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!IMG_7286.jpgIMG_7285.jpgIMG_7282.jpgIMG_7283.jpgIMG_7284.jpg