FastFission
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 134
I have a couple of questions on minor hull repair that I wanted to post to see if I've got a clue or not.
I bought an older Bayliner about a month ago, and I've been going over it to see what needs work (1993, so I expect on a few projects...). We're going to be on relatively sheltered water (lakes and rivers), and don't leave her in the water, so I'm not as concerned as if I were taking her out in my old sailing grounds (SF Bay).
I noticed that one of the bunk boards has broken, and in looking closely, there are a couple of areas on the hull right near the front bunk support that are showing some spider stress cracking in the gelcoat. The first photo shows the worst of the two areas (The keel is up and the bow to the right in the picture). The longest cracks are about 3/8 inch long. It appears that they are surface cracks in the gelcoat (at least right now). The other area just has two or three much smaller cracks. They were under the bunks before, so I hadn't seen them.
Based on where they are located (just below the seat area, and right next to the bunk supports), I think that they are probably at the forward edge of a stringer, and are being caused by high local loads from a couple of old and overly flexible bunk boards. I am thinking I can just gouge out the cracks and patch with gelcoat patch paste. I'll be watching the areas pretty carefully to see if there's any further progression, of course, and if so pursue more structural repairs.
I'm a little light on the tongue weight, so I could move the boat a few inches forward to get these areas further from the bunk support, and could also reinforce the front section of the new bunks I'll be building. Does that sound reasonable?
The second pictures shows the worst of a number of chips, dings, etc. in the gelcoat. Nothing appears to penetrate below the gelcoat. Is gelcoat paste the right repair for this kind of damage? I don't care too much if it doesn't look glass-perfect, especially below the waterline. I'm really looking mainly for durability.
Thanks for your assistance.
I bought an older Bayliner about a month ago, and I've been going over it to see what needs work (1993, so I expect on a few projects...). We're going to be on relatively sheltered water (lakes and rivers), and don't leave her in the water, so I'm not as concerned as if I were taking her out in my old sailing grounds (SF Bay).
I noticed that one of the bunk boards has broken, and in looking closely, there are a couple of areas on the hull right near the front bunk support that are showing some spider stress cracking in the gelcoat. The first photo shows the worst of the two areas (The keel is up and the bow to the right in the picture). The longest cracks are about 3/8 inch long. It appears that they are surface cracks in the gelcoat (at least right now). The other area just has two or three much smaller cracks. They were under the bunks before, so I hadn't seen them.
Based on where they are located (just below the seat area, and right next to the bunk supports), I think that they are probably at the forward edge of a stringer, and are being caused by high local loads from a couple of old and overly flexible bunk boards. I am thinking I can just gouge out the cracks and patch with gelcoat patch paste. I'll be watching the areas pretty carefully to see if there's any further progression, of course, and if so pursue more structural repairs.
I'm a little light on the tongue weight, so I could move the boat a few inches forward to get these areas further from the bunk support, and could also reinforce the front section of the new bunks I'll be building. Does that sound reasonable?
The second pictures shows the worst of a number of chips, dings, etc. in the gelcoat. Nothing appears to penetrate below the gelcoat. Is gelcoat paste the right repair for this kind of damage? I don't care too much if it doesn't look glass-perfect, especially below the waterline. I'm really looking mainly for durability.
Thanks for your assistance.
