Hull issue near Deck, Need Help

[starmate]

Just Leak Checked my 1961 StarCraft Holiday, I'm super excited as there were no leaks.
It turned in to a Maiden Voyage.
https://youtu.be/BcpzXTKk_XA

The 1982 Evinrude V4 90HP pushed it right along.
I spotted a problem area at the front tip of Bow just under the front deck.

Need suggestion for repair

Rich

 

[gm280]

starmate, I see you have not received any responses thus far. That could be because for the most part, I see a lot more damage then just an opening at the bow. It looks like there is some serious wood damage in the bow cover area as well. Which means some deconstruction to see how far the water damage goes before you can fix it. All the wood damage has to be removed, and then replaced with quality exterior grade plywood before repairing the exterior of the bow again. So some new wood and polyester resin and 1708 fiberglass material is going to be needed. But until you see how far the damage/rot goes, you need to wait to order those things... JMHO!

 

[64osby]

Take a hard look up under the bow.

I cant ever recall being able to see exposed wood under the bow cap and open to the elements.

You look pretty happy on your maiden voyage.

 

[GA_Boater]

Hi, Rich.

I don't think your bow cap is fitting properly. My cap fits snuggly to the hull and nothing is visible behind it. Also the cap straddles the rub rail and channel. This is the best pic I have, but I think you can see how it should fit. I think Starcrafts 5 years older than mine used the same type of bow cap.

 

[starmate]

Thanks GA Boater,
I was having fun. I certainly agree with you on the fitment of the bow cap. It appears the cap took a hard straight on hit into something as it is flattened at the peak of the cap. I'm not sure what it looked like originally but it also appears to be missing some metal on the underside.
Your bow cap looks like it may be similar but no flat spot and I assume it has no damage or missing metal. Can you take a picture from below the cap looking up from an angle similar to the ones I took? I'm thinking the cap may have broken something off on the bottom side.
I want to see if I can tell what it should look like. I doubt I will be able to find another cap to replace mine.
The wood under the bow deck looks original and in decent shape, but I will get under there and look again. I was under there a week or two ago removing the floor and as I recall there is no rot, but at least one plank has some cracks. Looks more like very dry hardwood than plywood. It's common to have quite a few days over 100 in summer and even though its October it will be high 90's this weekend. I weigh 200+ lbs and don't think I would jump up and down on the deck with out doing damage maybe I could tip toe around on it.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Having just taken mine off the Jet this is fresh in my mind bear with me on this as I explain,

On the jet there is a channel that makes up the gunnel Notice it meets end to end in the middle



The rubrail (RR) trim fits over that, (no pic sorry) on mine there was a 1-2" gap between the two pieces of RR trim. The rubber insert was however one continuious piece going from back corner all the way around to the other corner.

The cap is clearanced just so that it has to be spread open a bit and force fit over the RR trim. You can see how it is C shaped and kind of clamps itself in place when installed. (two rivets from the underside keep it from shifting side to side)



So looking at your pic you're missing a chunk of all three and I'm guessing that when whoever hit whatever some or all of the three things above were damaged or removed in the process of repairing it.

Suggested repair? Besides leaving it as is or finding a new cap you could try cutting a piece of AL sheet to make a filler panel that could be held in place and sealed w/ 5200 and maybe a couple of screws.

 

[GA_Boater]

It might be a couple of days before I get to the boat for a pic. TDF's cap looks almost identical to mine and probably is the same. My rubrail channel looks like his if I remember and the RR rubber is one piece from the stern to bow and back again.

Can you get a couple of pics from the top. The cap only fits one way when it's seated.

 

[jbcurt00]

Go back, open the 1st 2 pix posted and enlarge them

It's clearly not a factory bottom edge to the bow end cap. Broken, ragged edge, that also doesn't roll under the rubrail channel like TDF's 2nd pix

May not even be the original cap, seems to be much more angular then the slightly rounded edges factory cap

Fill under it by any means necessary, IMO, see if a local metal fab shop can weld up a new one, or fix the current one

 

[starmate]

It's great to get the feedback from everyone on this. TruckDrivingFool provided the pics I was looking for and confirmed what I am missing. Great pictures and explanation of the construction. The hull design is different on the Jet than my old Holiday but I'm missing the bottom of the "C" below the deck on the Cap. Also the rub rail channel on each side stops about 2" before it meets centerline. I have a good start on a design for the repair.