Hunter 25, Oil Can Bottom

[John]

High folks, This is a sad story, but maybe one of you has a good idea. A freind sold me a boat, A 1975 hunter 25, it had set a long time at the pier by his house. After a couple of months of waiting I finially had her taken to a good reputable local yard. I had her pulled and scrapped. The yard tells me her bottom is soft. When the keel is shoved it moves back and forth and the hull around it exhibits what is called "oil canning" (the hull flex's ... a lot). The yard recommends that I have it scrapped. The cost of repair would be higher than the boats valve when in good condition. So what do you say, is there an idea out there. Note here, I'm handy but believe this to be WAY beyond what I would attempt. If no mircale exists then I will scrap / salvage her out. see the Gear for sell section on Hunter Owners.

 

[Jack]

Lesson

Sorry to hear of your plight. Hopefully you did't have too much invested or that the seller may bail you out. Hate to give you hindsight but if the boat had been pulled, especially after years of negelect, the problem may have been avoided.I would have a non-interested third party look at the boat and see what they have to say about the bottom. Perhaps the boat is still sailable under the right conditions, i.e.lakes etc.. If not, I would run and ad as a fixerupper and try and recoup some money as quickly as possible. I think Good Old Boat has a section for this.In any event, sorry to hear about your loss and hope you can salvage some of your output.

 

[jcherubini]

Solution

There IS one solution to this problem which enables you to keep the boat, but it is not pretty. That is to fix it yourself. All it takes is some ugly, old-fashioned (relatively brainless) WORK.The good thing about this is that repairing fibreglass boats even in sorry condition keeps them out of landfills which is good for the ecology. These things were essentially made to be permanent, you know. --that means even if we choose not to use them any more.Soft fibreglass due to excessive water saturation is ugly but NOT unfixable. It just takes a heck of a lot of grinding, application of new Fabmat and mat, and more grinding.A few years ago I was looking with sad eyes at a very sweet little Ranger 23 which had been sitting for 5 years on poppets and was full to the bunk tops with rain water. Finally the yard moved it one too many times and pushed the keel through the hull (only a little but it was an obvious indentation). I would've taken it even then but title was turned over to a guy who had it properly supported and then went to work grinding out the softened fibreglass, laying up new Fabmat in the bilge, and refastening the keel (didn't even take t off).Was this worth it? Well, he got the boat for free. He did all the work. The yard forgave the last owners' yard-bill debt. In effect he paid for the boat with only his labour and now sails the boat I wish I'd got.Hunter 25s are not the most robust boats in the world to start with, so SOME oilcanning is gonna be there to start with. It sounds to me like the water got between the keel and the hull and through the then-open fibres sucked up some water. Have the boat lifted off the keel and let it dry (a season?). Cut a small piece out with the air saw if you have to. Then start grinding. Yes, it's a lot of work. But it is eminently doable. Fibreglass is doubly wonderful in that any idiot can do it passably well, and after a certain point it does not care about 'grain' and so forth so patching is not a structural problem. If I had the boat I'd do it (I am looking at a 1967 Columbia 24 with a hull crack on both sides now). People restore rusty cars all the time.If you are only concerned with money give it away to someone who will keep it out of the landfill.JC