cracks - what to do?

[Valentina]

Hey, Peoples !
This Sunday I was looking at a boat (to buy) and noticed many hairline cracks on a bottom of it. All I know about the boat that it's a 20 year old wing led keel oday that has sailed fresh mostly, but has been in salt water too.
It has no "classic" looking blisters, but these cracks.
On one spot, looks like about a square inch of gelcoat just fell off and you see fiberglass... it is covered with bottom antifouling paint, but the cracks show thru it anyway. The bottom doesn't appear to be soft. There are more of these hairine cracks around the area where the trailer rollers come into contact with the hull.
Is it a sign if a major bottom repair to be done?
Seems like I definitely would have to take care of these cracks...
From what I have read so far, I would have to widen ALL of these cracks into a v-grooves and fill it with marinetex or something like that...
Is that what you would do?
Or should I just forget about this boat and look for the one with better bottom...???
Deck looks ok
topsides faded gelcoat, rubrail banged up
water in the keel well(don't know where it came from)
old sails.
Any info is appreciated!
please write to mac22.valentina@gmail.com
I own a 22 ft Mac that I have just put up for sale to buy a bigger boat.
Thanks in advance for your input,
Cheers, V

 

[bffatcat]

Cracks

The cracks are a sign of stress. They are probably about the way the boat sat on a trailer with the bunks not properly adjusted over a long period of time. I`d look elsewhere

 

[BobM]

A little more information please. What length and what year was the boat? Any photos? O'day had a bit of a reputation for thick gelcoat, which leads to hairline fractures such as this. If they are just in the gelcoat they are just be cosmetic and messing around with them may cause more harm than good. Gelcoat just isn't that flexible and you will likely continue to get more crazing at stress points, such as where the rollers contact the hull.

 

[Valentina]

to BobM - Bob it's a 240 model 88, have no pix of the boat, looked at it live.
gelcoat seems to be no thicker than 1/8 in. It seems, if you leave cracks as they are, water will get in i the Summer and when Winter comes it will freeze and crack it even more - which as most likely happened already.
Is it a fixable problem or I should be looking at other boats?
Plus the owner is not selling it cheap :-\
I like the overall design, but that bottom really bothers me...I have never done any bottom glass repairs...
Please advise...
V

 

[BobM]

1/8 of an inch may be pretty thick for gelcoat. I looked briefly at it should be a fraction of a mm thick (Evercoat says 20 mils or equivalent to 20 sheets of paper). It is tough to give you good advice, besides to get a surveyor involved, without photos. Is the trailer factory or something the owner got later? Bffatcat is right in that it sounds like the rollers are not adjusted correctly and are damaging the boat. The boat should be sitting on its keel with the rollers holding it vertical, I beleive, without significant weight on them. There is some stuff called Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure, that I have heard used for gel coat cracks, but I haven't tried it and don't know how it would work on a vertical surface. For the most part gelcoat crazing is a fact of life and if it bothers you a lot look for another boat.

I suggest you travel to the link below, read the reviews and contact some of the 240 owners on the brand specific site associated with this one.

http://oday.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_brevs&model=141&Itemid=170

 

[Barnacle Bill]

If you have these cracks all over the underside (U/W) of your hull, and the gelcoat (and not some product painted sometime on the gelcoat) is peeling off, you probably need an entire bottom redo just like one would approach a blister job. Sandblast the hull, or have it peeled. Absolutely dry it out completely, then apply something like Interluxes Interprotect system (get their product information and read about it). It can be done by the boat owner, but it is not fun work. It is expensive if you have a yard do it. If the boat is very old the job might be more than the boat is worth. If, however, it is something on top of the gelcoat that is peeling off, then whatever it is (like maybe an epoxy barrier coat), it was probably not done properly. Since I cannot see your hull, I can offer no other suggestions.

 

[Valentina]

From what I could see during my inspection- it's gelcoat cracks - not barrier paint!
I didn't want to take any pictures of the bottom - since it's not my boat yet
From the pix of the boat - it looks good, bit only a MACRO shot can reveal cracks like that?
WHat do you think a cost of such repair could be on a 24 ft boat? I have never dealt with boat yards and their fees...BTW the owner is asking 8500 for the boat
Thanks

 

[kloudie1]

Tough call on this one! .. If it is gel coat, yard cost is liable to be $3000 or thereabout. If this boat got a lot of rainwater inside a while on a trailer, the water weight could have done what you see.. From what I hear. I would walk away.. but ya might want to get a surveyor involved to get a better fix on what you are looking at. The asking price seems to be way out of line (high) from what I think comparable boats sell for. Look here..and go and look at a couple of these..
http://www.sailboatlistings.com/location/Illinois