from 5,000 to zero

OtterGreen · #1 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

so while shopping for a boat for my father, we came across this. great looking boat however the marina placed the stands in the wrong place while being winterized last year which made all four spots buckle and concave the hull. i called the number on the for sale sign to ask the owner if he knew about the status of the boat. since he lives in northern nj and only comes down in the summer he had no clue and was none to thrilled to say the least. after a whole winter resting as is this is the end result.

rikhall · #2 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

As bad as it looks, you might be surprised.

Rik

OtterGreen · #3 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

well all four stands buckled the hull and there is no keel support. i called the owner, an elderly woman whos husband passed and was selling the boat as part of the estate. i explained the situation and told her it was done incorrectly. she was very upset and had no idea because her knowledge of boats is about as much as i know about open heart surgery. i agreed to stop by and take more photos for her and point out the issues later today.

SJ34 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

I agree with Rik, there's a good chance there is no permanent damage. Move the stands, allow the indentations to spring back over time (don't force it) then some localized re-enforcement, possible bulked re-tabbing, fairing and it should be good as new.

The yard should have known better than to put stands in a non-reenforced area of the hull. They may have some liability here.

SEMIJim · #5 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

What Rik was trying to say is that it is possible that if the situation was corrected the hull would recover its proper shape. It's something that certainly needs to be corrected ASAP, tho. Mind-bogglingly poor on the part of the marina, assuming that's who's responsible for it.

Jim

Tempest · #6 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtterGreen

well all four stands buckled the hull and there is no keel support. i called the owner, an elderly woman whos husband passed and was selling the boat as part of the estate. i explained the situation and told her it was done incorrectly. she was very upset and had no idea because her knowledge of boats is about as much as i know about open heart surgery. i agreed to stop by and take more photos for her and point out the issues later today.

You nailed it! No keel support is a major issue. The boat should rest on it's keel, with the load distributed over a large timber ( if it's not in a cradle designed for it.)

The jackstands should support the lateral movement and should direct the load to the ground....The jackstands in the picture look like they are directly under the load and if there's no keel support they are taking the whole weight of the boat on those very un-weight distributed point loads.

They need to get this boat in a sling, properly support the keel and re-distribute the load properly. The hull may come back into shape once the load is off. If there were any tabbed bulkheads where the jackstands were placed they may have been compromised; but It may not be as bad as it looks.

This poor woman has a legit reason to be angry with this yard.

rikhall · #7 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

I could not believe how much my IC34 "indented" as we were putting her on her cradle and one stand was too high. I almost cried. Picked her back up and re-positioned and - wow - I was sure there was an indent there.

Good luck with her

Rik

carl762 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

When my boat was trailered, when I first bought it, it was supported by the keel, slightly off center, and one board slightly indented the boat. When I splashed her a year ago, the dent came right out when lifted by the travel lift. Since it's been in the water, I haven't encountered any problems. I've already lifted it out of the water, and there's no sign there ever was an indent.

Good Luck.

hellosailor · #9 (**permalink**) 05-25-2011

FRP is, after all, flexible. The problem with buckling a hull is that you can't tell if it has just flexed OR if the bend was enough to break the internal glass fibers and permanently damage the hull. With the eyeball from the outside? No way to tell.

At that point you can get a professional opinion based on the boat, the layup, the amount of bend, or someone has to do some testing on the hull. Probably that means ultrasound or cutting out plugs to examine them. And considering the price of that...odds are someone will just say if you reblock it and the panels pop back out, forget about it and don't mention it to the next buyer. No one tells anything to the buyer.

GaryHLucas · #10 (**permalink**) 05-27-2011

Fiberglass is amazingly flexible. I repaired a bucket truck once. A large tree limb fell on the arm bending it way down, then rolled off. The guy in the bucket was seriously injured when it snapped back straight and launched him like a slingshot. The factory told me the arm could be bent 90 degrees without damage! The real problem is not when the support hits an unreinforced location. It is when it almost hits a bulkhead or rib. Then you get tearing away of the tabbing, and expensive repairs. The yard damaged my boat that way.

Gary H. Lucas