2001 Larson SEI project

[max62]

Picked up a 2001 Larson 190SEI boat. Boat, motor, tandem-axle trailer for ~$6500 (I made a mistake in CAD->USD conversion, it's closer to $7k). Thought it was a great deal. Looked the boat over for an hour inside and out. It def'ly had some dings and scrapes. Trailer surge breaks also need some work.

Thought I'd ask for options on how to best fix these dings/scrapes.

The keel has about a foot long rash from beaching. Owner had a sand bar by his cottage and says never bothered with a dock. Always just beached his boat when it was out on the water. That explains the rash.
I poked and prodded the spots. Hit it with my fist. The glass seems solid, not compromised. Seems needs some sanding and gelcoat application.

Some stone chips from rocks hitting while trailerling. About an inch long for the largest one.

 

[max62]

Gelcoat chips on the rear.

Another view of the same:

Also note the vertical line right above the drain plug hole that goes all the way to the top of the transom. It made me really worried after reading all the transom horror stories. However I had my SO hang off the back of the motor while I was watching for deflections in the transom. Then I tried pulling down and up on the motor and had SO watch for movement from the side. None. Transom seems solid. But that line or hairline "crack" makes me a bit uneasy. Is it possible for transom to be built out of two halfs?

Whatever it is, it's positioned so perfectly centered and runs perfectly straight that it must be along some structural component. Other side has no signs of any cracking. Don't know what to think of this. Thoughts?

 

[max62]

Last but not least, some hairline stress cracks around drains. There should be no stress around this point as it's just a drain hole. No fasteners. Any reasons to be concerned?

 

[tpenfield]

Definitely not the best maintained boat. I would drill a couple of test holes in the lower part of the transom from the inside and see what the drill shavings look like ( wet, dry, light color or dark). Transom would not be made of two sections like that, so it is unusual to see a vertical crack in the gel coat.

 

[Woodonglass]

Could be a "Tape Line" from a former Gelcoat or Paint repair. Hard to say for sure from pics. Hairlines indicate impact or over tighhtening usually. As TF says I'd be drilling core sample on the inside to ensure the integrity of the transom. IMHO Larsons are quality built boats and in 2000 started making all their stringer systems uing VEC technology which was all composite (no wood) so you won't have to ever worry about rotting stringers. The transom is however, still wood cored. The staining around the Garboard drain and the Spider Cracking all lead me to believe there are some issues but...I've been wrong Plenty of times before. Best drill those Core Sample holes to make sure

Sounds like you've got a good grasp of what needs to be done for the gelcoat repairs. Let us know if we can be of further assistance.