Hull damage gouge/crack 1720 keywest sportsman

[Alguy]

I thought I would get you folks to weigh in on this. I have a 1996 1720 that the port side chine has some damage. I suspect a impact at some point. I repaired it one time with just gelcoat and it held up for a season or two. It crack again so I tried to patch it again, This time a little deeper with thick cabosil resin and gelcoat. It didn't last long at all. I got in touch with the resin company with pics and they suggested more area grinding and use some fiberglass cloth this time. Well now I have it ground to the point of small holes in the hull about the size of pea. When I press against area I get water from the fiberglass. I stuck a q-tip in the hole checking for more water. The q-tip went in about two inches before it hit foam and it came out wet also. I probed around the 3 holes I created with a long ty-wrap and there is no foam around this area for at least 12 inhes or better. The hull is soft in this area compared to the other side and it has various spider cracks in different areas of the hull...Some look like stress crack and some look like a impact. This boat has always seemed solid to me until now. I shudder at the thought of popping the cap off of this boat. I also cringe cutting a bigger hole in the side and then replacing all the stuff. I'm looking for other viable options. I thought about cutting a inpection plate in the deck above the area, but I'm not sure I could get to it or not, until i do it. What bothers me most right now is the fact the fiberglass skin contains water and there is no foam around it for a couple of inches. How do you get that dry enough to bond anything to? I hate to send it to the junk yard for this. What you think? Iv'e read a lot of stuff the past week regarding these type repairs and i'm getting mixed signals about how to go about it. I made this same post on keywest boat forum. One fellow just said it was not that bad. Just dry the hull out then make the repair. I feel like without some kind of backing behind the hull, that the repair/hull will flex and crack again.

 

[briangcc]

You have a 25 year old boat that more than likely needs at least closer inspection.

You mention soft hull...sounds like you may possibly conceivably be missing structure. You have water weeping out of the holes you have now.

I'm not so sure a simple patch is wise in this instance given all of the above. But that's just me...

 

[Emerger]

I thought I would get you folks to weigh in on this. I have a 1996 1720 that the port side chine has some damage. I suspect a impact at some point. I repaired it one time with just gelcoat and it held up for a season or two. It crack again so I tried to patch it again, This time a little deeper with thick cabosil resin and gelcoat. It didn't last long at all. I got in touch with the resin company with pics and they suggested more area grinding and use some fiberglass cloth this time. Well now I have it ground to the point of small holes in the hull about the size of pea. When I press against area I get water from the fiberglass. I stuck a q-tip in the hole checking for more water. The q-tip went in about two inches before it hit foam and it came out wet also. I probed around the 3 holes I created with a long ty-wrap and there is no foam around this area for at least 12 inhes or better. The hull is soft in this area compared to the other side and it has various spider cracks in different areas of the hull...Some look like stress crack and some look like a impact. This boat has always seemed solid to me until now. I shudder at the thought of popping the cap off of this boat. I also cringe cutting a bigger hole in the side and then replacing all the stuff. I'm looking for other viable options. I thought about cutting a inpection plate in the deck above the area, but I'm not sure I could get to it or not, until i do it. What bothers me most right now is the fact the fiberglass skin contains water and there is no foam around it for a couple of inches. How do you get that dry enough to bond anything to? I hate to send it to the junk yard for this. What you think? Iv'e read a lot of stuff the past week regarding these type repairs and i'm getting mixed signals about how to go about it. I made this same post on keywest boat forum. One fellow just said it was not that bad. Just dry the hull out then make the repair. I feel like without some kind of backing behind the hull, that the repair/hull will flex and crack again.

Your friend that said it isn't bad is right. It's not a hard repair to make. You definitely don't want to junk the boat over it. I'm giving you a link to a video showing how to make a "one sided" repair. Yours will be a little different because you'll be working from he bottom but it's still the same thing. The water you found in the fiberglass itself is normal for a crack like that. Do the grinding for the repair and it should get rid of it. If not, grind it out and allow a fan to blow on it overnight.

If you can cut out a hole for an inspection plate that would be all the better because it will allow you to work on both sides and even replace the foam if you want to.