Boats from work.

[MikeSchinlaub]

I work in a repair shop, so I get a bit of variety in the kinds of boats and damage I see. This is just going to be a thread of stuff I think might be interesting to look at.

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

First up, a 2023 Cobalt R6 Surf. The owners don't know what they hit, but it broke the transom in half. This happened on their first time out.

 

[Pmt133]

Happen to have any pictures of the drive? That's a hell of a hit.

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

Happen to have any pictures of the drive? That's a hell of a hit.

Sorry, we don't remove those inboard motors. That was done somewhere else.

 

[aspeck]

How???? First voyage … ouch! Someone was exceeding their limitations!

 

[FLATHEAD]

 

[redneck joe]

I hit a 2x8 at speed an while it sounded like I tore something it did not

 

[Lou C]

that's quite scary, looks like the boat must have taken on a lot of water
that's why any future boat I own will be full foam filled
and outboard powered

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

any future boat I own will be full foam filled
and outboard powered

Boston Whaler sounds like just what you're looking for.

 

[Lou C]

Key West & Pioneer also use that method of construction

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

A couple things today. First, a small flake job. This is actually the second time I've sprayed it, because I got flake on the upper and lower blends and it burned through. Hopefully all goes well this time. I tried covering a few strays with a red sharpie because they were closer to the blends. It looked good on the first test, but after I started clearing, they stood out. So I used my touch up bruse to touch a bit of flake over them.


Second, an interesting development on the Cobalt. The transom is almost done (actually started on it before this thread), but there were some cracks by the deck vents on both sides. They were small spots at first, but thanks to factory bondo, are much bigger now.





The bondo goes much farther than what I have ground, but this was only supposed to be a small warranty job. I ground what was exposed down to glass, but we're not going any farther out. I looked up the price of these last week out of curiosity. I saw 2 used ones for $150k and $200k and a new 2024 for $310k.

 

[jimmbo]

That Cobalt looked like a lot of the Glass was not saturated with Resin. Seems top more and more Common the past 20 yrs
I had a Transom Delamination, and Glastron did Eff All, so much for their POS VEC Lifetime Warranty

 

[Lou C]

That's the problem with 'glass boats, you always wonder if the one you are buying was built right in the first place, sometimes it takes years to find that out!

 

[jimmbo]

There have always been Bean Counters interfering with Quality. It has gotten worse since the 80s, when Consumer Protection Laws were Gutted. These Days it is srictly Caveat Emptor, on any and all Purchases, as Consumer Protection has morphed into protecting Profits over Consumers

 

[Pmt133]

I've always said cobalt just built a boat that looked pretty and nothing else. This isn't exactly helping convince me otherwise...

 

[ratdude747]

There have always been Bean Counters interfering with Quality. It has gotten worse since the 80s, when Consumer Protection Laws were Gutted. These Days it is srictly Caveat Emptor, on any and all Purchases, as Consumer Protection has morphed into protecting Profits over Consumers

Agreed. Even on my "well built" 1976 Starcraft Montego I've found areas that scream "bean counter reduction". Nothing structural (unlike the OP's case), but still. And I say that as an engineer who knows all about value engineering...

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

I've always said cobalt just built a boat that looked pretty and nothing else. This isn't exactly helping convince me otherwise...

Really? I've usually found Cobalts to be pretty well made. I've never seen one with a large area of bond like this.

 

[Chris1956]

That cobalt must have backed into something real solid, and I would expect the outdrive to be a total loss. If she hit something going forward, the drive would have kicked up, with little damage or none.

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

That cobalt must have backed into something real solid, and I would expect the outdrive to be a total loss. If she hit something going forward, the drive would have kicked up, with little damage or none.

The boss did say the out drive had to be replaced.

 

[Pmt133]

Really? I've usually found Cobalts to be pretty well made. I've never seen one with a large area of bond like this.

In the sense that they cut the same corners that all the "higher end" consumer models do. Better than most for sure but I don't think that is a 200k boat by any stretch of the imagination is all I'm really saying. Their outward fit and finish is probably about the best in the mass market segment. I guess I just expect more for what I'd be paying... the bondo is just... why... I know they all do it but you're a premium brand. Just do it right.