1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

[IceWater]

While coming home from the lake tonight my boat moved ahead on the trailer rollers and landed on the steel cross support for the rollers resulting in cracks in the hull just under the transom. This brings up 2 questions: 1) How do I repair the cracks in the hull and 2) how do I convert my trailer from a roller to a bunk trailer?

 

[chargerboy]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Yikes, how is the bow support set up on that trailer? I'm guessing it's not the original trailer, you might not have to set it up as a bunk, just re-adjust the front bow mount so the boat doesn't sit so far forward. I had this happen to me once too, fortunately there was no damage to the hull though.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

The trailer is the same year as the boat, but of course that doesn't mean it's original to the boat.

If the boat isn't all the way up on the rollers, to the point that the back rollers are at the very back end of the boat, the trailer is all over the road. 2" makes a huge difference. So when the boat has to be so far forward even the slightest shift can result in what happened to me.

Lots of questions on this one.

 

[chargerboy]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Well here is a picture of the rollers set up on my old boat trailer. There is no way that boat was ever going to go anywhere, when snug against the bow support, it was not rolling forward at all. Tension on the winch ensured that. Rollers were not at the back of the boat either, they were 6 inches in.

I had a previous boat back when I was 16, had the wrong trailer for it, and that boat shifted forward and fell on the supports. We moved the tongue back, and never had that happen again.

 

[chargerboy]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Also, here's a link to help you figure out the steps in making a repair to your hull. Same idea applies to cracks, treat them like a hole if they are structural problems.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Well here is a picture of the rollers set up on my old boat trailer. There is no way that boat was ever going to go anywhere, when snug against the bow support, it was not rolling forward at all. Tension on the winch ensured that. Rollers were not at the back of the boat either, they were 6 inches in.

I had a previous boat back when I was 16, had the wrong trailer for it, and that boat shifted forward and fell on the supports. We moved the tongue back, and never had that happen again.


View attachment 57952

Moving the tongue back would shift weight off the hitch causing the sway problem when towing. having the boat sit even 2" further back causes the boat to sway. While it is clearly the wrong trailer for the boat, by converting it to a bunk style trailer hope to have both the proper weight distribution and hull support.

BTW, I was looking at your restoration link last night, very impressive.

 

[chargerboy]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Thanks You can jack the boat up off the rollers, remove them. Get the brackets for a bunk trailer from a chandlery or make your own. If you google boat trailer bunks you can get an idea of how they're set up. Take some 2x4 or similiar material, wrap it in good outdoor carpet to protect your finish. Weld or bolt the brackets on, attatch the wood on top, and adjust to fit the boat so when it gets lowered on to the bunks they sit at the same angle and the weight is distributed evenly.

I hope is enough information to help you get started, it's not a difficult thing to do if you have a good welder.

Another option is to move those rollers forward a bit by redrilling new holes, or adding some more just in front so the boat cant touch the frame if it were to shift again. Probably a lot easier and cheaper this way.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Thanks, I never thought of moving the rollers ahead, but that is probably the best short term solution.

The boat is stored at my parents and my Dad called me this morning to say that the post up front has a loose or broken clamp, which is most likely the cause opf the problem. More stuff to fix and so little time.

 

[chargerboy]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Good luck, let us know how it goes. Make sure to put some kind of protection on the ends of the trailer, in case the water is shallow and the boat hits the edges. Best to leave the current rollers there to protect from that, and add a couple more in front.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

I got to work on the boat this evening and things weren't near as bad as I had first thought.

To start with, getting the boat back onto the trailer properly wasn't too big of a chore, as the pictures show.

I also discovered the reason the boat moved forward; the winch post is adjustable for height but unfortunately it shifted above the lower u-bolt and moved forward, as the pictures show.

You can see that the lower u-bolt is not holding the tubing.

From the side.

The way the winch post is suppose to look.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

The next problem was the damage caused to the hull, which, luckly, wasn't that bad. The gelcoat was chipped, but that was about it. I did find a chip in the gelcoat that I hadn't noticed before and that is also being patched. I say patched and not repaired because that is all I am doing for now. The boating season is short in Canada and I want to exploit it to the fullest while I can.

Port.

Sanded.

I applied poly resin because I feel it will provide a bit of extra strength and sealant. I could be fooling myself, but it wouldn't be the first time.

Starboard. (not the best picture)

Poly resin applied.

 

[IceWater]

Re: 1980 Silverline Nantucket 17' VBR fiberglass/gelcoat repair

Finally the chip in the hull gelcoat that I noticed for the first time when inspecting the damage from the trailer mishap.

Starboard side about 2' from the transom.

The camera batteries gave out before I could take pictures of the sanding and poly resin being applied to this chip.

Tomorrow I gelcoat and repair the winch post.