Crack in hull after first launch

[archbuilder]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

I agree, I think there is more going here than just a simple crack. It takes a lot to break glass like that.

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

I chopped up a wrecked Airex Speed Queen from the same era a few months ago, the hull had wood in the outer keel and both spray rails, but the inside of the hull was flat with tubular fiberglass stringers formed over some sort of paper or cardboard. The wood in the keel had to be laid in place as the hull was built. The wood inside was rotted and it had many cracks and bare spots from years of abuse.
That damage in your pics looks as if the boat was dropped hard on that area or maybe bounced on the trailer rollers hard with too little trailer support.
If it's made like that Speed Queen was, the wood won't be visible from inside the gutted hull. In other words, if you were to drill straight up through the bottom of the keel on the boat I scrapped, you would first go through fiberglass, then wood, then fiberglass again as the drill penetrated the inner hull. The keel on the Speed Queen was very pronounced and much deeper than yours, but the damage in several spots looked very similar. The glass cracked, and the wood was showing at the point of impact. The boat was wrecked in too many ways so it got scrapped. I'm not sure what would have been the proper repair.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

vintageglass is 100% correct. These old boats have totally encased wooden keels. That crack is typical in these boats when the wood inside begins to decay. It is NOT catastrophic failure of the hull and it does not require tearing out the deck to repair. You can cut out a two foot section of the keel, replace the rotted wood by scarfing in a new piece, reglass it, sand and fair, Gel or paint and go back to enjoying the boat. the OP did not say, but I suspect she's just a little 14 footer.

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

IF that is a cored hull.....woody will be correct......but its the direction of the crack that is the problem....

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Yes you are right this is a little 14 foot boat, and also if by cored hull you mean there is a open space under the deck then yes I believe it is. I am going to get a hole saw and cut an inch circle in the deck to see what I can find out under there. Is there any sort of filler I could pump into that crack and fiberglass over as a temporary or permanant fix until the season is over here around October?

 

[oops!]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

search oops super dooper peanut butter....posted with in the last month or so...it is a structural filler....it will work.

lay a layer of csm.....then 1708 over the whole area then gell or marine tex....you could just paint the raw glass. but it will look like carp

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Ok so here is what I found out today. I took a 3/4" hole saw and drilled a hole from the deck down just to the side of the keel and was thinking I would find a space under the deck but basically it went straight thru the bottom. In my mind this is a good thing because I examined the layers of fiberglass deck, then the plywood middle and the fiberglass bottom and the wood looked brand new. It has obviously been replaced as the guy who owned it before told me he replaced all the wood. it was a little moist but was not falling apart or anything ofthat nature. I probed the keel for ten minutes and I came to the conclusion that that portion got wedged on the wood supports at the back of the trailer and I winched it up and the pressure went thru it. The whole keel is hollow so what I am going to do is get the waterproof spray in foam and spray it in the whole keel front and back of the crack until it oozes out. After that cures I will bond the two parts of the crack with 5200 and then a day later fiberglass over that about four layers which is as thick as the keel looks to be. As far as the hole I unfortunately drilled thru the boat I have the whole plug so I am going to 5200 the whole thing and put it back in the hole and fiberglass three times over the bottom and once over the top and I am guessing this should be ample. I know most boats in that day had wood stringers, keels etc but I am telling you, I can not for the life of me find any wood inside of the keel and there is no space below the deck it is just layers which leads me to believe this is not a huge deal and that the pressure of the boat on the keel cockeyed on the trailer probably did its toll.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

Again, back in the 50's when they were first building fiberglass hulls this was not uncommon. BUT, your method of repair is not, in my opinion, the advisable way to do it. I will say I am usually guilty of over kill but I would recommend filling the keel in the damaged area with some sort of filler before glassing. As for the hole you drill through you should grind around it 2-3 inches lay some CSM and 1708 and then do the same on the outside. 5200 is not going to be good enuf for this.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

any new pics? That would help us to understand it better. I agree with wood, you will regret the 5200 and the glass repair maybe fairly simple.....or not....you have to love boats!

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

I flipped my boat to clean up the hull and prepare it for painting when I saw two patches from the PO that looked bad so I hit the first one with the grinder to remove it and when I did my keel appeared to be hollow. I removed the second one and it looked hollow except for what looked like very little rotted wood. I ended up cutting the top layer of glass off of the keel and this is what I found.



Not saying this is your case but you might want to be sure.

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Crack in hull after first launch

I appreciate the help guys, I was only going to use the 5200 for the plug to just put around it before I slide it back in the hole, I am not only going to use this to plug it, I will glass the top and bottom, as far as the keel goes I figure pumping foam in there would be the best bet because it easily fills this space and although not as hard as other choices it would act as sort of a filler so it is not completely hollow.