sunk and ground up from stem to stern

[cal]

i was working on a little searayder jetboat all summer that just wouldn't go. i did the carbs, stator, electrics...and, finally it worked. it screamed. yippee.

on the first run, i wanted to go show it to a friend. but as i stepped off the dock at his house, i slipped and almost ripped my big toe off! i tied up the boat and went to get treatment. by the time i got back the wind had shifted, broke the boat loose, sunk it in shallow water, banging it against the rocks, and badly damaged the hull.

i really really wanted to get a bottle of scotch and watch it dissappear, but i put a bag on my foot, got in the water and started bailing as the wind still howled. finally my friend came home and we towed it (a perilous story) to a ramp where i hand cranked the water out of the motor, oiled it, and ran it for a while thereby saving the motor.

it has a rip in the keel 1" wide from the bow all the way down to where the jet pump is, and there it is split into a "v" shape.

should i ?
1)pay more than what the boat is worth to have it fixed,
2)read up on it and try to fix the fiberglass myself,
3)shop for a similar boat that needs a good motor, or
4) go back to the bottle of scotch

thank you for reading.

[marshmat]

Wow, quite the story, Cal.
I don't recall the Searayder being renowned for build quality.... does this rip go right through the hull, ie. is it completely torn apart, or is it just through the outer few layers of fibreglass? (If there is any glass in that hull, of course...)
Some photos would help us assess the damage, you can post them right in this thread.

[cal]

that is good advice and the first thing to do. i will go get some pictures and post them here. it will take a couple of days because i am not at the boat now. thank you for your help.

[safewalrus]

Note 4 sounds good! Somebody up there is trying to tell you something mate. There are times mate when despite all that work you have to cut and run!

Go get that whiskey buddy!

[Martin B]

I repaired a Raider last year. The guy ran over a shore station at full speed and ripped a large section off of the back corner. The glass is very thin because they use foam for strength. It makes the repairs a little harder but it's not that big a deal. This job was 20 hours if that helps you any. I guess you can't see it that well in the picutre but there was a section about 6" x 16" missing on the bottom. The stuff up front was just impact damage.

You can see picutres here http://www.bowkersfiberglass.com/class_cos.htm

[Richard Hillsid]

OMEN, was this on a friday?
Preking your tow probably saved your life, imagine what could have hapened you charging of with the boat and it spliting apart full speed under way.

[Tim B]

Why not remove the useful bits (engine, eletrics etc. and re-build the hull from scratch?

If the boat wasn't well-built for starters then I'm not sure if repairing it would get you very far.

Tim B.

[cal]

here are some pictures of the damage. i welcome your comments. thank you.

[longliner45]

how much money you got in this thing? and is it worth putting your time and effort into ..now I could see if it was a classic sailboat ,,,,,,but I think its just not worth the money,,,,,,but remember opinions are like *******s,,,everyones got one,,,longliner

[Tim B]

That would be a lot of work. Possible, but very expensive/time consuming.

I think you'd be best stripping it and getting rid of the hull. Perhaps then build a new hull.

Tim B.

[longliner45]

marine plywood?

[Martin B]

What is the motor and hardware going to cost that you would be removing? I would probably be interested in purchasing this boat for that cost and save you the time involved in removing stripping all of the hardware.


www.bowkersfiberglass.com

[longliner45]

the more I think about it ,,why not replace with plywood? it will look good and be twice as strong ,,longliner,,,,at a fraction of cost

[cal]

thank you members for your input. martin, you do really nice work, i enjoyed your link. i am in the lake erie islands, how would i get the boat to you? longliner, please do go on. do you mean cut the damage out and build up stuctural support, then a few coats of fiberglass? i have never performed such an operation, but what would be involved?

[Martin B]

Oh I just saw your location was in Ohio. I do offer boat transportation in the winter for winter work.