Crack in hull after first launch

[ledzeppelin135]

Hello everyone, I just got back from my first launch with my 1959 harvey and it went pretty well, the 1983 mercury died a couple times toward the end for some reason but all and all it went well. Well I got home and looked under the boat and sure enough there is a crack on the center rib under the hull that is almost mid boat. It looks to be about four inches long and only from the start of the port side of the rib to the end of the starboard side which i figure would be a total of four inches. How dangerous is this crack and what can I do to fix it and not let it happen again? I know there is the option to fiberglass it but will that hold it from preventing any damage again, and also what could have caused this. Thanks for all your help guys....

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

hi....welcome to iboats.....

it could be very dangerous.....need pics.....

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

View attachment 111086View attachment 111085

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Here is the pictures of the hull. As you can see it is not huge but i need to know what you think caused it and how i should go about fixing it...thanks

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Pics no worky

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

ditto....link didnt work.

upload to photo bucket....resixe to 640 x 420 ish.......copy the img tag and paste it in your post.


HI FRISCO !

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

,

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

That looks like old damage.....did you just purchase the boat? I'm wondering if someone "patched it up" to cover it up. Looks like there is some rot in there. I'm assuming that this is a glass hull?

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

this does not look good zep.

that is the area of the main stringer.....there is no way that crack should have occured in that direction.

i think your stringers are totally rotten.

for a fiberglass boat to crack right thru the glass....well that is just short of catistrophic failure.

the glass can be fixed......but you will need to get inside the hull to do it properly.

im afraid that this is going to be a full gut. and a full blown restoration of stringers....deck....foam ...and most likely the transom.

sorry to give you the news.

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

more pics.....i could be wrong......is that on the strake or on the keel ?

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

How thick is the glass....that looks really thin.

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

,

I went out there to take the pictures and took a screwdriver out there as well, right in the center of that impact area i could push the screwdriver up only a little bit with minimal force but when i moved it on the outer edges of both towards the bow and stern of that damage i could not for the life of me puncture it with a relatively sharp screwdriver. It seemed to me that that thing either being a "strake" or "keel" is made purely of fiberglass because it did not even feel the small give that you would get it you pushed a screwdriver into brand new wood, it was solid as a rock. That was not there before and i think it is actually some sort of fiberglass or something that looks like wood. I am not sure what the strake or keel are but I do know that this thing runs mainly in the center of the boat probably only 7 feet long where as a stringer would run the full length. It stops short by about three feet of the stern and about two feet of the bow.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

that is the Keel-- could it be just a surface crack in the fiberglass? I would check for rot in the rear bilge area and the area near the crack.

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Yes i tried that with the screwdriver and i was trying to stab it thru all that area of the keel and every thing and the only area that gave a little was just the direct center of that impact point and i did not even feel any wood, as you would easily know if there was wood there. I think it is fiberglass or some sort of hardwood that is definitely not rotted, I think it may have crack while being crooked on the trailer being winched up....Ever hear of anything like that.

 

[KDAVID1]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

You are in good hands with oops! He has done some awesome work!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

I'm almost wondering if there is glass, then wood to form the keel, then more glass? I have never seen that, but you do have a really old boat. Any soft spots in the deck? I think you may have to open it up a bit to get a better idea of what is going on. I agree with Opps, you probably have a lot of work ahead of you.

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

the center of the boat......the long line that goes up to the nose....is the keel.......the ones between the keel and side of the boat...are lifting strakes.

i do not know of a manfacturer that put that type of a keel on the hull of a boat....there is either wood in there....or lead.

the dificulty of this repair......is that the glass looks like it is torn.....right thru !....this is a hull rupture. (difficult to tell from the pics....but it looks like it).

if the glass is ripped right thru.....then this is an inside out repair....meaning that the hole must have fiber glass on both sides of the hull.
that means......that you need to pull the deck above the damaged area....and dig till you see the hull and the damage. then grind it till you are at glass.....and then add several layers of fiberglass over top.
then remove the gellcoat from the bottom and fiberglass over that.....then re gell and re surface.

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

by the way.... a trailer will make a surface scar on the gellcoat.....rarely will it penetrate the glass....

and never will it crack at 90 deg across the keel......

that is the thing that worries me.....is the 90 deg across the keel......boats rarely have that kind of damage, unless its an impact. or catistrophic failure

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

No, the floor is solid and it looks as if there is semi new fiberglass covering the deck. The thing with this boat is there is not space under the deck, it is the fiberglass and wood deck and then the stringers and structural portion of the boat underneath. I was knocking up and down the whole keel and bottom of the boat and can not find any hollow or different sounding area in that. Tommorow I will be probing around to see if i can get some material out of there to find out what it is but in my mind that gash on the complete bottom leads me to believe something impacted it and caused that and I think it could have been the boat being cockeyed getting loaded back onto the trailer until I straightened it out.

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

hey bud.....

i fix sunk boats all the time.....boats that have run up on the rocks at 50 mph...and boats that have been brought up from davy jones locker...fiberglass is VERY STRONG...a trailer wouldnt have done that.

under your deck ....is the stringers....and a structural foam....it will give the hull less flex....and if a thru hull penetration occurs....it will self seal the leak....water will still come in....but it wont gush in....

the best way to probe around...is with a grinder..grind off the gellcoat and see what the fiberglass looks like if the glass is broken.....and actually thru the hule..so a hole condition exists......its a inside out repair.....a pro can crepair it from the out side only.....but i think there might be other issues