Paul D Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Having taken a trip on Adam's boat, decided I ought to give Neo a polish. Got to the back of the boat and noticed a crack running about 3 to 4 inches long right at the top of the transom in the right hand corner. It looks like it may be just trivial and a bit of filler will sort it out. On the other hand could it be more serious needing more work. Photo below for those "in the know"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Can't see very clearly from the picture how bad/deep is it? Use either a knife or a needle from the missus' craftbox to see how deep is it. If it's only a couple of mm, scrap clean with a sharp knife, them fill it with fibre glass and then paint over it with any odd paint. I've had a crack about 12" long on the transome right by the outboard. My mate cleaned it out and filled it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Paul, i've got all the gear out in the garage if you need anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Paul I will look at it next Sunday and give you some advice on it. If you are happy to wait until after the Burnham trip. Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Ok thanks Charlie. I took the boat around Paul J's today and he kindly helped me out by cutting out the loose gelcoat and you could then see it is not as bad as first thought. ( Didn't help when Paul was saying "Ooh don't like the look of that - at first " I first thought that the transom wood was behind the crack, however, this is not so and there is a strip of wood along the top of the transom which the fibreglass bonds to and the crack was between the outer part of the hull and where it bonds to this wood. The wooden part of the transom is lower on the hull at the point where the crack occurred ( thankfully ). Having gouged out all the gelcoat around the crack Paul took some photos - so those "in the know" can assess what is happening - just in case it is worst than first thought. I pushed a key into the crack and you can see that it is hollow underneath. Now waithing for the fibreglass to set so I can sand it down and apply the gelcoat which Paul kindly helped me out with. Many thanks for the help today Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 As others have said - without knowing it is difficult to tell. Cracks on the transom, can be bad news - often the forces from the outboard can inflict pressure on any weak points and thus cause cracking - certianly one of the first things I always look for on a boat when looking to buy is whether or not any cracks are apparent on the transom. Alternativly it could just be a surface crack and mearly cosmetic - maybe marking the ends and monitoring its progress would be a god idea. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 here goes. this is with some help from the dremmel sander Paul J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 one more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Actually Adam you are to thank for me finding the crack.... I decided that I could do with giving Neo a polish having seen how shiny BW was. I bought some Mer from Halfords and started polishing. When I reached the back, that was when I noticed the crack - easily missed otherwise. The last photo above is me trying to show that the cavity is hollow at the point where the crack is ( which was a real relief to me ). BTW: Having finished the boat I set to the car which is also now nice and shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 looks deep. Have you any idea what cause the crack in the first place? It doesn't look like a stress or load area, so why did it crack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 I think that the fibreglass wasn't bonded properly to the wood at the top, so there was actually a gap between the fibreglass of the hull and the wood at the top which had then had gelcoat applied which subsequently cracked over time. We ( as in Paul J - I watched ! ) cleaned out the old gelcoat and applied a fibreglass in resin mix to the gap. I am 99% sure it is not structural but obviously needs filling as water ingress into that area will cause problems in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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