Looks like I was hit

[rpwillia]

I spent the weekend on my boat and Saturday when I got into Colonial Beach, I was puttering around my boat and noticed some marks on the back of my boat like something had rubbed against it. When I looked closer, what at first looked like a strand of spider web was something I could feel with a finger nail and it follows the curve of the hull. I am thinking someone ran into my boat. I looks like the potential crack follows the curve of the hull where the two parts meet. Your thoughts? Should I be really worried. It appears cosmetic, but I am thinking if someone hit hard enough to cause a deformation/crack in the gel coat, that had to be a nice shot.

 

[Witzend]

Hey RP,
Tough to tell from your pics, but the scrape may have nothing to do with the overall distortion you are noticing.

 

[rpwillia]

Update

Witz, It is related. If you look at the scrapes, someone left a bunch of their rub rail on my stern directly above where I am seeing the crack in the gelcoat. The crack follows the contour of the stern and is about 4" from the edge. It almost looks like it was hit dead on which pushed that portion in and caused the flexing near the edges. I am going to find a small spot and grind away the gel coat soon, but I will have to get some rubbing compound to get the rub rail residue off and then do spot repairs on the gel coat as a minimum.

Here is what I got from Warren Pandy at Catalina (very nice responses by the way).

" [FONT=&quot]it is indeed the oposite of what most/many think, with the gel ending up having the lower modulus or elasticity. The fiberglass with all it's layers of woven polyester gives quite a bit more flex without cracking or damage needing repair.....[/FONT]"
and
" [FONT=&quot]One way to check or see if the gel crack (which is normally limited to the surface and cosmetics) is just superficial or there is more behind is to sand or fille slightly into the crack in a primary area and see if the gel crack stops at its thickness which is approx. ,025" or if it goes into the fiberglass. The fiberglass will usually flex and come back (with exception of puncture type and hard hits) but the gel is not as elastic and will crack first."[/FONT]

 

[Witzend]

It was hard to tell from your pics, I'm sure you are onto what is going on, just raised the possibility. Do you park your boat in your slip bow first? I would be looking around the neighboring slips for a rub rail that matches the level above water of your mark and start asking questions.

 

[rpwillia]

Already Looking

I do park bow in. I am thinking it should not be too hard to figure out who it is. Hard to imagine as I am nearly into the shore and there are only about 10 boats that have to pass me to get to their slips. I did hear one rumor about a power boater who was hunting for a slip in the marina and only had two settings (full forward, full reverse) on his engine. The three rub marks that are only about 30-36" off of the water are pretty distinctive.

About two years ago we had another power boater on the other way who hit three boats (knocked the exhaust off one boat, and bent the stern rail on another) who thought it was no big deal and argued with the people around until the marine police arrived and had a chat with him. Think he is gone, but he caused a couple thousand in damages.

Of course my all time favorite was a guy in a Macgregor 26 trying to back into his slip one windy day and hit 5-6 boats before I could get over there, and then when we had him heading into his slip, he didn't have his lines ready (they were all tied up and down below). Part of boating.

 

[Witzend]

Probably a congressman.

 

[paulj]

Ray
Warren Pandy at Catalina took the words out of my mouth.....


paulj :troll:

The picture shows when the bolts should break and thus reduce fiberglass or structual damage.

 

[Witzend]

Ouch, might I ask how did this damage occur?

 

[rpwillia]

Pretty impressive

Must be a good story behind it. I do have to say my 310 is a pretty solid boat - at least for the Potomac River and Bay. I did T-Bone a boat last year in the Geico Cup in Alexandria; close maneuvering in skinny water and stuff happens. But I have no damage except for a little mark and having to endure a few jokes.

 

[valcour]

Re: Pretty impressive

Hey Paul,
please spill the details. I discussed design of a windlass/anchor roller last fall itha a dock mate before theyhe went down the ditch

 

[valcour]

Hey Paul,
Please spill the details. I discussed anchor roller/windlass design with a dock mate on a hunter 34 last fall before he went down the ditch to Florida. We looked at the few bolts on the 310 bow roller and decided our design was much stronger than the factory Catalina design. He used it for the trip down and back with no complaints. Was that a bow first collision, did you pull it up with a asym spinnaker or some other fun operation?

Dave on valcour

 

[paulj]

Ray
Didn't mean to take over your post


Two years ago, around midnight, my brother was at the helm and he hit the wing wall at 4knots.
He said he had a hard time seeing for a few seconds after looking at the bright lights from town of Anacortes.


paulj :troll:

 

[Witzend]

Oh Jeez!! what a mess, I assume you went and retrieved your anchor. Next time tell your brother that you need a permit to go whaling, and use a harpoon.

 

[rpwillia]

PaulJ - Permission Granted

No problem about stealing the thread - your story is much more interesting. When I look at the picture of the back of the backing plate, what am I seeing? Was the backing plate too small? Why the extra screws/bolts off to the side?

 

[Witzend]

They would be the bolts holding the front stay on. Although most of the force is on the vertical structure, but still, no backing plate??? Come on Catalina WTF!!!