Is this a fix before it goes in the water.

[mmiela]

Was washing the boat and noticed thieve items down by the stern. I am not sure when they got there. What do you think it the urgency of repairs?

 

[Fishtales]

I would want a glass guy to look at it. A couple of things that concern me.
- They are running almost vertical. Don't appear to be spider cracks/
- Location near transom.
- Migrated up/down. Seems more than a gel coat issue.

 

[Ky Grady]

Agree, looks to be something going on there. Spider cracks tend to be more random directions than those, may be nothing, but I'd still have it looked at by a reputable fiberglass guy you trust.

 

[mmiela]

So a major repair?

 

[Ky Grady]

Can't say till you have it looked at and get the glass guys input. Could be nothing, could be a repair job. Is it both sides or just one?

 

[mmiela]

Just the starboard side.

 

[Ky Grady]

Could be an old repair that's showing through from an impact on that corner from previous owners. I'd still have it looked at for piece of mind.

 

[mmiela]

 

[mmiela]

Took the boat to a local marina, they checked it out and didn’t think it was structural. They said it was stress from an impact. Not sure how as I try to be very careful.

Going to get another person to look at it. Always good to get a second opinion.

 

[Ky Grady]

Like I said, it might not have been you. Gelcoat is like an eggshell. Being in CT the winter cold weather could have cracked it out from a old repair.

 

[mmiela]

True.

 

[SkunkBoat]

sounds like good news...sort of...

I was going to say looks like an impact. The fiberglass flexes but the gelcoat cracks. Sometimes it takes a long time for the cracks to become noticeable.
Unfortunately they won't get any better and the fix will be as noticeable as the cracks.

 

[RussGW270]

Ya know, no matter what it is, it is fixable. You will feel better knowing someone looked at it and repaired it, no matter the cause.

Then you will be back out there and riding with a little less stress.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

It looks somebody or a panther scratched your boat. It seems easier to me to fix it on land than having it in a slip. I don't know if that is the question or not? Can you run the boat with scratched gel coat? Sure. People do it all the time. Is your boat slipped ? If so and you want the gel coat repaired,do it on the land. I would keep an eye out for big cats, bears and other animals will large talons and keep them away from your boat. That's crazy.

 

[mmiela]

My boat will not be in a slip this year. Funds are not available so it will spend the summer on the trailer. I’m going to see how much it costs to fix and decide if it even gets use this year. We will see.

Thanks you all the input and replies.

 

[Heyspike]

Just read all the posts then looked at the photos again. It starts in the decal then works it's way down the side. If it was a gel coat crack it wouldn't have started in the decal. Definitely looks like an external scratch.

 

[Ky Grady]

Zoom in and look again, those aren't scratches, the gel coat is cracked. The decal is old and it shows cracking also where it is brittle.

 

[Heyspike]

Zoom in and look again, those aren't scratches, the gel coat is cracked. The decal is old and it shows cracking also where it is brittle.

View attachment 6896

Yes I see that, it's interesting to see some of them start in the decal. Maybe we are looking at 2 different causes.

 

[DennisG01]

They are definitely cracks - no question about that. If they were from an animal, the lines would be more parallel to each other - and rougher. I don't even think the cracks 'start' in the decal - it's just that the picture isn't showing everything. The counterpoint is that "the sticker isn't 'scratched' away up at the top". All that means is that the sticker, at the top, wasn't stretched by the crack enough, yet, to split the sticker.

From the pictures, I would lean towards thinking that the underlying glass is OK. The cracks don't look big/hard enough to have damaged the glass. The stern crack is probably easier to explain from an impact somewhere - it wouldn't have to necessarily have been a big impact - especially if the gelcoat had gotten laid in a little thicker in that corner.

The hull sides are harder to explain from those pictures. An impact, 99.9999% of the time will have an 'epicenter', of sorts. Those pictures don't show enough to offer an opinion on where they started, though. IfI had to guess, I would look at the rubrail area - an impact there could explain those types of cracks.

Also, an impact would NOT have to be recent for these to show up. It could have a while ago and the cracks just recently started to migrate.

 

[mmiela]

So is it the opinion of the experts on here that I should have this fixed before splashing?