Large crack in Bow of boat!

[1506cmo18]

After a long winter, I went to my camp to check on things. Sure enough when I looked at my boat I found that the stand had broken in two. Then I see the boat was resting up against the post of the stand and there was a huge crack.

The crack is about 1 ft in length, 6" in height, and about 4" down from the waterline.

So what the best method of patching, and will it hold?

The crack is right where the waves will be hitting.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

I think duct tape is out of the question. With what appears to be delamination of the structural fiberglass layup of your hull, that's going to take more than a patch. You're going to have to carefully cut away all of the delaminated material and make a further judgment once you expose the full extent of the damage. A proper repair will no doubt require the use of multiple layers of woven fiberglass cloth material and laminating resin over a relatively large area, followed by proper finishing techniques. Reinforcement inside of the hull would help strengthen the repair. That's going to take a lot of work to do it right, but there are instructional materials available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMVCwhz_hY4

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

It will be a bit of a project, but it is fixable.

You will need to get to the inside to inspect and repair it, if there is gel coat on the inside surface it will hide the damage, so you need to grind it off to see any fractures.

Don't cut any glass away, you will need to use some wood and screws to line up the surfaces as well as possible, then grind down the inside and put some glass on it to hold it in place when you remove the wood. At this point you will do repairs on the inside and outside, structural on the inside, and more cosmetic on the outside.

This is just a quick over view of the job, you will need more details if you plan to fix it.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

I can easily access it from the inside and I can see the crack. All original piece are intact, its just a large crack. Theres no gel coat inside the boat, just a fiberglass shell??

I'm not worried about the outside cosmetics and when I push on it from the inside it all lines up pretty good.

What do you guys recommend for materials to repair?

I cant just use patch kit from the inside and build it up?

 

[not enuf toys]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

OUCH!!

is that an impact crack?

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Wow what did you hit??? Bet that was a jolt!!!. Anyway as Ondarvr said you'll have to repair from the inside and you'll need to do some serious grinding in there. It's very important to hold the hull in proper alignment when you repair from the inside.

I don't kow of a "kit" big enough to patch that, although there may be. Just get a gallon of polyester resin and a yard of 1708. You'll have some resin left, but most kits have a quart and that won't do it.

Get some pictures from the inside and post for more details.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

OUCH!!

is that an impact crack?

No, as mentioned in the first post the boat stand broke when in storage and a piece of the stand went through it.

You guys say grinding but the material thats inside the boat doesnt look like it should be grinded. Its a white shell basically, and underneath that on the floor is wood followed by a fiberglass bottom.

On the side its the fiberglass white shell

From inside, I can push the broken piece out and you barely notice it from the outside. I cant just mold new fiberglass to the inside shell?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

To start you need to use the wood and screws to line up the crack as good as possible, sometimes it works better from the inside, sometimes from the outside, just do what lines it up the best.

You need to grind because that's the way you remove all of the broken and fractured glass, plus it's what allows the new glass to bond to the hull. Without grinding nothing will stick to it.

Bare un-painted or non gel coated glass will be a translucent amber color, if it?s white on the surface its either been painted or gel coated.


There will also be white or light colored areas within the glass itself, these are the cracked or fractured areas, they need to be sanded out for a strong repair.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

No, as mentioned in the first post the boat stand broke when in storage and a piece of the stand went through it.

Are you saying that the jack stand broke through the hull ?? I mean.. its not on a trailer at that point .. and the stand went Through the Hull ??

Im looking at the pics and can see how a minor looking repair can become a major In and Out Glass job ( if the stand broke and slide through the hull ) ..

Is this the case ?

YD.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Are you saying that the jack stand broke through the hull ?? I mean.. its not on a trailer at that point .. and the stand went Through the Hull ??

Im looking at the pics and can see how a minor looking repair can become a major In and Out Glass job ( if the stand broke and slide through the hull ) ..

Is this the case ?

YD.

The boat was on its trailer and the tongue was sitting on a seesaw, and the seesaw broke in half. A seesaw has one x on one end another x on the other end and a spot in the middle to cut wood. So when the seesaw broke in the middle, one of the x side went through the boat.

The seesaw didnt go right through, but with the -20c winter and the weight of the boat cause it to crack

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

So basically you have a larger X then what your pics are showing then.. ( your slipped a stand into your hull ).

No matter if its a X or Y.. you went completely "through" the hull.. correct.

Its not the top of your stand ( lets say a 2x4 with x crosses ) you slipped your whole brace INTO your side hull correct ? ..

Just trying to get what your talking about..

You will Need to grind All the paint off of Inside and Out to determine the delamination in the glass.

Dont go nuts grinding anything but the surface atm..you Need to see how far the damage is.

Inspect how you will get to the inside and outside ( IMO ) before you grind a 1x3 hole in it ..

More pics please after your grind off .

YD.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

So basically you have a larger X then what your pics are showing then.. ( your slipped a stand into your hull ).

No matter if its a X or Y.. you went completely "through" the hull.. correct.

Its not the top of your stand ( lets say a 2x4 with x crosses ) you slipped your whole brace INTO your side hull correct ? ..

Just trying to get what your talking about..

You will Need to grind All the paint off of Inside and Out to determine the delamination in the glass.

Dont go nuts grinding anything but the surface atm..you Need to see how far the damage is.

Inspect how you will get to the inside and outside ( IMO ) before you grind a 1x3 hole in it ..

More pics please after your grind off .

YD.

Only one post of the x went through the hull. I can easily get at it from the inside. The boat i believe is late 70's sunray and theres nothing up front.

Basically the procedure is like welding, you need to grind the surface for better contact?

Do you guys think its too much and it wont hold?

One pic is when I got, second pic was the first restoration (you can the white floor and sides) and third is good memories!

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Basically the procedure is like welding, you need to grind the surface for better contact?

Do you guys think its too much and it wont hold?

Sort of like welding, but the grinding isn't just for the bond, its to make sure the damaged laminate is removed before the repair, also

There is no doubt that it will hold, if repaired properly. A properly done repair will be as strong if not stronger than the orginal.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

you went completely "through" the hull.

You will Need to grind All the paint off of Inside and Out to determine the delamination in the glass.

Dont go nuts grinding anything but the surface atm..you Need to see how far the damage is.

Inspect how you will get to the inside and outside ( IMO ) before you grind a 1x3 hole in it ..

More pics please after your grind off .

YD.

Only one post of the x went through the hull. I can easily get at it from the inside.

Basically the procedure is like welding, you need to grind the surface for better contact?

Its a Inside and outside glass repair .. Its Not like welding..

You have to grind/bevel for the glass to incorporate itself into the repair ( you just can't die grind the cracks and fill them with some kind of filler if thats what your asking ). .. Lots of grinding and glassing/fairing finishing etc..

I suggested above and I still hold to it..

YD.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Its a Inside and outside glass repair .. Its Not like welding..

You have to grind/bevel for the glass to incorporate itself into the repair ( you just can't die grind the cracks and fill them with some kind of filler if thats what your asking ). .. Lots of grinding and glassing/fairing finishing etc..

I suggested above and I still hold to it..

YD.

what do you mean when you say glass?

So what your saying is that even though the crack stop in a certain place, the fiberglass can still be cracked further from the inside? (not visible to eye until you grind)?

I've been researching on this site to find a similar situation to see how they did it, maybe even a step by step but that's probably to much to ask for!

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

what do you mean when you say glass?

So what your saying is that even though the crack stop in a certain place, the fiberglass can still be cracked further from the inside? (not visible to eye until you grind)?

I've been researching on this site to find a similar situation to see how they did it, maybe even a step by step but that's probably to much to ask for!

Well "glass" is referring to fiberglass the structure of your hull. And yes the damage is most likely much wider spread than just the crack you're seeing.

Refer to ondaver post #8 when he said the white colored areas....this is signs of fractured fiberglass laminate.

Sorry about the welding comment Yach Dr.....well on second thought no I'm not, since it was just a reference on grinding.

Again as Ondarvr said you need to "line up" the crack to it's orginal shape and hold it that way with a board and screws or whatever method you can come up with to hold the perfect shape. Then start grinding from the inside first. You'll have to grind it in a taper from about 8" or so all around the cracked area (more if you're still getting fractured glass).

The tapering of the laminate is to allow you to "build up" the new laminate to the orginal and to create a good solid surface for the new resin and CSM (Chopped Strand Mat) to bond to.

Once the inside surface is prepped (all grinding done) clean it througly with acetone (several times) to make sure there is nothing left to interfere with the bond of the new product.

Start with a piece of CSM a few inches wide and cover the entire cracked area. Then alternate with CSM and cloth (17 oz) or you can use 1708 biax (it's a popular choice here) getting progressively larger (overlapping previous layers by 3" or so) each time until you've reached the orignal thickness of the hull. I (just me here) would then go with another layer of 1708 over the entire area for added strength.

Make sure you cover all the damaged area. Then it's to the outside for a similar procedure but it doesn't have to be as thick here.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Oh and don't forget all the necessary safety equipment before you start anything. Tyvex suit, goggles, respirater (not one of those little cloth masks). And a laminate roller will come in handy on this repair too.....

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

It will be a bit of a project, but it is fixable.

You will need to get to the inside to inspect and repair it, if there is gel coat on the inside surface it will hide the damage, so you need to grind it off to see any fractures.

This is just a quick over view of the job, you will need more details if you plan to fix it.

Step one.

So when the seesaw broke in the middle, one of the x side went through the boat.

The seesaw didnt go right through, but with the -20c winter and the weight of the boat cause it to crack

Its a Hole..not a crack.

You will Need to grind All the paint off of Inside and Out to determine the delamination in the glass.

Dont go nuts grinding anything but the surface atm..you Need to see how far the damage is.

Inspect how you will get to the inside and outside. YD.

As Ondarvr first suggested and I was backing him up.

I can easily get at it from the inside.

Is it Gelcoated on the inside then ? as asked ..

I've been researching on this site to find a similar situation to see how they did it, maybe even a step by step but that's probably to much to ask for!

The above quotes are actually a "step by step" .. one step at a time ..

We cant give you a Specific how to guide up front for your specific repair .. We dont have a repair guide for Every boat and Every type damage in Every location on said boats.. .. We guide you..not give you a PDF file for your year make model location glass repair manual ..

Take the first steps and get some more info and pics when you take the next steps. We will Gladly jump all over your boat repair so you can do it safely and as quick as possible.

Im not berating you just informing you ..

YD.

 

[1506cmo18]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Thanks, I appreciate the help. I should of said I'm looking for pictures of a fiberglass repair. I'm okay with the repair on the inside because no one will see it, but not sure about the outside. Pictures would be perfect for the fiberglass repair on the outside because I want it to look good as well.

I dont think its a hole. Its just a large crack as the seesaw didnt go straight through and all pieces are still intact. I cant see inside the boat from the outside.

A buddy suggested using the fiberglass repair kit and then to reinforce ad sheet metal on the inside and outside??

He said it worked for him...

Step one.



Its a Hole..not a crack.



As Ondarvr first suggested and I was backing him up.



Is it Gelcoated on the inside then ? as asked ..



The above quotes are actually a "step by step" .. one step at a time ..

We cant give you a Specific how to guide up front for your specific repair .. We dont have a repair guide for Every boat and Every type damage in Every location on said boats.. .. We guide you..not give you a PDF file for your year make model location glass repair manual ..

Take the first steps and get some more info and pics when you take the next steps. We will Gladly jump all over your boat repair so you can do it safely and as quick as possible.

Im not berating you just informing you ..

YD.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Large crack in Bow of boat!

Can you post some pics of the inside please Is it gelcoated on the inside ?

Sheet metal on the inside and outside..hmm..If it worked for your buddy then thats cool but its not really standard for fiberglass repairs.

Ok..you may not have a hole in it Right now .. but im sure you will when your done grinding .

Its not a crack..its severe delamination of the glass. all that delam will have to be removed ( from the inside and the outside ).

We really need more information about the status of the inside before any suggestions could be made IMHO.

YD.