Still new to boating-Need some opinions on fiberglass damage...

[tch324]

Last time I took my boat out, it was very busy coming out Kent Narrows, MD. I was heading into the channel but there were tons of much larger boats than mine coming out so there was a lot of large wake. I was going a little faster than I should have been going and hit a couple of those wakes hard (I think I got airborne once or twice in a row) before I slowed it way down. I don't recall hitting anything else that day, but when I got back home I was cleaning it up I noticed this (see pictures). Being such a noob to this, I don't really know what "bad" is. Is this damage that could have occurred from running it too roughly in heavy wake. It's definitely raised to the touch and as far as I can tell it's not all the way through. It's also pretty well above the waterline. Is this something I should be concerned with? Should I get it taken care of before I take it out again or is it something that can wait until the offseason, if all at? TIA.

 

[Joshua Miller]

Do you have an anchor or something in your bow storage that could have been banging around while you were hitting those wakes? That’s what it looks like.

 

[tch324]

Yup. That's probably what it was. I have a 19lb box anchor in there.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Cover with a piece of flex seal tape or any tape that will take a little moisture without falling off and go boating! Don't use anything that has silicone.....that could cause issues with the repair.

 

[Acard7]

Oh man, I had just talked to my wife about the possibility of damaging our hull with the box anchor in the anchor locker, I'll be moving that to the ski locker pronto. I was going to put some sticky rubber mats in the anchor locker so it would hit against that instead of the hull.

 

[tch324]

So what’s the best way to actually repair it… I’ve tried to look it up, but everything I’m finding is about gel coat chips from an external impact or actual holes through the fiberglass

 

[Acard7]

So what’s the best way to actually repair it… I’ve tried to look it up, but everything I’m finding is about gel coat chips from an external impact or actual holes through the fiberglass

To be honest, if you have a hole/cracks all the way through from the anchor locker I would turn it in on insurance if you can.. I trust myself with minor gel coat repair but not sure I would tackle fiberglass repair as well!!

 

[Murf'n'surf]

So what’s the best way to actually repair it… I’ve tried to look it up, but everything I’m finding is about gel coat chips from an external impact or actual holes through the fiberglass

It needs to be ground down all around the fracture-- about the size of a baseball or more. If the fracture is all the way though to the anchor locker, then a layer of glass should be laid in to strengthen the area and seal the crack. After that the gelcoat would need to be applied and feathered into the existing.

 

[tch324]

It needs to be ground down all around the fracture-- about the size of a baseball or more. If the fracture is all the way though to the anchor locker, then a layer of glass should be laid in to strengthen the area and seal the crack. After that the gelcoat would need to be applied and feathered into the existing.

That's what I was wondering. So I do need to sand it down, not try to tap the slight protrusion back in with like a hammer or something, and then repair the gelcoat? All the repair videos I watched were where the gelcoat was chipped out and therefore inset. So they sanded it smooth and cleaned up any jagged edges and then filled the chip with gelcoat then sanded and buffed. There's no hole all the way through so it should just be a gelcoat repair, right?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

That's what I was wondering. So I do need to sand it down, not try to tap the slight protrusion back in with like a hammer or something, and then repair the gelcoat? All the repair videos I watched were where the gelcoat was chipped out and therefore inset. So they sanded it smooth and cleaned up any jagged edges and then filled the chip with gelcoat then sanded and buffed. There's no hole all the way through so it should just be a gelcoat repair, right?

All depends if the glass has been compromised. What does the interior of the anchor locker look like?

 

[tch324]

So it’s not from the anchor. The anchor locker is marked up a bit inside, but it isn’t deep enough or wide enough to get down there.
But upon further inspection it’s a bit more widespread than I initially thought. It does just seem to be some spider cracking in the gel coat, with the exception of that one spot that looks to be the beginning of a chip. Could it be from smacking down on the water too hard?

 

[Acard7]

Super odd… if it’s not all the way through then it’s just gel coat repair which you could probably do, but you’ll never know how bad the damage is until you get under those cracks

 

[Can0n11]

Like mentioned above, The damaged area will need to be inspected which will require either a NDT inspection or removal of the Gelcoat. Not knowing enough about the structure of the boat, ie. ribs or support its hard to say. We run a fleet of composite aircraft and I have seen damage ranging from deer strikes that resulted in having to obtain ferry permits to return aircraft to our Mx facility, to puncture damage that resulted in area removal of glass with multi layer, cross weaving layup repairs. If you run into that type of repair it gets complex quick with timed vacuum/regulated heat processes . If you Gel Coat over a weakend glass area without repairing you can re-introduce Gel coat cracking with future stress. I am by no means an expert in Yamaha structures, but I would get an expert opinion/estimate in your case.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Hard to tell from photos but could also be from hitting a dock or piling even with a bumper between the 2...theres a lot of pressure exerted onto the flimsy fiberboard.

 

[tch324]

Hard to tell from photos but could also be from hitting a dock or piling even with a bumper between the 2...theres a lot of pressure exerted onto the flimsy fiberboard.

I thought about that, but I didn't dock on the starboard side at all that day. I put in with the dock to port, I docked for lunch on the port side, and I retrieved it at the ramp with the dock to port.

Thanks everyone for your input, I've got a guy coming today or tomorrow to take a look at it. Probably best to just let the pros do what they do. I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[tch324]

Turns out I was wrong. I don't know what I was looking at when I looked in my anchor compartment. It was from my anchor bouncing around in there. Needs a little bit of fiberglass work inside the anchor compartment and a gel coat repair outside.

 

[msavold]

Two thoughts from me for going forward.: my box anchor lives under a seat in its carry bag - would not boat in the OC/Rehoboth silt without it. Nothing else I've had grabs as well. BUT those pointy bits!! Too sharp and heavy for the anchor locker IMO. The other thought is a suggestion from a past member here: put some of those floor mats in there (Anti-Fatigue Foam Mat Set, 4 Pc.) cut to fit?
Good luck...

 

[tch324]

For anyone still, following this... It cost me $850.00 to have repaired (Nick's Boat Works in DE for anyone interested). He did a great job. The gel coat is almost an exact match, but you're never gonna get it exactly the same when the rest of the gel coat is 6-7 years old. I've added some adhesive padding to the inside of my anchor locker and I sliced open a pool noodle to cover the spikes on the anchor. Hopefully that'll be enough to keep that from happening again.