advice please: significant gel-coat cracks and gaps- pics

I am thinking about buying this boat- it is an old boat and has some issues, but I am hopeful that the majority of them are just superficial. Any and all advice is appreciated.

There are a number of major areas where it appears the gel-coat has cracked and broken off. I am operating under the assumption that water got in there and froze breaking it apart (based on the word from the owner that it is not a result of hitting the canadian shield). Is that a valid assumption that ice can do that?

How big an issue is this? I can get the boat for a steal, but imagine it will cost me a pretty penny to redo the hull (while i wish i could claim to have it, I do not have the experience to do this on my own, nor the facilities).

I am also assuming it needs a transom and at least some new stringers.

for what it is worth, this is an 18' Oday Hunt

phone pics- hopefully you will see what i am trying to describe.

Thanks

 

To me, this does, indeed, look like gelcoat that has come loose...from a previous coat of gelcoat! Very odd, particularly in the first pic. It appears to be very thick. I wonder if that is some kind of filler. Sure, water could get in there and pry off a layer...but it HAD TO GET IN THERE FIRST, which means it wasn't well attached to begin with. The over-riding consideration, tho, is the fact that there is a layer of something over the original surface. My guess is that a poor repair was done over some damage. It is a large area. I highly recommend you get somebody to help you that knows what they are doing. All of the loose material has to come off anyway to properly repair whatever lurks. Screwdriver, chisel, demolition bar, whatever but get all that loose stuff off to know how extensive the backyard repair was. Horrible but anything is repairable - get some up-close pro help. Good luck

 

Someone with an ultrasonic tester could possibly determine the area that's loosened (must be fairly dry, if good adeshive; filler + hull; gives one measuere, filler; alone a lower measure). Seem to me its some kind of high volume filler (poorly) attached to the hull, no clue about the reason for this, though...? repair of holes/ cracks/ dents/ "oil canning"?

 

Run away fast, there is a tremendous amount of work involved in fixing that problem and a 1989 boat...even free....isn't worth it.

 

Leave the thing alone. The photos depict something that is not a superficial issue. A new transom and stringers means a new deck also. Not a superficial issue by a very long margin. You haven't even mentioned the motor or anything else. If they are not in the same worthless condition, I would be very surprised.

 

18 feet of oncoming trouble...........

.... seems too expensive for free.