Hit by a barge

[Turbo7]

Hey guys first time on here, Glad to talk to all of you. I need some help PLEASE. I dont know witch way to turn here. I have a 17 foot alum. bass tracker boat, 60 hp motor. My wife and myself got hit on the drivers side, from bow to stern by a barge and the investagator said it got rolled twice by the barge, my boat is beat up a little bit. rivets leaking, small tear in port side(bottom) in the water. All compartments and doors, and decking is intact Plywood, windshield broke, console (Steering wheel goes) is all cracked and loose, No trolling motor, Only 1 seat out of 4, Boat motor cover has holes, Rough alum. places on the sides and bottom. boat took a beating but its not in bad shape considering what happened. Its not warped or twisted. Motor starts fine, So guys what is the BEST and easyiest way to fix this boat I want to keep it , It was my dads and he is now gone now, and he loved to fish. maybe how to spell better LOL We was very lucky. THANK YOU GOD. Thanks Dave

 

[DANZIG]

Re: Hit by a barge

Oh my goodness! How the heck did that happen? Glad you folks are OK.

Reckon that pictures would help this crew help you.

 

[Turbo7]

Re: Hit by a barge

It was at night , we was coming out of a creek into the river, not going fast at all we was still plowing along. and did not see or hear the vessel at all it was unloaded at the time 3 wide and 4 long. I have been reading on here about riviting. or what about using the Muggy weld system or the HTS-2000 what do you guys think or tear thr boat apart (carpeted area) and put in new rivits, If i tear the boat apart will i get it back together right ? will try to post Pics never done that. Thanks Dave

 

[DANZIG]

Re: Hit by a barge

Yep those big monsters are surprisingly, evilly, sneaky. Just last week a Boat was struck up the road from me in Charleston WV.

I am by far not an expert, and you will have to reckon on your skills, but if it were me I would really like to have the boat apart for a good inspection and a proper repair.
After a wack like that, hidden damage would be a real concern of mine.

 

[jspano]

Re: Hit by a barge

i hate to tell you this but without pics, i would take it down and do it right. not only replace the bad rivets but also gluvits the rest just incase some got shaken loose. you might find a cheap hull and make 1 good out of the 2

 

[Turbo7]

Re: Hit by a barge

Thanks guys for the info. looks like I will be tearing my boat apart to do it right. 1st thing take lots of pictures along the way. Thanks Dave

 

[DANZIG]

Re: Hit by a barge

You are welcome! But without pics, the worth our info is questionable.

The boats I have seen that tangled with a barge were pretty bad off. I may be imagining something worse that what you have.

Slap a few up here and let's see if you can get some more opinions before you start something drastic.

 

[oops!]

Re: Hit by a barge

hi...welcome to the forum.

sorry about your plight....the good news is anything can be fixed.
aluminum can be welded plus there are many products on the market that will seal your boat.

to post pics here......upload to photo bucket, resixe to 640x480 then copy and paste the img tag

 

[Turbo7]

Re: Hit by a barge

Hey OOPS I could hug you right now for telling me that anything can be fixed, so glad to hear that. I will try to get my wife to help me get some pics. of our boat on here this weekend, I have 2 rips in the bottom about 4 to 5 inches long and 34 rivits on the bottom leaking not to bad, could be worse. Hey oops THANK YOU Dave

 

[DANZIG]

Re: Hit by a barge

"and 34 rivits on the bottom leaking not to bad, "

Hey, I had 32 leaking rivets in my cuddy and she has NOT been hit by a barge.
At some point the POs wacked a log or something pretty hard with the bow, welded a "V" of diamond plate over the big dent, tossed on a bilge pump, some silicone, and called it good.

The "repairs" on other things were done no better.( you should see my Swiss cheese imitating transom) They will be when I am done.

Never fear, if she is not twisted or warped, we will save Dad's boat!! Reckon we are going to hurt your wallet though.

Take to reading the posts here, chances are whatever you may need to do has already been done by someone.

 

[Turbo7]

Re: Hit by a barge

Hey Danzig Thanks for the info. you guys on here are a great help, I am just down river from you. 26 miles east of Cincinnati. Danzig THANK YOU Dave. I feal better talking to you guys.