Dropped my boat at the glass shop over the weekend

[McMark]

Finally getting some warranty cracks fixed. Here's the list so that other 2015 AR240 owners can check their boats in these areas.

Warranty work.

Port side. Bulkhead needs cut back. Putting too much pressure against outer hull. Vertical Spider cracks in the side of hull at the bulkhead.

Port side rear seat in the radius between the seat cushion and inner liner. Glass guy said this was probably there when they built the boat.

Small blister in lifting strake with spider crack. Void found in hull.

Void found in pass through area below the tow point and next to the right side of the hydro turf. About quarter sized.

Dash cracks at every screw hole where the instrument panel screws to the glass console.

Both rear tie downs need pulled and resealed. The glass guy said it looks like there is no sealant at all on them.

Non warranty work.

Someone scratched the port side rear decal while in storage. We're cutting the section of the decal out with the scratch, fixing gel if needed, then reshape the rest of the decal. I want them gone but the Mrs likes them. Arggghhh.

The glass guy asked me how I liked the Yamaha. I told him I loved how it runs but in my opinion, it's a soft boat. He agreed.

Work to be finished in 2 weeks. I'll keep you posted.

 

[swatski]

How do you identify voids in hull, are they obvious or do they scan through fiberglass somehow?

 

[McMark]

It's obvious. The gel will crack and flake away at the void or crack and blister.

 

[MrMoose]

@McMark, what do you mean by rear tie downs? Are you talking about the ones on the bottom-side of the swim platform?

 

[McMark]

@McMark, what do you mean by rear tie downs? Are you talking about the ones on the bottom-side of the swim platform?

Yes. The rear tie downs. Before I took it I looked over all the points that have a through hole. Very minimal spider crack coming from one of the tie down holes that he's fixing and he said it looks like no sealant. I don't tighten them so it's not from that. Just from an un-countersunk screw hole. That's the same issue with the dash.

The good thing is no cracks around the pumps or the windshield. Hehe.

 

[swatski]

@McMark Thank you for sharing! These pressure/stress cracks in hull (fiberglass and gelcoat cracking under little pressure from inside) are concerning, they seem to be moving towards plasticizing it more and more... I understand these things weigh less, which is great, but there is a point where you want to stop thinning it out, at least in a boat that size. The 230s seem to have much sturdier fiberglass hulls. The new hulls flex A LOT.

And they can not seem to be able to muster a half-decent fiberglass or dashboard fitting. Come on Yamaha... I can picture my 10yo fiddling with a drill.

 

[McMark]

All boats have issues when new. Its just the nature of boating. There's no such thing as a new boat. They all have repairs right out of the factory. It's unfortunate that we have to deal with trivial things like Yamaha not taking time to countersink holes. If there's enough time to do it once there's enough time to do it right.

 

[ripler]

@McMark Did you take it to Nowak's? They are one of the best in the area.

 

[McMark]

@McMark Did you take it to Nowak's? They are one of the best in the area.

Is his first name Randy?

@ripler

 

[ripler]

@McMark

Can't remember his name, but they are in Amity. I had them do the reinforcements in my boat before I added my tower.

http://nowakcommercial.com/

 

[McMark]

Oh. Amity. I took it to deep creek. It's the guy that the dealer, Full Performance Marine, sent me to. He seemed really knowledgeable in getting the work done so we'll see.

I'll keep Nowak in mind though.

 

[McMark]

A quick update.

The glass guy called me today to give me the status.

Yamaha is covering all under warranty, but not without some squirming. The said he had to really push them. They didn't want to cover the port bulkhead (block off board)issue. He asked how many boats they've had to fix for this issue. They said more than they cared to. Anyone with a 2015 + 240/242 should make sure the block off board isn't tight against the outer hull. It will crack your gel coat on the outside of the hull.

He said the rear tie downs don't have a backing plate behind them. So no surprise that there is cracking happening. They are getting a backing plate put in.

It took a little over a week of back and forth with Yamaha and the gel coat should be at his shop tomorrow.

It'll be like getting a new boat again.

 

[Bennie]

@McMark - forgive me ignorance on this.. what are you referring to when you say:

Anyone with a 2015 + 240/242 should make sure the block off board isn't tight against the outer hull.

 

[McMark]

@Bennie Look inside the port seat. Towards the front of the compartment, there is a board to keep things from making their way up into the hull. Like a bulkhead. Make sure it's not tight against the outer hull. My starboard side is fine but my port was too tight and cracked the gel coat when the tight board wouldn't let the hull flex naturally. About a 12 inch vertical set of spider cracks.

 

[Bennie]

@Bennie Look inside the port seat. Towards the front of the compartment, there is a board to keep things from making their way up into the hull. Like a bulkhead. Make sure it's not tight against the outer hull. My starboard side is fine but my port was too tight and cracked the gel coat when the tight board wouldn't let the hull flex naturally. About a 12 inch vertical set of spider cracks.

Thank you! I will be looking at that as soon as I get back to my baby... boat. I meant boat. (no one tell my wife)

 

[McMark]

I'll post a pic of where my cracking was on the side.

 

[swatski]

He said the rear tie downs don't have a backing plate behind them. So no surprise that there is cracking happening. They are getting a backing plate put in.

@McMark Do you know if this is a design feature or a production issue? I would hope it is the latter!
Great you bringing these issues up, thank you. So much easier to take care of things when there is a precedence to compare to and a solution to follow.

--

 

[McMark]

@swatski Yamaha said no backing plate to the glass guy. The glass guy is putting backing plates on the tie downs. Also, there was no sealant on the tie downs at all so they are getting sealed. I know the tie downs was a crack prone area so I never tightened the straps and they still had issues.

 

[McMark]

@Bennie @swatski

Here's where the damage occurred (inside the black electrical tape box). I noticed it probably with about 10 hours on the boat. Look closely at your boats, it's really hard to notice just walking around looking at the boat. There's a bulkhead or block off board on the other side as well. My starboard side is fine.

 

[swatski]

@swatski Yamaha said no backing plate to the glass guy. The glass guy is putting backing plates on the tie downs. Also, there was no sealant on the tie downs at all so they are getting sealed. I know the tie downs was a crack prone area so I never tightened the straps and they still had issues.

I almost didn't want to believe you until I found (took me a while) the pic from my 2012 SX190, I did so many things in the bilge, happened to have a shot of tie down bolts from the inside - there is sealant, but no backing plate.... Just the embedded wood enforcement?