New to boating

[jimmyboyto]

Hello everyone I have recently bought a boat but it looks to me that it is in need of some repair. The hull looks damaged and was wondering what i should do to fix it.

Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New to boating

definately,

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: New to boating

I hope you get some good answers because mine looks like that on the bottom too. To many trips on to the beach I'm thinking.

 

[h2oboy]

Re: New to boating

Repair it and then put a keel guard on so it does not happen again!!!!

 

[ddennis]

Re: New to boating

I'm thinking if you don't get that sealed up you are liable to have much bigger problems. At the least that needs to be roughed up and sealed with some fiberglass epoxy...but then again I am no fiberglass expert. One of the guru's will be along shortly...but Iwould not put it in the water again till its fixed.


and I agree on the keelguard!

 

[OhWellcraft]

Re: New to boating

Definately need to get those areas repaired before you do too much else to the boat. Is it an outboard or a I/O? If its an outboard I would check over the whole transom real well to make sure there is no rot problems. Tap on it with a mallet starting at the damaged area and move outward, listen for changes in sound. If it is an I/O I would still test it out but might not be quite as concerned unless the transom is totally shot. Not that it is but if it were me I would for sure investigate pretty throughly its(transom) overall condition. What year boat is it, how does the floor feel when you bounce around on it, are there and holds you can take the cover off and look down into real well. Just want to make sure water hasn't been getting in through either of those areas for any length of time. Hopefilly the keel is built up a bit inside which would help, it is ground off pretty good fix that up for sure then as already stated put a keel guard on it. I would think you could do the repairs yourself as there is TONS of great info on this site on how to do those types of repairs. Spend a afternoon reading here and go for it. Good luck and post back on your findings of transom,floor,etc condition.

 

[jimmyboyto]

Re: New to boating

its an outboard and I just went out and tapped all over it. It sounds solid. The boat year is 1979 thundercraft. The floor feels solid But I am unsure if I can open it at the moment bacause its pritty much frozen . Keel guard is deffinatly on my list of things to get. Couldnt I just bulid up a thick layer of friberglass on the keel and then apply the "keel guard"? I also wondered if I should repair the other hardware on the boat. Here I have added soem more pictures. Thanks for the replys!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New to boating

in a nut shell, Yes.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: New to boating

Welcome to Iboats Jimmy

Coincidently I have a Thundercraft also. If you would like or have a chance post a pic of the whole boat. Checking the floor in cold/freezing weather can be a little deceiving, it could be frozen solid. If you ever end up riping the deck up out of that boat and it is anything like my boat it had very little foam in it compared to other brand boats out there, which might be a good thing, or depending on how you look at it it might be a bad thing because the foam is put under the deck for flotation.

 

[jimmyboyto]

Re: New to boating

picture as requested-

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: New to boating

Not a bad little boat. I believe mine is a 78 model trihull, it might be older , with an open bow. My Thundercraft happens to be a pending project, I'll finish it up one of these days. Well I don't have a picture of just the thundercraft but it is in this picture.

2nd picture down.

,

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: New to boating

Where do I get a fiberglass repair kit? Do they sell them on here? I'm 50 miles from the nearest marina. Wouldn't just a thick coat of paint or POR 15 do the trick?

 

[oops!]

Re: New to boating

hey jimmy....

a big howdy to ya' and welcome to i boats

boat university as one moderator calls it......

ok ...ill go for it......

as for the bottom part of the boat....its called the keel...

yours is badly damaged...and can be repaired

because its on a trailer..and you need to get in there...id take it off at a boat yard... so you can get at the keel....

you need to climb under there with a grinder....grind around the area 3 inches...also grind out all the .."white fiberglass"..it is rotten and will not hold resin....dont go too deep or you will go thru the hull...
after the grinding..blow the area out with pressurised air..then clean with acetone....add new fiberglass to the area....sand smooth....prime.and paint....! done

BUT....YOU HAVE MORE TROUBLES.......
see that pick by the proud canadian sticker.....(good one by the way...eh?)
that transom hook is rusted.....rusted means...water...that goes thru the transom....that means rot......but one step at a time....

can you get a heated space to do the work??......may long isnt far away....
i would think you could do the keel repairs in 8 hours.....

the transom.....well lets wait till its not frozen before we go there....

hope that helps
cheers
oops

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: New to boating

Where do I get a fiberglass repair kit? Do they sell them on here? I'm 50 miles from the nearest marina. Wouldn't just a thick coat of paint or POR 15 do the trick?

You can get a fiberglass repair kit at nearly any auto parts store. If you need a bunch of fiberglass and resin, you could possibly find an auto body shop supplier that also sells to the public. I bought 3 1/2 square yards from an auto body supplier last year, with resin.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: New to boating

I've never seen a fiberglass boat in my area more then 6-7 years old that doesn't have some damage like this to the keel.

I'd think that setting on the trailer would be a nice place to crawl under and fix it.

The hull on my boat in this area is about inch thick. If you grind through that your getting to carried away.

 

[oops!]

Re: New to boating

cave man...if its on rollers...they get in the way of the whole job....
you want to do the keel all at once to avoid a mechanical bond.....you want the keel to be strong!

and one inch of glass is a lota hull.

my sea ray ...69 is inly 12 inch at the deepest point ive found.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: New to boating

OK , my boat isn't on rollers. It slides on the trailer on two boards that are covered by indoor outdoor carpet. There purty far back from the front of the keel where my damage is. There is no way to get it off the trailer in my area except to float it anyway. He seems to have a longer damaged spot then me anyway. I wasn't even going to fix mine but, I might do something now.

 

[OhWellcraft]

Re: New to boating

Jimmyboy,
The keel can be repaired pretty easily as stated above, grind 3-4" on either side of damage and lightly grind damaged area trying to round the square edges slightly 90 deg. corners are hard to deal with. Layer up woven roven or mat, then finish with cloth to attain smoothness. Don't do it all in cloth it isn't strong enough. Once fully cured sand smooth clean well and paint. Acetone is great to clean every step of the process with you dont want ANY dust, oils, grease, wax, etc. to compromise a good bond. Once all has cured then attach keel guard and you should be good to go. Couple notes try to do the whole length of the repair at a time not in pieces, if need be I would think you could jack the trailer way up even put blocks under jack. then build a block to hold boat up(2x4 with v in top or block up to chines from ground) then lower trailer to access all of keel needed. Obviously this needs to be well thought out and safe if it doesn't seem doable then don't chance it.
I didn't know you were in freezing temps when I reccomended the tap test. I would try to get the boat into a heated garage let it all thaw out then you can do some real investigation into that transom. I don't want to sound negative and hope I just cant see pics well enough but that transom looks to be in bad shape. Lots of gaps unsealed holes rust looks like silicone on the mounting bracket bolts. I would for sure know exactly whats going on back there before I did any serious boating in it. If you are just trolling might be okay with a few repairs but I would check it out if it were me because its hard to drive around and not drop the hammer to see what shes got then the next thing you know the outboard is on the bottom of the lake with your boat soon to follow. Just be safe is all I'm trying to say. Post back with findings or questions....

 

[jimmyboyto]

Re: New to boating

Hey thanks for the tips im going to get into the boat right now and take pictures of any areas I see rotted. BRB with findings....... OK back It is above freezing here so I did the tap test. it sounded good untill i stared to reach the upper part of the transom but it does seem solid but I will never know untill I take it out on the water. I have taken some pics of the hardware that was rusted on the transom from the inside. It looks like I will be able to get into the floor to check the hull from the inside. Here are a few more pics. I dont have a garage available to work on the boat I will have to wait till warmer weather. Come on global warming! Im going to start gathering supplies and price some keelshield or knockoff brand?

Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New to boating

looks like you may have more work.