Problems with deck finish, gelcoat

[scsvgoose]

I hope this is the proper place for this post I apologize if there is a better place.  Been looking around and I know it's a bit general but I cant find any advice on fixing spider cracks and worse on my 16's deck.  I have one large area around the starboard chainplate which I'm afraid might need to be regeled entirely. Am having trouble posting pics as it appears you need to speak computer language to post them...or at least type it. 
It's hard to find sailboat specific and deck specific advice on gelcoat repair. A friend said I would need to route out and refill all cracks, then sand. Is that the procedure?  I hope some of yall out there have some advice to help me get started doing a pro quality repair job. Thanks for the help!.

[Salty19]

There are a few guys on here that have undertook this repair and can give you great advice.

IMO Deciding on what level of restoration you want to achieve will be good to know. You could do anything from just filling the crack to seal it to filling with epoxy and painting the whole deck.   Most of the time the stress cracks around hard points are not structurally a problem, so don't automatically assume you have to undertake a big repair.  Also these cracks might return in the future.

Here is a primer to get you started with gelcoat repair.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=257

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