How's my crack

[Maj92az]

My 89 Searay has 3 or 4 cracks in the gel coat. 3 of them are on the interior. And I think nothing of them. But one of them is about 1 ft long and runs thru my main boat plug. See my picture (if it attaches). Certainly no flex there but seems to be in a critical area. Probably just the outer gel coat?? No damage underneath near there... any input. Thx

 

[chevymaher]

LOL Neosporin Are frequent showers the rash should go away quickly. Sorry had to.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd recommend drilling into that crack with a 1/4 drill about 1 1/2" deep. If you get light colored DRY wood shavings, then patch the hole with 3M 5200 and move on. If you get Dark and Wet shavings, then you have some issues.

 

[Maj92az]

Thank you. I did not get any wet or dark material. Seems it does not extend into the fiberglass. To prevent it from going further, side to side, should i lightly grind out the crack and ends and then fill it with that material. I will remove my drain plug plate..assuming it comes off and I can reseal when I reinstall.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would make a few more test drills. that crack suspiciously looks like it follows the bedding of the transom wood.

 

[Maj92az]

Ok. I guess knowing the build up of this area would help me. So on the transom we have 1/8" gel coat. Then fiberglass throughout. Although on the transom we have some form of wood bonded within the materials? How thick is the aft end of a hull? If you notice, this crack is under an inch, even as close as half inch from the bottom corner.

I did drill that first hole, and without going too far I did get the gel coat of course, and the fiberglass. I can easily following the crack through the gel coat but it seems to end of the fiberglass. I did 2 more holes with the same results. Where in the make up is the wood? If this crack is so low, and has stopped at the fiberglass; where could it contact the wood?

only a guess but there is a minor damage right at the end of the keel. The impact, along with the drain could have flexed the area.

 

[Scott Danforth]

your transom is .020" of gel over 1/4" of fiberglass with 1.5" of structural wood. on the inside there is another 3/16" to 1/4" of fiberglass

go inside the hull, take a 1/4" drill, put a tape line on it 1" from the end. drill a hole in the inside of the transom about 1" up from the bottom and right or left of the drain plug a few inches. look at the wood shavings. not fiberglass shavings

 

[hanslanda]

Not a pro- doing my own first rebuild myself right now... BUT the drain is not near the transom on my boat. On my glastron the drain is further up in the boat. The keel is further up. For my hull design on the order of 6 inches. BUT that area is directly below the transom. Everywhere around your drain should be all glass.

 

[Maj92az]

Great idea. So I used a 12" bit lol it helped reach under the engine in the bilge. Went in 1". Hit wood for sure. Clean light colored wood. I went near top of drain and few inches left. Pretty close to the crack on the other side but a tad above- so I'd hit wood.

I guess that's it. No water intrusion. But now I have 4 holes. 1 inside. And 3 out. I would like to lightly grind the crack..what hard material can I use to seal the gel coat...thx

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd mix up some thick Gelcoat Paste. Buy the smallest amount of Gelcoat you can and mix in some Cabosil thickener until its like mayonnaise or creamy peanut butter then simply fill the holes with a putty knife. for the crack use a dremel to "V" out the crack and use the same Gelcoat Putty to fil it. Then sand, fair and polish.