Hull Damage Question

It is a bit puzzling that the gelcoat in the vicinity of the cracked areas, appears pristine. The only way that could be, is if it was impacted by, or fell upon, something that was not abrasive or hard.

 

can you explain the blemish I saw?

 

It appears to me that they lifted on a hull with a padded block and that the hull was either laid up or repaired too thin. [thus broke]

 

That seeming blemish might be a reflection of the ground under the boat ?

 

I watched the second, original video and that dimple appears near the damaged area. But it is hard to tell how it dimpled.

It is not the ground because when the camera moves; it clearly does not.

 

It is hard to tell, but at one stage I got suspicious of that sharp apex to the vee, you could almost cut your hand on it and it seems like a structural anomaly to me to be having that, you would think it would chip pretty quickly. But, it may have been made that way.

 

I am not sure what the blemish is you see . I will have a close look at the area again , next time i am down . Taking the gelcoat off and rough stuff on the inside made it semi transparent , but still can't tell much . Did you notice the big piece of gelcoat/fiberglass fluttering while using the hole saw ?

 

Too bad you didn't hire a surveyor Dave. I get why, but it would have saved you.

Even if the surveyor missed; the e&o would have kicked in.

 

No. I will go back and look.

 

Oh. I see that gelcoat fluttering on further. That is gelcoat most likely. The bond between the gelcoat and the follow on layer is likely weaker and thus delaminated when the hull broke. It is sort of to be expected. The gelcoat bond is not as strong as the rest of the materials. Probably ondarvr understands this bond strength far better than an amateur builder like me. But a poly or vinyl ester bond is weaker than an epoxy bond and I would assume the gelcoat bond is weaker than the glass bonding.

You really need a surveyor in there to try and understand why the hull is thin there; if it indeed is thin versus starboard side. You also need to see if you can see evidence of repair. While your core sample doesn't seem to show it; you may have been inside a repair area which would be congruous.

I also suggest you get some help editing the video. A large bit of it is inaudible due to the weather. I also think you need to script your remarks. Stop blaming improper blocking if the hull is too thin. Some poor schmuck in the dealer yard there probably got blamed as well.

 

Your main problem with all the claims you are making, is that the burden of proof is on you. If this goes to court, the defendants can bring everything you posted and challenge it. Unless you can prove it, they will be on the right.

 

The gel coat is most likely connected to a layer of glass.

Gel coat doesn't typically come loose, it's along for the ride. The resin bond to the gel coat is stronger than the thin film of gel coat itself. If you badly fracture the glass under it small chunks may fall off, but not larger pieces. These small pieces will have glass fibers on them.

 

Bit of a mess all this, if you set out to fix a problem. you first have to know what the problem is, and that stage appears not to have been reached.

 

Yes , I think we will not know the rest of the story ( as Paul Harvey used to say ) until the inside of the hull can be accessed . Once that is done , there is no turning back .

 

Give Ric Steves a call at Noahs in Toronto; he is there in the mornings. He is a wise old bird about boat repair. He might point you to a reputable shop if you are willing to haul her to Toronto.