hull damage?

[jayvaughn]

I just recently purchased a 1998 20ft center console. Towards the end of the season after many uses (and leaving the boat in the water for a week at a time on many occasions), I discovered about a 7 inch scrape on the bottom of my boat. The scrape is pretty deep at one point in which it exposes about a nickel size of wood. The wood is not damaged but is exposed.<br /><br />My question is... Will this cause the hull to rot? How much damage could have been done over the season? What should be done to repair this? Should I not use the boat anymore until this is fixed?

 

[CTD]

Re: hull damage?

If the wood is not scratched you are probably ok. When the boat was made the wood should have absorbed enough resin to waterproof it. Poke it with a screwdriver to see if its wet. If not and the scratch is in a strong non critical place you can probably just use marine tex to fill it.

 

[flashback]

Re: hull damage?

You didn't mention what make of boat you have but it sounds like it may be a composite type of hull layup with a balsa core or something, and if that is the case, then you absolutly need to repair the gouge or the water will migrate thru-out the entire hull. like CD said, marine tex is a good choice...

 

[onthewater]

Re: hull damage?

thanks guys... I am not sure about the hull type to tell you the truth... it is gelcoat/fiberglass/wood...??? It is a bayliner btw... Before I apply the tex marine, should a killz be used first to kill any rot?

 

[tmac58star]

Re: hull damage?

Good old ethylene glycol (antifreeze) kills rot.

 

[MrBill]

Re: hull damage?

Any punky or rotted wood should be removed. Then if there are no structural issues (does not sound like there would be with nickel sized exposure) Marine Tex will fill the void and bond well, then finshed as recommended in instructions if necessary.