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View Full Version : Boat Repair ?(fiberglass/wood)



syke-o
09-07-2004, 01:47 PM
Sorry for the long post.....
Ok here goes my little story. Let me start out by saying that i am in no way bashing anyone, i am just asking a question to those more knowledgable then myself about this subject.
The story begins Memorial Day weekend this year when i was throwin the anchor at the mini-sandbar on Sat. morning. My friend was in waist deep water on the port side of my boat.
When he says "Hey what the hell happened here?"
I respond "What are you talking about?" and i jump in the water to investigate. On the port side, close to the bow, at the area just above the water line is 2 puncture marks with some cracking in the gel coat. I freak out and make sure the boat isnt taking on water(which it wasnt), and try to figure out what happened.
After asking everyone if they saw anything or noticed anything the day before we all agreed no. And since we put the boat in the water about 10min previous and drove straight to the mini-sandbar(not hitting anything on the way over) we concluded that someone must have hit it in the parking lot of the Xanadu the night before.
After repeated checks for water coming aboard throughout the next few hours we were confident that no water would be coming aboard so we stayed out for another 5 hours or so.
When i pulled the boat out that afternoon the boat had done an excellent job of not taking on water, but we thought we had pressed our luck enough and decided not to take it out on Sunday.
Tuesday of the next week i take it in to the shop(mfg. of the boat) and tell them to take a look at it and give me an estimate on the repair and if it is under a couple grand i would not claim it. The estimate came back at $3900(so i used my insurance) and they said that the bulkhead was cracked and the crack ran a ways back and it was a lot to repair and they would have to rip out the carpeting and interior to fix everything and then put it all back. They told me it would be good as new.
7 weeks later i pick it up and get ready for a trip to Lake San Antonio with my family and friends. Boat looks ok so we are off. Put the boat in the water(with wife, 2yr old son, 3 month old daughter, friend, and her 2 kids 5 and 7 yrs old) and drive to the camp spot. After a few hours decide to take a ride with just me and the wife and i notice a shitload of water on the carpeting by my feet, so i open the ski locker and it is overflowing with water, so i turn on the bilge and start pumping and make it back to camp to investigate. Everything looks ok, no loose hoses the drive looks ok, no visible hull damage. So i turn it around and put the bow facing out towards the little wake thinking the little wake somehow was putting water in the boat. After bilging for a while it is pretty much empty, so i think good problem solved. An hour or so later i go back and check the ski locker and guess what?? Full again!! So i load everyone back up and jam to get the boat back on the trailer.
Get it home and check all the fittings again and cant figure it out. I then crawl underneath the boat and i find the problem....... 1 heavy duty screw on each side sticking out of the bottom of the boat from where they screwed the speaker boxes through the bottom of the boat.
Take it back and they apologize and fix it for me in a little less than 2 weeks.
Pick it back up and was going to go to Mead with the family but the trip fell through last second so i just went to Havasu with a few buddies.
Go to Sandbar at around 10:30 am and leave heading around the island to copper when my friend ntices water by his feet and i think, what the f*ck now?? My friend moves the speaker box and a ton of water rushes out, and i open the ski locker and it is full of water. Just then another friend towards the bow looks at the previously damaged area and yells get to shore!!! i look over the side and a flap of gel coat 2' x 2' is hangin on by a thread with a nice looking crack running front to back.
I make it to the beach opposite of the nautical and use 2 gatorade bottles in conjunction with the bilge to empty most of the water, but we realize we must make an attempt to trailer it because it isnt getting any worse so we could probably make it.
So we use the quickest route which is through the channel(thankfully it wasnt that crowded) and go at a little above a no wake speed with one of my friends holding the big gel coat piece to the side of the boat while my other 2 friends bale water with the gatorade bottles.
We are almost to the bridge when the local law enforcement light us up and tell us to pull it up to the shore. I am thinking, great we are gonna sink for sure now. We inform him the boat has a repair job that went wrong and we are trying to get back to windsor to put it back on the trailer. The LE said that now that he has seen us he cant let us go and that Sea Tow will have to be called. I am now thinking great i have to pay a tow bill too. After sitting there baling water for 35 minutes and countless people walking the channel asking what happened the LE finally said, "I told you not to leave, but he is going towards the nautical and will not be looking our direction(wink, wink)". So we took off towards windsor at a cautious speed and made it back safe.
Took it back to the mfg. and told them their repair didnt hold too well and too let me know how extensive the damage was.
By the way the floor of boat was rippled and felt like rotted wood would feel. The flap area was wide open showing the fiberglass with a crack just at the bottom edge that ran from the 1st third of the bow area to just past the passenger seat. In the ski locker there was a big chunk of wood getting ready to fall.
After that long story my question to you all is how much can be damaged and still be fixed. If the side is cracked in 2 and the floor is breaking apart, can a new peice of wood just be spliced in?? And if so does the boat still hold its structural integrity? Is there a point to the damage where an entire new bottom would be the only way to fix it?

Sandbar Mike
09-07-2004, 03:29 PM
Aaron whats up dude, Sorry to here about all that BS.
I honestley would take it elseware and demand your money back. Your getting Jerked hard by these guys. Who is your manufacturer?

OutCole'd
09-07-2004, 03:34 PM
I would look into taking it somewhere else. I sounds like it is a lot worse now than before the repairs were done. I think you may need to get a good attorney involved.
Good Luck.

ChumpChange
09-07-2004, 03:40 PM
Was this only a few weekends ago that you went through the channel with a guy hanging off the bow holding the side of your boat on? I was wondering what happened and now I might know.

syke-o
09-07-2004, 06:28 PM
hey mike- ya it sucked pretty bad and i dont really want to slam the mfg but u might be able to guess
outcoled - i am going to meet with them this week hopefully and see the damages with all the interior out, i need some advice on what to look for.. i hope the attorney route doesnt have to be taken
chumpchange - ya that was me driving with a friend hangin off the bow

coolchange
09-07-2004, 07:18 PM
Friend ripped the sponson off a Hydro once and glued it back together. Problem is the repair is usually stronger than the rest of the boat. (WHEN DONE RIGHT). I would've been in there with both barrels after that.

ratso
09-07-2004, 07:53 PM
Is this a balsa core hull???