exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

[its a marathon]

I am very new to boating and need some advice on purchasing a used boat. I am considering buying a 04 bluewater vision and the keel has been been worn to the fiberglass due to putting the boat on a sandy bottom. The strip is about 1 1/2' in length and about 1 1/2" wide. The glass feels very smooth and there are no punctures in it that I can tell. I have a couple of questions about this.
1. Is there a chance that water has seeped in? If so, is this a major concern?
2. Is it necessary to have this repaired? If so, how much would something like this cost to get it done professionally?
3. Is it an easy fix that any boat owner could do?
4. In general, how concerned should I be about this if I decide to purchase the boat?

Thanks!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

1. Yes and yes
2. Yes and no idea, they all charge too much
3. Yes
4. Concerned enough to check the area for water intrusion and delamination, and concerned enough to fix it, before you ever launch the boat.

How's that?

 

[dontask]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

Fiberglass being worn away is a clear indication of the cluelessness of the operator/owner. Or they flat just didn't care. Its one or the other.
Check the rest of the boat over carefully.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

This is common wear and tear for a boat that is beached frequently. Is it a big concern... not really, its more of a cosmetic issue than anything else. Now I'm going by how you described it as not being a great deal of wear, just exposing the glass.

Depending how you want it to look, or better yet, if you're going to put a keel guard type product on it, then the repair can be very easy. If you want it to look perfect then its a little more involved, but not bad

 

[lowkee]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

If the boat doesn't need any fiberglass work besides that (say, a new deck or transom), I would suggest putting a keel guard on there and going boating. If you are doing glassing work, then I'd suggest building up that area with some FG mat, then installing a keel guard, then going boating. You could throw some gelcoat on there if you really wanted to, but it would be hidden by the aforementioned keel guard anyhow.

Life's too short, go boating and leave the perfect keels to the land lubers.

 

[fishingman220]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

what about bottom paint?

 

[reelfishin]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

By the sounds of it, I'd keep looking, if the owner didn't worry about gouging the hull up, I doubt he did any other maintenance. Keep looking and find something in better shape.
The hull may well be an easy fix, or it might be a real mess, can't tell without seeing it, but if you haven't bought it yet, find something else if you have the choice, unless your getting it super cheap or are looking for a project.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

This is common wear and tear for a boat that is beached frequently. Is it a big concern... not really, its more of a cosmetic issue than anything else. Now I'm going by how you described it as not being a great deal of wear, just exposing the glass.

Depending how you want it to look, or better yet, if you're going to put a keel guard type product on it, then the repair can be very easy. If you want it to look perfect then its a little more involved, but not bad

+1 on the above.

The missing gelcoat wouldn't bother me at all. It's a great opportunity for you to research applying gelcoat and doing the repair yourself.

I'd guess if you wanted it factory new, not more than a couple hours labor and <$100 in supplies could do it.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

It depends on how bad it is, my 43 yr old MFG has had the gelcoat worn off the bow portion for many years, no air pockets just smooth transparent resin, that area is very thick and nowhere near wearing through, it cosmetic on my boat. If there are deep gouges and chips than thats another thing.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

The absorbing water issue is blown way out of proportion, everything absorbs water and on trailered boats the amount of water that "may" be absorbed during the short amount of time it would be used will be irrelevant.

If a poor grade of resin is used and the exposed fiberglass is immersed on a continuous bases, there may be issues. Gel coat will only slow down water absorption though, it won't stop it, so if there?s going to be a problem, it will just be delayed.

Delamination is not really an issue, although blisters are a form of delamination they rarely cause any structural issues and in this case short term use isn't going to cause blisters. If any of you look at what?s under the deck of your boat you?ll see bare glass, few boats have bilge paint anywhere that won?t normally be seen and many are unpainted even in easily seen areas. These areas may stay wet year round and aside from wet foam and rotten wood, the laminate is fine.

You would need to look at the rest of the boat to determine whether or not it was well maintained, a worn keel with no other information means little. I?ve seen gel coat worn off from one beaching if the wave action and grit of the beach was abrasive, I?ve also seen it get worn off from the trailer.

 

[dontask]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

So by the responders who think its ok---- then there is no point at which the wear becomes structurally compromising wear right? At least on your boat.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

So by the responders who think its ok---- then there is no point at which the wear becomes structurally compromising wear right? At least on your boat.

I don't recall ever saying anything like that.

If you go back the original post he says there are no gouges or other damage, just an area about 1.5" wide that is smooth with no gel coat. I also qualified my statement when I said, if the wear is as he described.


Of course wear can become structural, but having the gel coat missing is not.

 

[its a marathon]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

Thanks all for your input.

This owner was not the one to run it on the beach; it was the previous one. The boat is immaculate, aside from the gelcoat issue on the keel. Because the boat has been so well maintained by this owner (I think he has owned it for 4 yrs), and because I have received the full spectrum of opinions with this, and because it is priced right, I think that the best thing to do would be to invest a bit to have a marine mechanic take a look at this.

Thanks again for your help. This is my first post here and I really appreciate your willingness to give newbies like me helpful input. I am excited to start the boating thing, I just want to make sure that I get the right boat for my young family at the right price.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I beach my boat 4-5 times every time we take her out, have you ever thought of using a Keel gaurd, I am not going to stop beaching her, we always find new spots to go, I pull in and time out my speed kill it and raise the stern well before I get too close, throw out a stern anchor while still moving slowly toward shore, tie her off, get out at bow and put on a bow line, beaching in new spot and favorite spots is what makes our boating more enjoyable(getting away from people) and spending quality time, just my wife and the two dogs and my self, we love beaching her.
http://www.keelguard.com/keelguard.html

 

[dontask]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I don't recall ever saying anything like that.

If you go back the original post he says there are no gouges or other damage, just an area about 1.5" wide that is smooth with no gel coat. I also qualified my statement when I said, if the wear is as he described.


Of course wear can become structural, but having the gel coat missing is not.

Read the OP's measurements again I see 1 1/2 (18") long by 1.5 wide and its missing the 3rd most important dimension and that's depth. Remember this is a V hull ("V"). I have seen many boats (motor boats and Hobie Cats) worn through the hull leaking water & needing repairs by operators that were clueless or didn't care. Telling a new boater this treatment is acceptable only sets them up for the fiberglass shop.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I see far more with gel coat missing and no structural issue, plus this type of repair is very easy even if it is worn down.

Hobie Cats and other small craft like these have very thin hulls that take little wear or force to damage.

 

[sharps45]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I kinda grounded mine this last week (looking for fish into the setting sun, found a rock about 2 feet under the water.) Just a little gouge in the gelcoat, but went and bought a repair kit from the store. It looks pretty straightforward, and you can mix and match the colors to get a fit for your boat. Get the boat and fix it yourself.

 

[jstutz101]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

Seems to me the biggest factor is how long your boat is in the water. If you leave it wet all the time I would fix it. If you unlucky like myself and live two hours away from the lake not such a big deal. If there was a way the concrete in my driveway could degrade the exposed fiberglass I would be in BIG trouble!!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I resemble the remark that people who beach boats are careless slobs. You owe me an analogy. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Typically you go from white to dark green to tan matting. If you see the latter you got a problem. If the former, no problem. If the middle, probably no problem but why not patch it. It need not be perfect b/c it won't be in the water on a plane (so drag doesn't matter) and it's on the bottom so who cares what it looks like.

The most important factor as stated above is the thickness at the area. If it's one the keel you should have inches to go.

Boats are there to be used (however not abused) and used boats will look used, and a new boat that gets used will look used soon. People who fret about scratches on their bottoms should be antique dealers, not boaters.

 

[dontask]

Re: exposed fglass on the keel due to beaching a concern?

I resemble the remark that people who beach boats are careless slobs. You owe me an analogy. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Typically you go from white to dark green to tan matting. If you see the latter you got a problem. If the former, no problem. If the middle, probably no problem but why not patch it. It need not be perfect b/c it won't be in the water on a plane (so drag doesn't matter) and it's on the bottom so who cares what it looks like.

The most important factor as stated above is the thickness at the area. If it's one the keel you should have inches to go.

Boats are there to be used (however not abused) and used boats will look used, and a new boat that gets used will look used soon. People who fret about scratches on their bottoms should be antique dealers, not boaters.

Please name by brand and model boats that have "inches to go" through the fiberglass that are less than 25 feet in length, as you stated above? "Inches" meaning at least 2 inches thick. I built yachts in the 70s up to the 49 foot in length that were not even 2" thick.