Hit the dock today. Should I be worried with this level of damage?

[jet_boater_paul]

The rub rail took the brunt; there's a big gouge in it, and just above it, there some minor cracking on the hull. Should I be worried with this level of damage? Is the cracking on the hull something that can be dealt with using those gel coat repair kits? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[fatboyroy]

[USERGROUP=9]@HELP[/USERGROUP]

 

[fatboyroy]

You should be ok and I think you should attempt the fix ASAP to avoid water getting in but I’m no expert lots of people here did fiberglass repair that can chime in

 

[YamaHog]

From the picture, the gelcoat damage doesn't look too bad to me. Get a patch paste gecoat repair kit from Spectrum. Their non-commercial sales channel is iboat.com I believe. Should run you about $40 for the kit. You'll have to do a little wet-sanding and then polishing with something like Meguiars M100, but assuming no actual fiberglass damage, that doesn't look like it should take too long to repair and will will look good as new. Does look like the rub rail took some pretty good damage, so I'd definitely replace that section. That looks like it's on the back of the boat?

Here's a link to a thread that may be helpful from my gelcoat repair last year.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/gelcoat-repair-kit-supplies.30048/

@tdonoughue & @mrcleanr6 were of great help to me. I'm sure others here with more experience with this type of repair will chime in. Good luck with your repair!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Being at the joint of the 2 main sections of the boat, water will be going up along the hull while you are operating the boat and probably get inside the boat so I would let an expert fix that it is more than just gelcoat the glass is compromised from what I see. so the seal between the 2 parts is probably also compromised.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

you could have someone look inside as you take a garden hose with some force and spray it under the rail to see if water can get inside then you will have a pretty good idea of the extent of the damage.

 

[ZGhost]

Looks like the plastic rub-rail did it’s job saving and protecting the hull mating parts. The cracking looks like is in the gel-coat and should be an easy DYI with a repair kit. Do some research on this type of repair and you should be able to do it. If not comfortable, take to a professional but I would not leave it this way.

 

[David Martin]

Ouch........get it fixed don't like water getting in behind gel coat

 

[Betik]

The second picture concerns me deeply. I would at the very least the pull the rail out to see what has happened behind. There is a good chance you will need more work that a gel coat patch up kit.

 

[anmut]

1) we’ll need the story
2) file an insurance claim
3) have an expert fix it

 

[tdonoughue]

IMHO, this is likely self-fixable, but I agree with @Betik that you will need to pull the rub rail to get the true story before you undertake it. You definitely have a gelcoat crack that is probably fixable with the little jar of paste. The question/problem is whether you also have glass damage, which will require grinding out all of that bad glass and replacing with fresh epoxy and glass (and then putting gelcoat over it). That will be much bigger.

If it is only the first and only cracks in the gelcoat, I would say you could tackle yourself. But if the second, I would have a pro do it unless you have done fiberglass work before.

The advice about the insurance is good. Document everything. Plenty of pics. I would myself pull the rail first to see if it seems self-fixable before I filed a claim on it.

Finally, not any wood behind the fiberglass at this spot in the boat, so I am less concerned about the water migrating through the glass (where it can rot underlying wood). Would I want it soaking in water? No, but this is above the rub rail and not sitting underwater. I think an immediate repair (though it would be nice, of course) or temp fix would not be necessary in this situation.

 

[Jimmers]

Fiberglass fractures and spiderwebs. You need a trained eye to truly evaluate that kind of damage. If you live in a northern climate and water gets behind the gel coat and saturates the glass you will get de lamination as it goes through freeze thaw cycles. Get it professionally repaired!

 

[NewBoater]

Very sorry to hear this happened. Takes a while to get used to these boats around the docks for sure. Did you panic and hit the gas? Your story may help others from making the same mistake. Hope you get it all fixed up back to new if it’s pricey you may want to use insurance.

 

[bigwaves]

How about this? Cut the rub rail out, get a large enough clamshell to cover the damage, screw it down on a sloppy bead of 5200, fill the clamshell with 5200. Done. Yamaha approved. ??

 

[2kwik4u]

How about this? Cut the rub rail out, get a large enough clamshell to cover the damage, screw it down on a sloppy bead of 5200, fill the clamshell with 5200. Done. Yamaha approved. ??

To soon man, to soon!

 

[bigwaves]

To soon man, to soon!

I had to do it. I couldn’t stop myself from hitting “post reply.” ?

 

[jet_boater_paul]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I will probably go down the route of a professional fix and insurance claim. Yeah, boat was coming into the dock at wrong angle, panic blip of the throttle to circle-about and try again, and rear hit the dock. I too am worried about what damage may or may not be behind the rub rail. I'll post updates as I have them.

 

[NewBoater]

Good luck I agree on going the insurance professional route. The best tip I ever got is never approach or dock or anything faster than you would be willing to hit it. I creep in pretty slow and slight little forward and back to neutral bumps and reverse bump when close to slow it down completely then kill engines and jump off and tie it down. If you don’t have steering system I would highly recommend @Cobra Jet Steering LLC

 

[jet_boater_paul]

Just to close the loop on this, I did end up getting it professionally repaired by North Lake Fiberglass in Denver, NC. Went the insurance route; the job was around $2,200 (had to replace the rub rail, and it being a single-length piece around the whole boat, it was pretty expensive). Paid my deductible and hope it won't impact my premium too badly come renewal time. 2 thumbs up for North Lake Fiberglass; did an excellent job and had the boat back in less than a week.

 

[adrianp89]

Now just remember to keep it slow around the docks and not to panic. The forward/neutral combo keeps me under 1mph when approaching the docks, and if wind is pushing me in I just light reverse thrust to slow me down. Remember you can steer the front of the boat using reverse throttle.