Bow Crunched (w/picture)

[Rich L]

I crunched my bow in high winds last week on Lake Erie. Hit a dock I-beam edge which sheared the deck/hull seam in half, cleanly (relatively) removing the lower edge of it. It worries me in that the bow stem U-bolt attaches through the two holes you see and the forestay attaches to it. It held up solidly in 10 knots winds the next day, but I don't have faith in it beyond that.I'm not a great fiberglasser, but would appreciate enough information either to repair it myself or to speak intelligently to someone who can. Also looking for referrals to someone who would do a class job. One solution I was thinking of doing was to create a triangular piece of stainless that would fit under the void and inject epoxy through the U-bolt holes to fill up the void. This is a 1995 Hunter 26. I have more pics if needed. Many thanks in advance.Rich

 

[Landsend]

This looks like a job for a pro

You can use duct tape and even use modeling clay to fill the voids.Won't your insurance pay for this repair?

 

[Rich L]

Bubble Pack?

I had thought a little bubble pack would add some flotation, too... I hate it when the bow dives into waves, scoops up water and tosses it into the cockpit.Any other suggestions? Like what resin, e.g., West 105? Using cloth?

 

[Andy]

Insurance?

What about your insurance? I almost convinced myself to live with a nasty scrape and ruined rubrail but the surveyor convinced me that a)thats what insurance is for and b)my lender that had the mortgage on my boat would want it fixed sense it was "their" collateral. The insurer, the lender, and now I wanted a professional fix-DONE, I paid the deductible and the rates didn't get too much higher!

 

[Rich L]

$3,500

I just got an estimate of $3,500. You had better believe that I'm not doing this myself - they convinced me that I couldn't achieve structural integrity of the bow considering that the forestay attachment is right there...Still, seems like a lot of money for a little piece of fiberglass like this.

 

[Mark]

Mmm Been there

My yacht suffered similar but not as bad damage some time ago.It looks to me like there has been water getting in there for some time?After we repaired the outside of the hull we got right up inside the bow and glassed 5-6 layers of matt effectively tying in the hull almost down to the U bolt ( to fasten to trailer) right up and underneath the deck resulting in a very very strong repair. The hull deck join here is very very important so I figured any glass we could get in the inside joining the hull/deck would be good!