*task is to remove all the redundant switches*and associated wiring, then I will be left with a dozen or more holes* of varying*sizes.*I will need to sand down the whole area and then fibreglass the holes, then apply faring compound followed by more sanding and eventually apply several coats of gel. Seems to be a mamoth project. Is there a simpler solution (i.e some sort of material to cut and cover the entire area after I have removed all the redundant switches ?)* Welcome your thoughts on how to tackle this job.

Thanks in advance, Graham.

 

[Comodave]

Sailrite.com sells boat blanket material in 6’ width. It is fairly inexpensive. It self hems when you cut it, no hems needed. I used it on our last boat’s dashboard since there were a lot of old holes. I made a template, used a utility knife with a straight edge to get clean cuts and tgen used snaps to secure it in place. Worked great. It helps keep things from sliding around on the dash. Also has no glare. I removed the joystick for the thruster and screwed it down over the boat blanket. It comes in about 6, maybe, colors.

 

[Flatswing]

Hi fellow trawler owners..

I am a recent owner of a 1990 DF 44 OC trawler. The upper helm is in pretty bad shape, with old redundant/broken switches and a variety of badly filled screw holes. Also the gel coat flaking. Attached photos that give you some idea of the challenge (this is just a small section, the helm station is at least 10ft wide and >3ft deep. My first*task is to remove all the redundant switches*and associated wiring, then I will be left with a dozen or more holes* of varying*sizes.*I will need to sand down the whole area and then fibreglass the holes, then apply faring compound followed by more sanding and eventually apply several coats of gel. Seems to be a mamoth project. Is there a simpler solution (i.e some sort of material to cut and cover the entire area after I have removed all the redundant switches ?)* Welcome your thoughts on how to tackle this job.

Thanks in advance, Graham.

Lots of yards use starboard to cover holes and old, large openings - chamfer or shape the edges and round the corners with a router. I am not sure 1 single piece would fit but easy to butt up several similar pieces.