Major Fiberglass Crack

[swallowsandamazonsforever]

Long story short, my O'Day Rhodes 19 got washed up on a beach, resting on her centerboard. The centerboard slipped forward, and cracked the hull just forward of the centerboard case. I've attached some photos. The brown rust is the centerboard, so where that ends is where the crack is.

Is it fixable? Thoughts? Anything is appreciated.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

Anything is fixable with time and money. Look at Boatworkstoday.com. Great for fog repair and he did a Rhodes 19 a year or two ago.

 

[Tom J]

Like Les said. I had a 23' O'Day on which the keel bolts almost pulled right through the hull. It took me a whole summer to drop the keel, rework the keel bed, and reinstall the keel, but it was worth it.

 

[agprice22]

If you can access the crack inside and out: I would grind out the crack to fresh, raw fiberglass. Then feather the length of the crack til it is thin at the crack to full thickness out 4 - 5 inches. Then feather it the same way from inside. Clean it well. Apply strong tape to the outside or which ever side is currently on bottom. Lay in a heavy mat fiberglass patch 1” bigger than the cut, and epoxy it. Let it dry. Remove the tape. Do the same patch for the outside. Now continue building up inside and out with successive patches 1” bigger than the last. You can apply each patch inside without waiting for the prior one to dry. I would let each outer patch dry, sand it, clean it, and apply the next. This way, you can save yourself some filling and fairing. Once you have the patches built out to the edge of your feathering, let it harden. Fair the area. Fill it with filler or thickened epoxy. Let it dry. Fair the area again. Fill it again. Let it dry. Sand it smooth. It should be ready for paint. You have to pain it. The epoxy will degrade in sunlight. I have used biaxial 7oz mat for cracks like that. It works well.

 

[ggrizzard]

for the "Boatworks Today" web site for all aspects of fiberglass repair on boats.

 

[jssailem]

Simple answer- YES.
How, folks have given you a great YouTube video resource and the way to patch.

You’ll need to remove the line in the crack and the center board.

Grind, sand, cut back to solid material.
Then build back up.

Check out the damage and repair of this Hunter 40. https://forums.sailboatowners.com/i...nter-40-damage-from-hurricane-matthew.182553/

He liked his boat and is making the investment in repairs.

 

[agprice22]

You’ll need to remove the line in the crack

Spot ON!