came across some disturbing visuals while visiting the boat yesterday.
either someone vandalized / backed into my boat while its been in storage, or i just didn't notice how bad a couple stress cracks got...
cracks run from the P to the W and there are a couple of points where it looks like someone took a rock or a bullet to the hull...
(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x198/fishinjimmy/IMG_2210.jpg)
and some close ups...
(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x198/fishinjimmy/IMG_2207.jpg)
(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x198/fishinjimmy/IMG_2202.jpg)
(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x198/fishinjimmy/IMG_2195.jpg)
(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x198/fishinjimmy/IMG_2209.jpg)
havre de grace the best place to go for glass repair?
id love to just seal it up if possible.
Jim..this guy is one of the best around, located in Bay Boat Works, right down the road from Anchor Marine on the Northeast River.
The Glassman - Fiberglass Repair - 410-287-9550
Stress cracks like that are not cheap to repair, and will almost always come back..unfortunatley Champions from that era were prone to a lot of stress cracking due to the resin that was used in the manufacturing process.
They are only in the gel-coat which is around 1/32nd of an inch thick, flexing of the hull is what causes these types of gel coat cracking, you can see were they are almost all radiating up from the first chine. There is not a lot you can do to prevent them from happening.
Repair will involve sanding off the cracked gel, then reshooting with new gel ( matching the color is a big problem ) . Labor costs are really high on this type of repair.
Unless the cracks are wider than than you can insert your fingernail, I would not worry about repairing them as it will be $$$$.
You can try using a polymer sealant on the hull, Pro-Tec is good, it bonds with the gel and seals the pores in the gel, will help keep any moisture out.
http://www.protecproducts.com/products.html (http://www.protecproducts.com/products.html)
Quote from: Basscat7 on April 03, 2008, 10:06:26 AM
Champions from that era were prone to a lot of stress cracking due to the resin that was used in the manufacturing process.
if i remember correctly, someone over at champion had the bright idea to double the thickness of the gelcoat the year my boat was made.
Quote from: Basscat7 on April 03, 2008, 10:06:26 AM
Unless the cracks are wider than than you can insert your fingernail, I would not worry about repairing them as it will be $$$$.
You can try using a polymer sealant on the hull, Pro-Tec is good, it bonds with the gel and seals the pores in the gel, will help keep any moisture out.
http://www.protecproducts.com/products.html (http://www.protecproducts.com/products.html)
a couple of the cracks could fit a fingernail or two inside them. some of the gelcoat looks as though its about to chip off all together.
i'll order some of that pro-tec sealant and see how it works before heading to a shop.
i'd rather not invest in high priced glass work on a boat this old.
on my last boat, i had some wind and waves slam the hull into a dock. put a hole about the size of a silver dollar in the boat with some cracks around it. i put a self adhesive fiberglass patch over the area and it worked like a charm.
i doubt anyone makes 4ft x 2ft fiberglass patches that i could use in this case, but if someone did, and it would work as well as it did on my other boat, i'd slap that big patch on there. i'm not as concerned about the looks of the area as much as i am protecting the function. keeping moisture out is job number one.
off to find myself some pro-tec sealant now.
thanks for the help!!!
The thicker the gel/clear coat, the more prone to stress cracks it will be...thinner gel will flex with the hull......Top line boats now are using vinylester resins, they cost about 15 % more than standard layup resin but flex without stress cracking much.
If not too concerned on the looks, you might try wet sanding with 800 grit paper , taping off the rubrail, etc and shooting it with auto clear coat..this will seal the gelcoat, then you can apply the Pro-tec on top .
Cheap fix, cost is minimal, sandpaper, can or 2 of spray clear , your time sanding.
Quote from: Basscat7 on April 03, 2008, 12:27:45 PM
If not too concerned on the looks, you might try wet sanding with 800 grit paper , taping off the rubrail, etc and shooting it with auto clear coat..this will seal the gelcoat, then you can apply the Pro-tec on top .
Cheap fix, cost is minimal, sandpaper, can or 2 of spray clear , your time sanding.
i like this idea.
ordered the pro-tec sealant a half an hour ago. the sanding and clearcoating will give me something to do until it arrives next week.
thanks!
That looks ugly. :shocked: Did you call your insurance? How about the cops and file a report? That looks like it could have been vandalized. Rock sounds good, looks plausible too.
While I got you . . . . the baits I ordered have arrived, and you were correct, they look awsome. Can't wait to thow one. Did you add a treble up front or just running them with the single hook? If it's not too weedy, I think I'll add a treble hook!
Good luck with the boat repair.
I bought a 186 Champion brand new in 1995 from Reading boat . in the 2nd season i had it , we had an IBA Tx on the Potomac in April and got caught in 30 mph+ winds and 6 foot waves coming back from Arkindale flats area. when i crossed the river from Va to Md side , I took this monster wave broadside on the port side of the boat . When wiping it down after the TX , i noticed that side had spider webbed out . The Champion rep was also in this Tx and after looking at it said to contact them and they would take care of it. They said to send it back after the season & they would fix. I asked about a new hull and they agreed . I had to pay shipping and paid to repaint my trailer as the new hull was a different color but i got a brand new boat out of it in 97. Ultimtaely that one also got stress cracked in various places over the next 9 years. I did do one insurance claim on it for one of the larger stress cracks and was paid net of deductable about 1100 to fix a 10" by 10" stretch of the stress fracture.
My basscat hasn't fractured at all and from what i hear they typically do not fracture . I just find the Puma gets scratched up easy perhaps because of the way it sits in the water or the clear coat thickness???
Anywho , those are my experiences with severe stress fractures.
They sure look a lot more than your typical stress cracks. I would definitley go the insurance claim route for this as it does appear to have been hit by something.
I've seen more than a couple Champions from that year range that ended up looking like this.
Once stress cracking starts on these hulls it continues to radiate out...most impact damage to gelcoat will look like a starburst , like you get on a windshield from a rock.
Depending on the type insurance you have, you could probably make a claim on impact, in the one pic the gel has abrasions on it from maybe bumping up hard against a dock piling ? Something like that, a minor impact that would not bother a hull with no stress cracks , will make one with minor stress cracks fracture out like that.
Although on an 18 year old hull, insurance company might not want to pay to repair and just pay out depreciated hull value. Hull value on that boat is about $ 3000.00.....probably would not be too much less than that to redo the gelcoat on the boat at a good glass repair shop.
Either way, it is stress cracked, either from hull flexing, or bumping something and spreading pre existing stress cracks. Cosmetic, doubt very much if it has impacted the resin/glass mat.
Push on the spots Jim and see if you get any abnormal flexing on the most cracked areas.
as far as insurance goes, i have only the 300k liability needed for fishing tournaments. i doubt i'll get any help going that route, but i'll check my papers and maybe give a call to see.
odds are somebody bumped the boat with something while its been sitting. i swung by the boat tonight for a bit, and while i was there, a big ryder truck was doing a 8 point turn in front of my storage space. the boat is located in a somewhat tricky area that people seem to like to turn around in. i can see how a lousy driver could maybe miscalculate and hit it.
havn't reported it to the storage unit office yet. when i do, mabe i'll ask for another spot.
on a good note, i had a fine grit sanding sponge with me. had at a small section of the damage and was able to smooth out a couple of cracks.
i'll go for the wet sand with some 800 -1200 grit this weekend, then top off with the clear coat. pro-tec should be here next week, and i'll probably do the whole boat with it.
potomac should be a good test to see how it holds up. :laugh:
Jim...IM sent.
Quote from: Basscat7 on April 04, 2008, 12:46:58 PM
Jim...IM sent.
got it. replied, but four hours later.
thanks for the offer!