Hit a submerged tree - Repair advice - 1989 Sunsport

[dyost]

Only 7 months into boat ownership I had my first mishap.

Took the boat to Tuttle Creek Lake (Mahnattan, KS) this weekend to meet up with my parents/brothers, they brought the campers, I brought the boat, this lake is the halfway point between where they live and I live.

Anyway, Saturday we're headed back to the ramp into 2.5-3ft whitecaps as there was a 30mph wind that came up on the open lake while we were in the back cove riding/surfing. Creeping through just enough speed to keep the nose up (10mph or so) when the boat comes down off a wave we feel the back end hit something solid. There were a few trees showing in this area too. I should have been way wider into the open lake but was trying not to beat/soak everyone to death and got into a bad spot.

Anyway, here are some photos of the damage. Looking at the back of the boat it is all pretty much in a straight line under the port side exhaust outlet. The initial impact is about 18" in front of that. Few chunks out of the gelcoat and a lot of spider cracks. There is another chuck right at the transition to the transom.

Anybody know the best way to determine if this is structural or not? Do I need to get under the fuel tank and inspect on the top side for any cracks? Where is this in relation to the main stringer?
There is a boat shop near me that says they do fiberglass repair, I'm just not sure how experienced they are (and they probably don't have any experience with inboard boats). I would like to have a good idea what the assessment is before taking to a shop for their opinion.

Best case is it just chunked out the gel in a few spots and spider cracked where it flexed. So in that scenario it would just be gelcoat repair correct? What is my worst case?

Any advice you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated....THANKS!1637116370163671636816369

[dyost]

More pics of damage

[dyost]

3rd round of photos

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[dyost]

Last round of pics....

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[dyost]

So I realize these photos are all out of order, sorry for that. The third set helps establish where exactly on the boat I'm talking about. The first set of five gives a better idea of the total area of damage. All the other pics are various close-ups of the three major gouged areas and the spider cracks around them in the gelcoat.

Also, if anyone has a good boat shop they would recommend in the Kansas City area, I'm all ears......

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

[dyost]

I'm also realizing that if I had been just 6 inches or so further left that this tree would have probably cleaned off all of my running gear. That would have sucked plenty, but we probably would have had a long ride all the way to the north end of the lake where we would have been stuck. Not much on Tuttle Creek Lake and not that many people at all out on last Saturday.

[michael hunter]

Call your insurance co this should be covered. Also have the shop check the running gear for straightness.

[Zim]

IMO, that doesn't LOOK structural... looks more like it just chipped the gelcoat off of there, but didn't do much to the glass. You could probably repair this yourself fairly easily with a gel coat repair kit, some sandpaper, and a little time. Looks about the same as a worn down keel from people that beach their boat, and those repairs aren't too bad. Nice thing is, it's on the bottom of your boat, so things don't really need to match 100%. You'll be able to get pretty close. Not as bad as it looks IMO. I'd get it checked out by a pro though to tell you.

Do you have insurance?

[Supra-in-steamboat]

Second on the straightness of your drive being checked. The glass repairs don't look all that bad. Good luck whatever you end up doing.

[pridekit]

In the last set of pics, the first picture, it looks like there is a dark spot in the fiberglass. A hole or maybe just a dark spot in the glass/resin, I'd check that out for sure. The rest just looks like gelcoat to me.

[Zim]

Dustin... didn't realize this was you. Sorry to hear about the damage man.

[Okie Boarder]

In the last set of pics, the first picture, it looks like there is a dark spot in the fiberglass. A hole or maybe just a dark spot in the glass/resin, I'd check that out for sure. The rest just looks like gelcoat to me.

I see that, too. It seems like that could be a crack in the fiberglass.

[Okie Boarder]

Dustin, take a look at the pics I emailed you and you can see what structures line up on the inside. I think the one spot where it is closest to the bunk may be right under the main stringer, and the biggest damage area looks cracked, so it might be good to see if it cracked in the inside. That should be under the gas tank, but could extend to under the seat.

[dyost]

Thanks Okie, haven't seen any pics in my email yet tho...

I took it to a shop in Smithville, MO (Shoreline Boat and RV). The guy there seems pretty knowledgeable. The quote they gave me was $3k which included grinding down past the gel and repairing the fiberglass. He said with the cracking like that he's pretty certain the fiberglass underneath is cracked as well. Once they see how bad that is they will determine whether or not they need to pull the fuel tank and look at the top side and stringer connections.

This will be going to insurance, have a $500 deductible.

Good news is I should be back in the water by Labor Day weekend, maybe this weekend even.

[Zim]

Thanks Okie, haven't seen any pics in my email yet tho...

I took it to a shop in Smithville, MO (Shoreline Boat and RV). The guy there seems pretty knowledgeable. The quote they gave me was $3k which included grinding down past the gel and repairing the fiberglass. He said with the cracking like that he's pretty certain the fiberglass underneath is cracked as well. Once they see how bad that is they will determine whether or not they need to pull the fuel tank and look at the top side and stringer connections.

This will be going to insurance, have a $500 deductible.

Good news is I should be back in the water by Labor Day weekend, maybe this weekend even.

Nice... Shoreline does great work. Your boat is safe with them.

[Okie Boarder]

Thanks Okie, haven't seen any pics in my email yet tho...

I'll check to see if it sent.

[suprasaltareaud]

If you are claiming on insurance definitely make sure they check rudder mount shaft alignment. Might even be worth looking at stringer/floor repair. If it has in fact cracked the fibreglass under stringer it could have dislodged the stringer. Unfortunately it is just one of those things that happen. Very frustrating though.

If it is just gel coat and minimal fibreglass it might make more sense to have a go yourself. $3k sounds like a lot irrespective of insurance to sand back an area of gel coat and redo some fibreglass. Could be wrong though.

[suprasaltareaud]

Okie. Any chance I can have a copy of that pic please. Thanks.

[Okie Boarder]

What pic do you want?

[suprasaltareaud]

U have a pic showing what structure lines up with where on the inside. Think it would be great for me wanting to put a bung on each side of the stringers.

If it shows that sort of thing I would greatly appreciate a copy.

Thanks.

Jason

[Okie Boarder]

OK, I'll pull up a couple and post them. Keep in mind, these were from my rebuild and not everything is in the exact same position as the original factory build.

[dyost]

So the stringer checked out good from the top side, did not appear there were any cracks where the stringer was glassed/epoxied to the hull. They did grind out the gelcoat and fiberglass, repair the hull, then fix all the gelcoat on top of it. All told, was a $3200 repair just for that tree I struck. I hated sucking up and paying the $500 deductible (because I think I could have fixed this myself) but at the end of the day I'm glad it's done, done right, and I'm back to riding.

[dyost]

And thanks for all the help and advice to those that responded.
-dy

[Okie Boarder]

Glad to hear it got all squared away.

[suprasaltareaud]

That's great news. Yeah it's frustrating but as u say, you're back on the water.

Glad to hear it's done.

Cheers

Jason

[suprasaltareaud]

OK, I'll pull up a couple and post them. Keep in mind, these were from my rebuild and not everything is in the exact same position as the original factory build.

Thank you.

[dyost]

Okie,

While I had it in there I had them re-gelcoat that area on the port side rear where you fixed the rotten fiberglass. They did a beautiful job and the gelcoat matches perfectly. I'll send you some pics.