San Juan Hull on Trailer

[mrkenne]

Hello All-

Came across this San Juan which seemed to be a pretty sweet deal until I saw the hull. Since it's been put on rollers on a trailer so much it had left pretty substantial indentations. I know fiberglass has some "memory" to it, but these seem pretty severe to me.
Will these bounce back after letting her lie in the water for a good amount of time or does this look like it needs some hull repairs?
Pictures in the dropbox below.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/py5ado6aspsiii8/AADC_wtTCegwtNme75_Z_BTNa?dl=0

Thanks.

 

[DrJudyB]

Those dents won’t go away by themselves.

I can fix anything made of fiberglass, but in this case, it’s not worth the time and effort and cost of materials, IMO. There are boats in better condition out there that will cost less in the long run.

 

[dlochner]

Yep, walk away. It looks like too much weight was on the rollers and not enough on the keel. When stored on a trailer, cradle, or jack stands the weight of the boat should be on the keel, not the supports.

Now, if the owner is going to pay you to take it off his hands and you want to learn how to repair fiberglass hulls, then it might be a deal worth considering.

 

[Daveinet]

It would be interesting to jack the boat up off the rollers and see what the condition really is. If there are no creases or cracks, a little applied heat and some suction could reform it back to its original state. Fiberglass does bend with heat. We had a fiberglass fender on an MGB with a big dent in it. We heated it up with a turbo heater and popped it back out. Held it in place till it cooled. It required no body work other than paint.
For the boat, either suction or if you can get to it from the top side, put some weight on it. My only real concern would be if there was actual damage to the fiberglass, such as internal cracking. You would need to really inspect the transition areas to make sure the glass was not internally cracked.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Dealt with that as a dealer. Walk away

 

[jssailem]

Walk away

Sage advice from a man who knows a thing or two about boats.
I’d follow it.

 

[rgranger]

Dealt with that as a dealer. Walk away

... or run

 

[mrkenne]

Thanks all for the input! This was just as I expected.

Thanks again.

 

[Meriachee]

Fiberglass does bend with heat. We had a fiberglass fender on an MGB with a big dent in it. We heated it up with a turbo heater and popped it back out. Held it in place till it cooled.

The problem with this thought is that the thickness of the fender on an MG is not measured in multiples of inches.

 

[Benny17441]

What's the price? The damage is under the water line.

 

[dlochner]

What's the price? The damage is under the water line.

That's the big problem, the damage is under the waterline. The fix is not cosmetic, the fix is structural. To do the repair close to properly will require epoxy measured in gallons and fiberglass cloth measured in tens of yards.

 

[jssailem]

The fix is not cosmetic, the fix is structural.

And likely need to be reinforced internally with new bulkheads to stiffen the hull. This would perhaps add weight altering the CG.

 

[dlochner]

And likely need to be reinforced internally with new bulkheads to stiffen the hull. This would perhaps add weight altering the CG.

Obviously I haven't seen the boat or the interior, but my best guess is the rollers are not located under or near a bulkhead, there is too much weight on the rollers, and the weight is point loaded, i.e., too concentrated in a small area.

The boat may be worth the asking price depending on the price of scrap lead and aluminum and the condition of the trailer and outboard, less the cost of landfilling the hull.

 

[Meriachee]

What's the price? The damage is under the water line.

So that "catalina smile" that has a 3/4" gap around the keel/hull joint isn't an issue because the thing is under the water? Seriously?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

RUN LIKE HECK. COSTS ARE PROHIBITIVE TO THE VSLUE OF BOST

 

[Grotto]

Oh heck no.....