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· One of None
Hunter 34
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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
there she is! beautiful! the lines, the colors, the engine, sails, ammenities... you walk around the other side.. then you realize why the price is so low! It looks like a fork lift speared the hull, just below the water line!

now what?
 

· Registered
Catalina 315
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Absolutely. Depends a bit on whether the hole is at a bulkhead or other critical component, but what you describe is not a difficult repair. Completed repair, done right, will be as strong as the original or stronger.

Reflected in purchase price, of course. Actually, unless there are circumstances preventing it, an owner interested in selling the boat would be nuts not to simply make repairs before listing the boat.
 

· ancient mariner
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a friend of mine, who is in the boat repair business, bought a boat from the insurance co. that had been blown off the stands & had a 1 1/2 ft hole in the side. he repaired it & the boat was fine.
 

· Telstar 28
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Depends on the construction of the boat, the size of the hole and the discount on the price... :)
 

· Registered
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Lets see here, Neptune Carr locally about 1.5 yrs ago, I might add the Carr is a SC70 with carbon or some such glass style hull. Literally had a hole 8'wide, 3-4' high made in the forward part of the boar. By a mid 20' power boat ramming it at about 30 knots! The Carr was out two weeks ago at my clubs big race of the year. Not sure if she managed to do swiftsure last memorial day, a 200 some odd mile race from Victoria to the seiftsure light boat at the mouth of the straight of Juan De Fuca and the pacific ocean. I'm pretty sure she got there......

It was close as to whether or not it could get fixed, but SC still had some molds, even tho they are not making that boat anymore.....things all worked out. even a hole that size!

Marty
 

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A friend of mine bought a boat that had spent some time on the bottom after an accident. He got a real good price. ;)

He then spent the next couple of years slowly refurbishing her inside and out in between the odd cruise and race until she was spotlessly gleaming end to end. Sadly, in the same body of water that she was originally sunk in, he one day happened to sail over an unmarked and disused oyster farm. The result was a large pole through the hull and another sinking. Luckily, this time she was refloated quickly.

He again repaired her and today she is still one of loveliest boats in the fleet and also one of the quickest. Club champion for some years. Last year he was run into by a much larger yacht who failed to give way and as a result my friend again had a hole, albeit this one is fairly small (a few inches across) and well above the water line. He continues to race with the hole covered in duct tape while he waits on a professional to repair it (at the other guys insurance company's expense!)

So based on that I'd say yes to your proposal, no reason why not - provided of course that I had the time and skills to repair the hole and/or the money to hire someone to do it.
 

· Handsome devil
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Like people some boat just try and stay Holier the others..:p
 

· Read Only
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I've seen some major resto projects in progress at a shop last week. I was shown 2 big powerboats. A 38' go fast boat and a 30' Fishing boat.

They cut the aft end of the fishing boat right off about 3'-4' forward into the boat. They totally put back a new one on that they made and 2 huge outboards were hung on it. You would never know. Looks perfect.

The go fast boat had the whole bottom delam at high speed and sunk in California. These guys bought the salvage and toally reworked the transom and put a brand new bottom on her with with fiberglass mat, fiberglass cloth, resin, filler, gelcoat, and hard work. Looks brand new.

It's amazing what you can do with fiberglass.

I am doing some small hole repair on a Hobie 16 that I own. One's around softball sized. Then a couple of golfball sized holes as well. Very easy so far. They say the hard part is the prep. So I have that part all done. I start laying glass very soon. Hopefully next week.

I found a site called US Composites. They have very inexpensive resins, fillers, and gelcoat. Try them at: http://www.shopmaninc.com/index.htmlFiberglass , Composites, Carbon Fiber - U.S. Composites, Inc.[/url]. You can find great deals on fiberglass cloth on ebay. Search: "fiberglass cloth"

I'm telling everyone I know doing fiberglass repair about these guys. I have no idea if you are considering doing it yourself or not but you never know. Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Maury
 

· Registered
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A hole wouldn't stop me if the price was right and the damage wasn't too bad. Properly done there shouldn't be a way to tell in the future where the repair even was. A friend has Spencer 35 that was holed on the beach at Oak Bay in Victoria in the late 90's and the repair (by Blackline in Sidney) is indistinguishable
from the 43 year old original.
Here's a boat with a bit of damage you could probably pick up inexpensively - a little work and she'll look like new.:D
Brian
 

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· Courtney the Dancer
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Brian- that looks like it's quickly turning into a reef for fish habitat:D
Denise- as others have said a hole that hasn't torn loose bulkheads or engine mounts or done damage to tanks etc is usually an easy and permanent repair. You would have to factor in the cost of painting at least one side of the hull if it had been previously painted and the hole was above waterline, and matching faded gelcoat is almost impossible to do perfectly so if above waterline there might be some cosmetic issues.
 

· One of None
Hunter 34
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Discussion Starter · #14 ·
gee me thinks you guys have me wanting to find a hole in one! LOL
 

· Read Only
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You should be able to fix up the wooden boat with 2 rolls of duct tape and 3 gallons of paint. I don't even think you could tell it was not new. Mind you, you will want to prep the surface really well. Maybe wash it or something...I don't know but the point is should'nt take more than $50 bucks. Looks like a bunch of minor cosmetic work to me.

Maury
 

· Captain
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No - it will cost so much money to repair properly that you could buy two or three other used boats instead. If you don't repair it properly you may well drown.
That is nonsense. Any fiberglass boat can be easily, EASILY, repaired. But I can understand why you would be frightened off. It takes some skill, as well as confidence, and more importantly gumption. If you are lacking in these, you would be better off hiring someone with these qualities.

Now let us consider cost, the other area where you are badly mistaken. First, you can find holed boats for NOTHING. So the cost to repair is your only cost. That is much less than buying two or three other used boats, which will also need work--that much is certain.

If anyone is considering repairing a damaged boat. Start with a smaller boat, and when you find out how easy or hard, depending on your point of view, you can decided to take on bigger jobs.

Let me make one more point. There are lots of boats that were not designed all the great, but you can make changes to them to make them great boats. For example, changing dead-lights to portlights, installing a spade rudder, lengthening a boat or adding a scoop transom.

So ignore the above poster. He is one of the "Can't do it people, who has to convince everyone else not to do something, simply because he can't." There is nothing you can't do, up to and including building a boat from scratch.
 
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