Inboard hull repair

mwe-maxxowner

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Hi guys. Long time no see. I did a resto several years ago and my boat is doing well.

Unfortunately, I find myself being asked to play boat doctor now since I have a teensy bit of experience here.

Long story short, my dad has a V drive inboard boat. It has very little control at low speed, and he struck a curb under water on the edge of a local boat ramp that he couldn't see. He had just "gooched" the throttle to bring the boat around to avoid drifting into a dock.

The prop is trashed, but the worst part is the collision was hard enough to force the rudder to flex enough to strike the hull at the rear of the boat. There is some hull damage, and I'm hoping to get some guidance on my best course of action to see just how bad it is and get a proper repair here. We have few options around to have this done professionally.

Right now the file size of each image is too large to post directly. I'll work on finding a host or resizing them so that I can use the tools built into the forum.

Until then, I'm linking a shared album. Please, if you have time, view the pictures!

I believe my first course of action is to remove the rudder to inspect, then perhaps just start grinding and see how deep the damage is.

When viewed from the top side inside the motor compartment everything looks fine. So, it does not appear that any cracks are all the way through.



https://photos.app.goo.gl/4ZR9jzVcCVhP8AHx8
 

Scott Danforth

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per the tutorial in the rules and guidelines forum.... re-size the pics (easiest is to email them to yourself and reduce to 25%)

the rudder gland support looks busted up, the rudder is probably bent, your strut supports look bad and your prop shaft may be bent.

at a minimum, the boat will need to have rudder removed, prop shaft removed, etc. and the hull repair.

it looks like core material showing, so be prepared. if you have insurance, you may want to talk to your insurance adjuster.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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I don't think there is any insurance on the boat. Not worried about the mechanical repairs, it's the hull repair I'm interested in figuring out. The mechanical repairs will be pretty straightforward parts replacement. The rudder is definitely bent.

That's what I'm looking into, what's exactly the best way to go about repairing this hull, and how to best determine the full extent of the damage.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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Based on what I had to do on my Dixie rebuild, I'm guessing I'm going to have to grind at the cracks until any cracked and splintered material is gone, then feather out the edges into a dish shape as much as I can, and layer some cloth up and build it back. Maybe use epoxy this time as it's a small area.

I sawed through the hull on my boat while doing the demo and had to repair that, but it was a nice clean cut, and all the way through.

We aren't worried about looks, just want a nice sturdy leak-free boat.

Edit- I did not notice anything besides fiberglass showing, but at the same time all I did is walk out to the boat, climb under and have a quick look/snap a few pictures. If there is core material showing, what does that mean for repairing, and do I need to poke around in the cracks with a pick or a screwdriver to determine for sure?

The boat is a TigƩ. If it is cored, not sure if it matters, but would it be foam cored or balsa? My boat was not cored.
 

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Ned L

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Ouch, ...... sorry about that. ..... That is going to take some work to repair, it is a lot more than cosmetic.
 

Scott Danforth

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the best way is to de-rig the boat, pull the rudder gland, pull the prop shaft gland...... and look.

this pic shows significant deformation of the hull behind the rudder. I suspect the whole gland area is a broken mess
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this pic shows a bunch of old stress cracks in addition to the new tearing. the old stress cracks may be indicative of further damage below the surface
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this pic shows water dripping from the damage
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once you de-rig, you can start to inspect. I suspect the hull is cored in the area based on the pics, and it looks like it may be wet. if so, and if the core is wet, you have a lot of work re-coring

if the boat was damaged and pulled out quickly, there would not be a large amount of water in there. however if there were many stress cracks for a while, it could be a leaky screw hole or something leading to a weakened core.

assuming you do not have to re-core. just like any other hull, you would grind down to good material, build back up with layers of CSM and 1708, then grind smooth, fair and finish. see links 14 and 18 in the DIY stickies

if you have to re-core, you would be looking to cut out the outer skin (or inner skin). remove the wet core, replace with new core, then build back up with layers of CSM and 1708, then grind smooth, fair and finish. see links 14 and 18 in the DIY stickies

based on the color of the gel, I would put this as a mid-80's boat. the new finished area will not blend well to the older/faded color

expect at a minimum $200 worth of PPE (unless you have it), $50 worth of incidentals, and $800 worth of materials and a few weekends, not including the shaft, glands, rudder, prop, etc.
 
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Scott Danforth

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a good prop shop can salvage the prop
 

Scott Danforth

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Tige boats are cored. they called it XL core before 2004

Tige boats after 2004 are "life plus" cored

Tige life plus hulls are covered to not rot under normal issues for life (to the original owner), however doubt boat vs rock would count.
 

mwe-maxxowner

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As always, great information guys. Thank you very much. I've already told him I'm sure we need to pull the rudder and everything else from that hole so we can inspect it better. You can see that when it racked it that it disturbed the bolts some, I am/was hoping that that water dripping was coming from the bilge through the bolt holes. I'm pretty certain the boat is much newer than that, but I could be mistaken. I've messaged him asking for a little more information.

I just want to make sure it's not a patch and go. The only marina around here that I know of and that we've worked with won't work on V drive boats at all. However, surely there is SOME place nearby that I could at the very least get a professional assessment from.
 
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Scott Danforth

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so its one of the XL cored boats..... what ever that means (besides you have a lot of work ahead of you)
 

Scott Danforth

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after spending 3 years restoring my boat that only needed a re-power and re-gel due to fading, I will pass
 

Woodonglass

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SD is spot on on his assessment. Not a particularly easy fix but it will take some time. IMHO it will need to have at least the middle half of the stern core materials replaced. If the inner glass wall is ok then I'd cut the outer skin and you can use balsa or plywood cut into 2-3 inch squares with epoxy and replace the core. I would use epoxy for a cored hull and there are certain Gelcoats that will adhere to Epoxy. Or you could just paint it. Make sure the stern is flat with no curvature. If it is curved you'll need to make a template so you can duplicate the curve when you replace everything.
 

Scott Danforth

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I would suggest a call to Tige to find out wha XL core is. The may have suggestions
 

mwe-maxxowner

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I did some googling and it seems the XL core is more or less a wooden core.

He has found a shop that says they can do the work. We removed the rudder and he dropped the boat off there yesterday. I hope that pans out and they are able to make a good, and niCe looking repair without me having to do anything else to it.

The core seems fine through the rudder hole. It's wet from the rudder being whambalambed so badly which bent the sCrews a bit, and that was allowing bilge water to drip through. It's not rotting though. The glass inside the bilge seems unaffected. I think after he dropped it off the guy's first course of action was going to be to open it up a bit and let that core material start drying and inspect that.
 
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mwe-maxxowner

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This is the last photo I have seen. I think he was about ready to begin rebuilding at this point.
 

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Scott Danforth

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looks like the grinding did not get to the end of the cracking or delamination
 

Woodonglass

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It's hard for me to tell if the area in question has been adequately prepped.
 

Scott Danforth

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here is a better perspective, or at least what I am seeing in the picture

hull-issues.jpg
 
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