boat repairs

[turbojenks]

its about time i got around to doing some dings ive put in the boat and cleaning up the corrosion as the boats using the sea about 80% of the time...

i had a hairline crack in the side of the hull (see pics) its not very big and doesnt seem to be worsening but its picking up a bit of dirt... anyone repaired anything like this themselves? im just looking for an idea of how much work is involved...

and if mike (tower boy) can check the pics of my monster tower fixings... they are jetwashed frequently but im still losing the battle... do you think they need replacing or just be a bit more liberal with the grease after a wire brushing?

[Tower_boy]

Hmmm cracks in the hull are never a good thing.. is your boat still under warranty? I'm afraid this may be a bigger job than you think. My advice is to seek some professional advice.

I'm afraid the hiems do tend to rust up in salt use over a few seasons, I can sell you new ones at cost if that helps? Same with bolts and things... should smarten it all up for you.

Is that an L200 in the background? Yours??

[turbojenks]

yeh i think i will seek some help there then...
im gonna strip the tower when i get a day and i will let you know what bits i need thanks...only a couple im sure!.
you must have an L200 to get it from that picture! yes its mine

[saltwater_cowboy]

Thats not that bad. Its either smother them in grease which is a bitch when it gets on your shorts, suit, vest, boat interior etc or just wire brush them regually.

As for that crack you'll probably be looking at around £400-£600 to fix it correctly. You could grind it out and re gel it yourself which isn't hard or expensive but you'll probably find it returns. Do you know if its impact damage or stress? Looks like the stress fractures you get on mastercrafts directly under the training boom.

[turbojenks]

it was and impact! oops,,, approached a dock last year about 3mph too fast and it wasnt well padded where i hit it.. well at least my boat driving has improved!

thanks for the advice.. im gonna find a local expert to tow it down to and maybe just pay him to fix depending on what he says... if it a simple grind back a touch and fill i will have a go... ile let u know what he/she says..

dave

[IhateLDNP]

The way to tell if it needs more than a grind out and a bit gel is to look at the lay up on the inside. If it looks white around the area of the cracks then it means the glass is delaminating and you have a problem, if not it's just the gel cracked from flex when you hit. The laminate is more flexible than the gel so the gel often cracks even where there's no damage to the laminate.

Unless you really smacked it's probably just the gel. It's an easy and cheap repair - grind or dremmel the cracks out to 1/8" wide or so and a little bit past the end of then and fill with gel. Gel's a b@stard to rub down though, but you'll pay a boatyard £20 an hour for them to do it.