Hull indentation

Apr 16, 2010
79
88 Hunter 30 Solomons, MD
I have an 88 Hunter 30, and have it hauled out every other winter for storage and maintenance. During the haul last Monday, the marina guys noticed a large indentation under in the fiberglass under the shower pan area. I don't see any indication of the area hitting an underwater object, and it's on the bottom of the boat, far from where any jackstands might have been the last time it was hauled. If you pound your fist on the glass in that area, it sounds noticeably more hollow, and flexes a bit compared to the areas around it. We used a hole saw to cut into it, and the fiberglass around it is dry, not cored, and not delaminating. The total area is dented is around 3ft by 2ft.
Poking around the web and the SBO forums, I found this:
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/hull-indentation.85522/

which mentions that the area under the head is underserved by stingers or other support, and sometimes caves in.

I'm well out of warranty, so my options are to either cut out the liner in the head and try to drop in support, or to grind out the hull and build it out to match the shape. The marina folks think that building out the outside, and not going in from the inside is the best (and cheapest) way to fix the issue. My hesitation is that by filling the dent in with glass doesn't tell me with certainty what the problem is. I wouldn't know for sure unless I cut out the liner in the head, but I don't want to tear the liner apart if I don't have to. It'll never go back together like new.

Any thoughts? What would you do?

Thanks,

Brian
 
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
Wow, that reply came out wrong: Just drill a small hole in the liner and feed a camera into the hole.
 
Aug 12, 2014
213
Universal Marine Montego 25 San Pedro, CA
Those cameras are so cool! For $21 I will get one just for fun!
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Tough choice.. Inside repair would be the hardest cosmetically, but would entail not cutting into the hull. Would be a matter of pushing the hull back out and adding the "missing" stringer from inside. Then you'd have to deal with replacing the head liner appropriately. some parts of the liner are definitely structural, so a lot of care would have to go into how it would be replaced.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...Name=Prisma+Composite+Preforms+Hull+Stiffener
 
Apr 16, 2010
79
88 Hunter 30 Solomons, MD
The inspection camera is a great idea. I'll be ordering that today. Above are a couple of Picts.. The dent is easier to see in person. You can't see much through the hole, but the camera will really help.
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,399
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
http://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-Water...s&keywords=waterproof+inspection+camera&psc=1

Or just search for waterproof inspection camera. Tape it to some stiff wire so you can position it where you want it.

Ken
Nice find! I searched for about a week, but never searched with "Borescope" or "Endoscope"!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EQNCMTY...UTF8&colid=F4YB2UW81A1O&coliid=I32L0GZCZ2W7GN

The $2 more version above has a LED light control on camera.

I just bought this version of same concept tool.
http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-inspection-camera-61839.html I paid $70 for it.

The snake is 36" and stiff so no side wire stiffener. The negative comments were about the attachment tools getting stuck or falling off in inconvenient places. This one has an extremely clear picture and can rotate the picture without rotating the camera end.
Jim...