cracked swim platform

[dcwjd]

Yesterday while backing into a slip i cracked my swim platform on the right side in my 280 dancer. It is a horizontal line about 6 inches long but did not go all the way through. Help!! It's a new boat and i can't stop looking at it. It's driving me nuts. It happened to another guy with a 280 in our marina and the marina fixes it for 700 bucks. I would like to do it myself. Any suggestions???

[fwebster]

Figure $50 to haul the boat on a forklift, $100/hour and $100 worth of resin, glass, filler, sandpaper, gelcoat, etc. you have about 5 1/2 hours labor. Is that too much? Who knows.......the time to fix it is totally dependant upon how bad the damage is.

It could be worse......the platform is white instead of blue, black, etc.

Its a new boat.....write the check and consider the cost stupid tax and part of the learning curve.

Practically speaking, a lot of boats have platforms that cannot be seen from the driver's position so you have to learn short cuts in handling to avoid damage. I use the pilings if winds, currents or a tight slip gets me so close I'm not sure about the platform. I may back at odd angles or stop when most people wouldn't but if I can hang the corner of the transom on a piling and pivot off of it, I know the platform is clear.

Sorry about the damage.........

[boatmailster]

Yesterday while backing into a slip i cracked my swim platform on the right side in my 280 dancer. It is a horizontal line about 6 inches long but did not go all the way through. Help!! It's a new boat and i can't stop looking at it. It's driving me nuts. It happened to another guy with a 280 in our marina and the marina fixes it for 700 bucks. I would like to do it myself. Any suggestions???

Try to call "Raybo" in Lindenhurst
They should give you better price than your marina, but not every marina allow outside vendors.

[Dave S]

I'm with Frank. Get out the wallet and get it fixed right. Sooner or later we all ding up our boats and are faced with similar predicaments.

B O A T= Bring Out Another Thousand :smt021

[cr0ck1]

well about 800 in dollars to fix? how much is the new ones.. they make aftermarket ones that are a little bit longer right? and i scracthed my swin deck.. so what i do.. SINCE IN IM A NEWBEE.. i get close to the dock then i tell my wife to jump off.. and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging.. i learned the hardway when i got a long scratch along the side of my boat pretty much along the whole length that i look at every day and wonder when ima have enough money to repair it.. So get close enough,kill the engin, jump out and use your ropes to direct the boat into place and tie it down.. thats what i do.. the slower you go the smaller the scratch! thats what my captain told me.! and i live by it.

[cr0ck1]

i just gotta respond again.. i hate it when i have people in my boat and they are all looking pretty putting on make up and not even caring about helping me park it... all you gotta do is take one hand off the eyeliner and grab the clete or just put yoru hand out and stop the boat from smashing into the wood on the dock.. but no they just let you smash your boat and get mad that you are yelling at them.. people have to realize that boating it a full person activity.. you wana know what i started doing .. i said ok if you all want to just sit there and not help. every one give me 25 bucks for gas next time you come on the boat.. so to make a long story short.. now i have free gas and hands sticking out to kelp. (the cheap ones offered to help park. lol)

[fwebster]

If you can't dock an 18' boat without "smashing the wood" on the dock" you do not have a light enough touch and are not thinking far enough ahead of the boat.

I've got a few years on you and several boats behind me but, I can put 50' of boat in the slip in almost any conditions without the boat touching anything....take your time, slow down, pay attention to how the boat reacts, and always be thinking "What will I do if....."

And, I prefer to not have any help...it just takes longer since I have to worry about others getting fingers mashed, falling in, getting hurt, etc. Eyeliner, Cheetos, lipstick, and People magazines....(Wesley, the ink is gone!) are absolute no-no's on my boat..... none react well with white vinyl.

[cr0ck1]

its 19'8' to be exact.. lol.. and it was my first time every parking! thats why.

[First Born]

Cr0ck1 I am with Frank on this one. I quess you and I just have two different approaches. When we are coming into dock, I tell everyone to stay where they are do not try to help. What I have found is when others try to help they end up causing the opposite of what I am trying to do to happen. Be patient and practice docking the boat in different conditions. Get a routine that works for you and stick with it.

dcwjd - sorry for the hijack and to hear about your swimplatform. Good luck with the repairs.

Frank - glad to hear about the ink - I feel alot better now.

Wesley

[boatmailster]

its 19'8' to be exact.. lol.. and it was my first time every parking! thats why.

so probably is easier for you to "dock" a boat on trailer than "park" in your dock?
and using "humans bumpers" one day can be very expensive or even deadly.

[cr0ck1]

its 19'8' to be exact.. lol.. and it was my first time every parking! thats why.

so probably is easier for you to "dock" a boat on trailer than "park" in your dock?
and using "humans bumpers" one day can be very expensive or even deadly.


no i just tell them if you ron dock just use your foot to kick the boat away from the dock with im gettin the boat all tied down. just a gradual push to keep it in place.. you all act like im telling someone to jump in the water and stay between the boat and the dock and act like a human bumper.. god.. calm down.

[RiverRat]

I also agree with Frank...

BTW, Have you ever done fiberglass repairs in the past? If not, a brand new 280 isn't the rig to practice on... Just write the check.

[chuck1]

dcwjd,
Just a side thought, is it something that can wait until the season is over? :huh: Not sure how long you would be with out your boat for the fix, what type of turn around time frame are they giving you? May also have other dents or dings that need to get fixed at the end of the season.

[jrcinnh]

Waiting to the end of the season seems like good advice. You can have it fixed without giving up a nice weekend, you may save on a haul out and who knows you may bump that platform again before the seasons out.

[Sea Ray 300]

so what i do.. SINCE IN IM A NEWBEE.. i get close to the dock then i tell my wife to jump off.. and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging..

Sorry for the hijack, but this is a very dangerous practice.
Nobody should be off the boat, or disembarking while the boat is moving or the engine is running. :smt018

[Four Suns]

I may try that "get close to the dock and have my wife jump off" thing today...

"Sorry honey... guess I wasn't close enough for that jump"

:smt043

[cr0ck1]

I may try that "get close to the dock and have my wife jump off" thing today...

"Sorry honey... guess I wasn't close enough for that jump"

:smt043

no man youl all got it all wrong.. i get close but i dont back all the way up i pull it inplace with the ropes.. AFTER THE ENGIN IS TURNED OFF AND WE ARE FLOATING!!

[dcwjd]

Well yesterday i got matching gelcoat from my sea ray dealer and some wet sand paper. I sanded down the cracked area and applied the gel coat. It actually looks pretty good. You really have to look at it very closely to tell any work was done to it. After looking around my marina it seemed most people with my boat had some work done on there swim platform.

[cr0ck1]

Well yesterday i got matching gelcoat from my sea ray dealer and some wet sand paper. I sanded down the cracked area and applied the gel coat. It actually looks pretty good. You really have to look at it very closely to tell any work was done to it. After looking around my marina it seemed most people with my boat had some work done on there swim platform.

Glad to hear your came out good man! :thumbsup:

[fwebster]

Not to burst your bubble, but if you hit a piling hard enough to break the gelcoat in a spot that big, there is a good chance the fiberglass in the lip of the platform is also broken, If it is, the gelcoat repair will be temporary and the crack will re-appear.

If you can walk around the marina and see other swimplatform repairs, stop and ask the owners who fixed their platforms for them. Make a list so you know who they are and take your boat somewhere else if you need professional help.

White gelcoat on a platform should be an easy repair to do and blend where it cannot be seen.

[RobF300]

fixing platforms is like fixing the bumpers on my wife's car, no matter what you do once hit they will break again :smt043

These new curvy style platforms add to the cost of repairs, the older flat style were much easier to fix because you could use all machines on them with very little hand sanding work.
They also create a natural weak area in that inside radius.

Keep in mind when dealing with your marina that they are taking 20-40% over the cost of the repairs when performed by an outside contractor, the repairs may not be that expensive, but then add a haul and that percentage and it can add up.

And as FWebster said- if you only covered it up, its not gone.
Use the boat and wait for more serious damage, get the thing fixed in the fall or the spring so you wont be paying for a haul and sidetrack.

[wastinaweigh]

Crock: "and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging"

I have never understood why people shut down their engine before their boat is securely tied up. I watch people every weekend approaching the dock - then killing the engine and coasting in, hoping that they aimed correctly.

If anything happens, they have no means of backing off and trying again.

I do not allow anybody to use their hands or feet to keep me off of a pier or piling. First, I never approach faster than I am willing to hit, so if I bump a piling it is no big deal. Second, boats are heavy. I would much rather have a scratch in the fiberglass than have someone lose a finger. I can repair the gel coat.

Crock, you have an inboard/outboard. Try easing up to the dock nice and slow and get a line tied off on your bow. Once you have done that, you have very precise control over your boat. By turning you outdrive toward the pier and idling in reverse, you will swing your boat around on that bow line and ease right up to the dock. It is similar to using a spring line on an inboard.

Once you learn to do that, you will find that you can dock your boat within its own length - which is good for crowded restaurants.

Oh, and never yell at anyone unless they are about to hurt themselves. You will find that people will listen to your instructions better when you are calm, and other boaters will admire your skills. I won't even lend a hand to the guys shouting at their wives/girlfriends - when the real problem is the "captain's" boat handling skills.

[Asureyez]

Swim platforms seem to be able to snag a piling or get caught by a deck board so easily. I just save all those little dinks and dings until haul out and have them all repaired at one time, believe it or not five or six small repairs costs the same as one ... it's not the material it's the time and small repairs are quick and just a take an extra minute each after the make ready is allready accomplished, it's just time. I spend about $600 bucks to repair all the little nicks and bruises at every haul out ... it is just the cost of owning a boat. And I don't care how good a skipper is "Sh*t Happens" and you'll get wounds every now and again.

As for crew and guests duties while docking, I have the Admiral on the bow to set the lines forward and I bring the boat to lay up on the dock and I can kill the engines and scamper to the dock to grab a stern line. Wind and current have their own plan for my boat, but we face those as needed.

In preparing to perform any docking or departure I instruct all aboard to sit down and relax while we depart or dock and leave the driving to me. Specifically in my pre cast off safety instruction to guests I include they are to never ever put any part fo their body between the boat and a dock or piling. I like Frank do not want the help and just need for guest to stay out of my line of vision. If I dink the boat, so what, no one was hurt, and after all it is just fiberglass.

[cr0ck1]

Crock: "and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging"

I have never understood why people shut down their engine before their boat is securely tied up. I watch people every weekend approaching the dock - then killing the engine and coasting in, hoping that they aimed correctly.

If anything happens, they have no means of backing off and trying again.

I do not allow anybody to use their hands or feet to keep me off of a pier or piling. First, I never approach faster than I am willing to hit, so if I bump a piling it is no big deal. Second, boats are heavy. I would much rather have a scratch in the fiberglass than have someone lose a finger. I can repair the gel coat.

Crock, you have an inboard/outboard. Try easing up to the dock nice and slow and get a line tied off on your bow. Once you have done that, you have very precise control over your boat. By turning you outdrive toward the pier and idling in reverse, you will swing your boat around on that bow line and ease right up to the dock. It is similar to using a spring line on an inboard.

Once you learn to do that, you will find that you can dock your boat within its own length - which is good for crowded restaurants.

Oh, and never yell at anyone unless they are about to hurt themselves. You will find that people will listen to your instructions better when you are calm, and other boaters will admire your skills. I won't even lend a hand to the guys shouting at their wives/girlfriends - when the real problem is the "captain's" boat handling skills.

THis is all true.. thanks... today i was in the searay dealer looking at the sundeck... bigger... he almost had me trading my boat in.. but i held back.! gota learn in the smaller boat first!

[wastinaweigh]

Crock -

Boat handling usually gets easier as your boat gets bigger. Stuff tends to happen a lot slower since there is more weight to move.

Marine Max can have one of their Captain's spend an hour or two with you to give you pointers with boat handling. I believe that it is included when you buy a boat from them. I did that when I went from a jet boat to an inboard/outboard. While I had years of experience handling a jetboat and a twin inboard convertible, I actually had never operated an I/O. I found it to be well worth it.

[daddyox]

Hate to admit it- but I did the same thing. Third or Fourth docking ever with twin screws-- very slowly hit the corner of the dock which is sharp solid wood-- but the boat weighs alot -- and I heard crunch- and there is a 3 or so inch crack in the platform. My estimate is higher-my marina tends to be- but I intend to do it in the offseason I hope. I hate to be negative but yes "doing it again" crossed my mind. I did the same thing with my last boat- a 268 four winns- and then fixed it and went four years without a problem. I guess its my way of making the boat mine :huh:
I notice it- but I doubt anyone else does. Another live and learn experience I guess.