Hole in gel coat, can I run?

Just got my boat out of storage. I was going over it and found a dime-sized hole right on the bottom of the hull that goes thru to the next layer. It is low enough it will be under the surface of the water when I run it. Is it ok to run the boat before I have a chance to get the hole repaired, or will it cause any further damage?

Obviously you will want to get it fixed I dont think you will cause any further damage using it like that. Hell I work on boats every day and there are alot of them that have nics like that. I point them out to people and they say yeah its been there for years its not causing any problems and they just leave them. If your real worried about it put a little 3m 5200 in it or marine-tex until you can get it fixed. But it wouldnt keep me from using it.

My old boat had a couple dings like that and I ran it for several years before doing anything with them and had no problems.
Smart thing would be to just seal up the ding. The stuff kko13 reccomended would be best, but really anything that will stick and seal the 'glass up is fine. 2part epoxy, good quality caulk, nice heavy dab of white paint, etc.

I wouldnt do 3m 5200. That stuff is a little overkill and the guys doing the repair job after the fact will need an extra hour to get that out. A 2 part epoxy will seal everything and stay for a year if needed.
And its really not that big of a deal if it is only though the gel. Still a good idea to get it fixed sooner than later.

As long as you cannot see the fiberglass you should be fine to run it.