Boston Whaler hull damage. Is it worth it to repair the bottom.

Clambaron

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Apr 22, 2016
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I own a 1992 23 walkaround. Two years ago de lamination was found in the hull bottom. Before anyone asks I didn't get a survey. My fault. I have talked at length with the previous owner and he feels it was before him too. At any rate the repair was done by a reputable glass shop . They put big heat lamps and vacuum lines in to draw out water. Any bad foam was replaced and then the hull was glassed. The original site was about five to six feet in length by about four feet. When the boat was returned I inspected the bottom closely and found another area of concern. Back it went to the glass shop. It was determined that this area was the cause of the other area de laminating and their thoughts were that the owner hit something and then covered it with epoxy and bottom paint. It was well hidden,but again my mistake for no survey. I had this other area repaired as well. Another spot was found as my boat was being prepped for launch. It is adjacent to the second repair. Water was dripping from the hull and the glass felt soft. My concern is if I get this area repaired will another show itself down the road. Would I be better off walking away from the hull and selling the engines which are new with only 124 hours on them.
 

alldodge

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Another spot was found as my boat was being prepped for launch. It is adjacent to the second repair. Water was dripping from the hull and the glass felt soft. My concern is if I get this area repaired will another show itself down the road. Would I be better off walking away from the hull and selling the engines which are new with only 124 hours on them.

Howdy

Your sure having it ruff on this one. Wondering if it would be worth to continue fixing or scrap, well we would need to see what your seeing, and the computer is not that great with this area. The thing that concerns me more is the boat was in the shop having a 4x6 foot spot fixed using vacuum bags and heat lamps. If the wood was wet it should be removed not dried out. Any moisture left in will continue to cause rot in the future.

The shop did a large section, then you found another spot and it went back, now you find another soft spot and water is dripping. I'm thinking you needed a better shop to start with. I don't understand how a good shop would miss things like this to begin with.

Working on a 4x6 foot spot and not seeing that the boat needs more work for a professional repair shop just gets me. This is only a 23 footer, it's not that big. Talking from the back seat, this boat should have had the top removed and deck removed.

Don't know how much you have in it, but I would get a couple estimates on a complete rebuild, then decide if it's worth it. This is all Band-Aid work so far for my opinion
 

JASinIL2006

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Do Whalers even have wood in their construction? I though they were only fiberglass and foam.
 

alldodge

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Do Whalers even have wood in their construction? I though they were only fiberglass and foam.

Ya know your right JAS, two layers with foam between. So at least there is no wood to rot, but I'll still think the shop is missing a lot. Once the water gets in there it will soak into all the foam, even back into the new if it was not removed
 

JASinIL2006

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Ya know your right JAS, two layers with foam between. So at least there is no wood to rot, but I'll still think the shop is missing a lot. Once the water gets in there it will soak into all the foam, even back into the new if it was not removed

It seems odd they could have patched one spot and not noticed that another spot immediately adjacent was bad, doesn't it?
 

jbcurt00

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Whalers have plywood backers for consoles, in stressed areas and a few others for thru the deck stuff. I dont remember the Whaler topic exactly, but when he peeled off the deck fiberglass there was plywood below it
 

jbcurt00

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I suspect the shop ONLY did what they were contracted to do. Someone may have noticed, may not have too...
 
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