Gel coat chip at bow roller

[midwest22]

I picked up my new 212S out of state on the 15th and drove it home about 8 hours. For the drive I put a small towel between the stock roller and the bow since I had read the stock roller can cause some scratches on a long trip. Bow looked good when I got home. I order a stoltz from @JetBoatPilot and got that installed last week thinking all was good. Today I took the boat out (5th time on the water) and when loading it back on the trailer I noticed a dime sized chip in the gel coat at the roller. I have been tightening the winch to the point where it is snug on the bell, but not to the point where I can't tighten it any more. Looking for some advice...

Did I have the winch too tight? Not tight enough?
Is this a defect with the gel coat that Yamaha should cover?
Is this not the right bow roller for the boat?
Does this need to get repaired before taking it back on the water?
How do I avoid this happening again?
How do I get my wife to relax and remember it is just a boat?

First 2 pictures show the chip. Second 2 are what the roller normally looks like when I have the winch tightened.

Thanks!

 

[sunbyrned]

I hate that happened to your new boat. It doesn’t appear to me that you did anything wrong. I tighten mine until I can’t crank anymore. Looking at the location of your eye bolt under the roller, it looks similar to when I would stop cranking. I’m sure others that have experienced this will chime in with advice but in my opinion, this shouldn’t have happened and would be worth contacting the dealer about.

 

[scokill]

That looks like a void/blister in the gelcoat. Could be covered under warranty but I could see a claim of impact. Easy fix though with gelcoat paste.

 

[midwest22]

That looks like a void/blister in the gelcoat. Could be covered under warranty but I could see a claim of impact. Easy fix though with gelcoat paste.

Yeah, knowing I didn't hit anything, I'm assuming it had to be the bow roller. Which seems like there would need to be an underlying issue.

Curious to know if we can use it on the water as-is until we get it repaired. Still waiting for a call back from the dealer, but initial estimate was 2-3 weeks to get it in and they wanted me to drop off the boat at the end of this week so it is there.

 

[CarolinaJet]

I replaced my AR210’s roller (same hull as your boat) with the one you have (the 3.5” kit) and didn’t like that it would squash the bells and never touch the center roller. I ended up with a hybrid using the bells from the 3.5” kit with a stoltz center roller from the 4” kit (rp-446) that is flatter. Everything fits better this way.

 

[midwest22]

I replaced my AR210’s roller (same hull as your boat) with the one you have (the 3.5” kit) and didn’t like that it would squash the bells and never touch the center roller. I ended up with a hybrid using the bells from the 3.5” kit with a stoltz center roller from the 4” kit (rp-446) that is flatter. Everything fits better this way.

Thanks for the tip. Do you have a picture and part numbers for the roller you are using?

 

[CarolinaJet]

Thanks for the tip. Do you have a picture and part numbers for the roller you are using?

Edited my comment to include the part numbers. I’ll get a picture uploaded as soon as I can for ya.

 

[midwest22]

Just spoke with the service manager at my local dealer. Dropping it off on Monday for them to do the repair next week. Going to have them do a couple other cosmetic defects at the same time and my 10 hour service, so I should be good to go for a while. I'll report back once I have the boat back. He said it is good to take out this weekend, so should be able to get it closer to those 10 hours before dropping it off.

 

[CarolinaJet]

This is my hybrid bow roller

 

[midwest22]

Dealer did a great job getting the chip fixed. Got to talk to their gelcoat person when we picked it up. She said the gelcoat was oddly thin in that area and the other side was starting to chip as well. They fixed both sides under warranty. Hopefully better than new now and will hold up long term.