[C320-list] Dealing with small hull cracks

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks for the reply, Rick.

To my eyes, these small cracks don't look new (as if they'd just been
caused by the cradle or jackstand pads). Several of the cracks are
associated with blisters in the gelcoat. For what it's worth Jon (marina
owner/engineer) asked about the age of the boat (23 yrs, 1995) and said
that boats of that vintage and older that spend a lot of time in the water
often get blistering. And for what it's worth I can't see any evidence of
these cracks in the hull liner (so it's just gelcoat, not fiberglass?).

Kevin
S/V Cecilia Ann, #211
Deale, MD
http://kevjot.com/boat/



On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 3:54 PM Rick Sulewski <rsulewski at bex.net> wrote:

> Where are the cracks located and from is the root cause?
>
> There was a time when some early hulls experienced some very minor stress
> cracks due to sitting on a cradle on the rear cradle pad on the port side
> where there is less internal support structure (portside bulkhead) on those
> early hulls. The solution for such an issue was to add a third rear pad
> between the two rear cradle pads to relieve the pressure on the hull from
> the portside rear cradle pad.
>
> Could your hull damage be the result of the hull being dropped on the
> cradle, collision damage or from a poorly placed or slipped jack stand?
> Check for evidence of any weeping or staining inside the hull liner
> opposite the cracks. Just my 2 cents...
> Rick
> My-Ria 95' 320 #277
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On
> Behalf Of Kevin Rooney
> Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2018 2:23 PM
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Dealing with small hull cracks
>
> I recently got the boat out of the water for the first time in a while.
> I've got her on the hard for a few weeks. While working on the hull I found
> five small cracks like this (video):
>
> https://youtu.be/oM72o1IWkUg
>
> That is the largest of them (by far) and the only one that water was coming
> out of (it has since dried up). When emailed for an opinion on what to do,
> my marina's owner (who is also an experienced marine engineer) replied with
> this:
>
> "These areas are where water has migrated through the gelcoat surface. You
> can grind them out, fill with epoxy filler and cover with epoxy resin. Or
> for right now just let them dry out and put a coat of epoxy resin over them
> to seal them."
>
>
> Any thoughts on how you would address this? Factor in that time is of the
> essence as I've already missed half the season (and after I paint the
> bottom and she is splashed I have engine work that is needed). I'll put her
> out again in the fall.
>
> I'm leaning toward just using a Dremel tool to open the cracks a bit and
> clean them out, and then filling with epoxy. Is that enough? Am I just
> setting myself up for future issues?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Kevin
> S/V Cecilia Ann, #211
> Deale, MD
> http://kevjot.com/boat/
>
>