About to buy a boat, need advise

[TRDon]

I am looking at this nautique and it is in really nice shape but there is one problem that I am not sure if it is a major issue. In the side of the boat is 2 gelcoat cracks steming from what I assume to be the rub rail screws extending down to about the waterline and then they go rearward another 16-18 inches or so.

I was concerned about the structural of the boat or if this is a permeable crack for water to seep in and weaken the fiberglass hull. What are your thoughts, the sooner I can hear them the better as we are trying to make a quick decision on this boat :?:

[bkhallpass]

RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

I doubt a crack of that length is from rib rail screws. Better guess is it was banged into something. Not the end of the world in any case. It can be fixed, but it is not cheap. The more gel colors it goes through, the more it will cost. BKH

[TRDon]

RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Is there an issue with leaving it as is, would it be anything other than cosmetic to fix it? It goes through 2 colors and the pinstripe between them. I am wondering if since it is just a hairline crack if it is just a cosmetic thing or something I need to be more concerned about fixing

[TRDon]

RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Nobody else? Sorry about the lack of patience but I need to figure out my finances soon if I do it and the wife is on me about buying it and I am not sure if it is a smart thing to buy.

[maxpower220]

I am no expert, but most cosmetic stress cracks are small and stem from screw holes. I would be highly concerned with a long crack that goes to the water line. Water can get into the gelcoat and the fiberglass. Most of the time, this will cause blistering. It can be fixed, and it will be more than a few hundred dollars. Unless the price is so low that you can account for it, I would say keep looking. Also, contact CC to see if this falls under the hull warranty. It may be a free fix by CC.
There are a lot of boats out there, many without any problems at all.

[bkhallpass]

RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

It is a simple question with a complicated answer. Without seeing the boat, and the damage, it is difficult to answer. Stress cracks in the gel, are often, but not always a sign of cracks in the underlying fiberglass. If this is the case, it can still be fixed, you just need to grind off the gel, make the fiberglass repair and then re-gel. It is a labor intensive process, and therefore not cheap. If it is a crack in the gel, it may or may not be a problem. I was looking at 45 year old correct crafts last week with lots of stress cracks and spider cracks in the gel, and still working fine. The older boats used polyester resing, which will allow water in over time. If water get's into the fiberglass, and under the gel, you risk blistering of the gel coat. Leaving the boat moored in the water for prolonged periods will prolong this. The newer boats use and epoxy based resing which will not absorb water. You may still be subject to blistering, but the fiberglass won't take on water. Can you post a picture of the crack? You may also try posting on correctcraftfan.com, as there are bunch of guys there who have done extensive fiberglass and gel coat repairs. BKH

[TRDon]

Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

It is a simple question with a complicated answer. Without seeing the boat, and the damage, it is difficult to answer. Stress cracks in the gel, are often, but not always a sign of cracks in the underlying fiberglass. If this is the case, it can still be fixed, you just need to grind off the gel, make the fiberglass repair and then re-gel. It is a labor intensive process, and therefore not cheap. If it is a crack in the gel, it may or may not be a problem. I was looking at 45 year old correct crafts last week with lots of stress cracks and spider cracks in the gel, and still working fine. The older boats used polyester resing, which will allow water in over time. If water get's into the fiberglass, and under the gel, you risk blistering of the gel coat. Leaving the boat moored in the water for prolonged periods will prolong this. The newer boats use and epoxy based resing which will not absorb water. You may still be subject to blistering, but the fiberglass won't take on water. Can you post a picture of the crack? You may also try posting on correctcraftfan.com, as there are bunch of guys there who have done extensive fiberglass and gel coat repairs. BKH

Extremely informative, thanks for that. Do you happen to know which year the "newer" boats with the better resin is?

I did take a couple pics of it but you really couldnt see anything at all. It is a hairline crack, my 93 sport has many of them, but all are from the rubrail screws up, so I had much less of an issue with buying that boat. That, and they are all less than 6 inches. From the rail down, my boat is flawless.

I like this boat, my wife loves it and I get the feeling she will be a little bummed if we dont buy it, but I got a feeling that there might be another boat for me on the horizon, but this may not be the one. I still have to give it some thought.

I am still open to any other comments on my problem.

[bkhallpass]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Sorry, a couple of mistated words in and lots of typos in there, but you got the idea. Leaving in the water for prolonged periods agitates the problem. I do not know the year they went to the new resins, it was sometime in the 90s. TRBenj will probably know. BKH

[zapada]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Take a good look at the crack. You need to determine if it is a spider crack in the gel coat or a crack in the fiberglass. Most of the time these are caused from stress either from drilling or worse from being smacked. If it's in the gelcoat than it's only cosmetic and it won't continue to damage the boat. You can get it fixed only if you'd like. If it's actually a crack then you may have an issue. I couldn't bring up your picture so I didn't get to take a look.

[AirTool]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Link didn't work for me either...askin' for my login.

AirTool

[TRDon]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

umm, I dont know what that link is about. I can honestly say I was in bed at that time and nobody was online at my house at the time that was posted. Thats kinda creepy.

[NautiqueJeff]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Cleared out the link. I have never heard of that happening before on this site, but I'll keep an eye on it.

[TRDon]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

Sorry to creep you all out, My wife came home late from work last night & tried to post a link to the picture I took, She forgot to tell me. She must really like that boat. Sorry about that.

[HS]

RE: Re: RE: About to buy a boat, need advise

TRDon:

Are you able to get any informnation from the seller or curent owner about the origin of the cracks you are seeing? For instance, if it was hit or something to cause the cracks, that would influence my decision. But even so, does the asking price reflect the proper (potential) repair costs?