Bilge Fiberglass/Gelcoat Damage

Does any one else have different fiberglass thickness in bilge on searay under 21'?

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Edwin Stigile

New Member
Apr 6, 2021
5
Boat Info
205 Sport 2007
Engines
4.3MPI Alpha
Hello, I am new to being a boat owner and have noticed some what I think is a mfg defect in fiberglass and some gelcoat chipping in the bilge area. I am hoping you can help me out and let me know what I should do to keep my investment alive. I have read that the gel coat chipping is not a problem as long as the fiberglass is not wet but the fiberglass imperfection has me worried. I have looked from the underside of the boat and have not seen anything and I dont see any weeping from it(at least that I noticed). The first picture shows the fiberglass imperfection and the gelcoat chipping. This is under my engine.
The second is just showing the other side of the bilge and the major difference between the smooth bilge area and the rough thick fiberglass area.
The third is showing these weird rust spots showing up in many areas of the searay gelcoat. this is a 2007 so it should be composite without any wood so I am unsure what these are. or where they are coming from.
 

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Common issue in this vintage. As I understand it, SeaRay sprayed too much gelcoat too fast (or too much wax content in it), and it didn't adhere to the fiberglass well. I had the same in my 280 bilge and have seen/heard this happening in the 50+ footers as well. I sanded/prepped and used Interlux Bilgekote paint. Others have applied matching gelcoat with success. The issue is not structural in nature, just cosmetic.
 
As for the rust spots, my guess is that someone had done some drilling in years past, the hot chips melted into the gelcoat and/or weren't properly cleaned after the job was completed, and those chips then rusted.
 
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Typical of high volume boats of that era. Even today you see it. Not structural.
 
One thing that's noticeable is that boat has evidence of a LOT of moisture/wetness in the bilge - meaning, the previous owner left the area wet for long periods of time. This could be exacerbating the problem.
 
Guys, every SR I owned had water in bilge. New / Used, didn’t matter, Didn’t like it. Never knew where it came from. Drove me nuts. Finally learned to live with it, pumping it out was routine weekend maintenance.
 
Water comes from somewhere - it won't magically appear - especially on a smaller, stern drive boat. Personally, I've owned 4 SR's with more in the family. All dry.

However, I'm not referring to a little bit in my above post. Look at the amount of mold... look at the newer trim motor mount (because the original rusted away). The bilge has been wetter than what is generally acceptable - although I prefer to find out why/where the water came from and fix it, rather than live with it.

Edwin, don't get me wrong - this is not a death sentence by any means. It's just something that needs to be addressed. I would take a good look at all wires/grounds and remove/inspect/clean or replace - this would be a good starting point and would help you get acquainted with everything.
 
Edwin... something else looks kinda strange. In the pic of the bilge floor, what is that "poking out" of the floor in front of the redish spot? From what I remember, that bilge floor should be nice and smooth. Between that and what looks like some type of repair up and behind the trim motor, something just looks out of place.
 
Your boat has a liner that forms the deck. It extends right up to the sides everywhere except under the engine where it ends about 2ft from the transom. My 185 is built the same way. It looks like there was either damage or that transition from the liner to the fiberglass / gel coated bottom just wasn’t finished very well. On my boat that area is smooth. Like Dennis said it’s not a huge problem, you can clean it up and even paint it with bilgecoat. But it would be good to know why it got that way.
 
Few questions:’Your description lists a 20-foot boat. Is this the one you are asking about?
1. Is this a trailered boat?
2. If so, does it stay under a cover, out of the weather, with a cover on it? Does it get rained on?
3. Do you wash the boat regularly and get the engine room wet? Do you wash out the engine bay?

Just trying to see if there is a non-mechanical source to your moisture issue.

I don’t like to see that rust spot in the bilge. Water is running over some metal somewhere and taking some rust with it. May not be an engine issue, but I have had leaking manifold joints causing rust stains like that before.

What type of engine do you have?

Do you have any overall pics?
 
Thank you all for your reply's. I recently purchased the boat so I dont know to much about the previous owner storage habits. I do know he is store it on a lift for at least a year or two which is where I believe the water staining in the bilge is from. Yes the previous owner did replace the trim bracket due to corrosion. I am planning on taking the time to clean up the mildew and bilge. When I started I found that imperfection in the bilge layer and stop to get advice from all the seasoned boat owners. Lazy Days you hit the nail on the head the strange poking out thing is what has me worried as it feels hard but is very discolored and was not sure what fiberglass looks like when it get saturated and possibly frozen. It might just be cosmetic but had to ask before I moved forward. Billk2632 do you have any pictures of your 185 bilge with the transition fiberglass so I can have something to reference. I could not find anything else that references the liner to fiberglass transition and what it should look like.
DWABoat the boat is a 2007 SeaRay 205 Sport 21' 4.3MPI Alpha.
Thank you all again for the post and the information. I plan on keeping the boat trailered with covers and a trap to keep it dry in the future just have to investigate all and fix all potential problems before they get worse.
 
Sounds like a fun boat. Those 4.3’s are little power packs. I have twin 4.3’s in a Sea Ray 280 that powers it very nicely.

On a boat I purchased, I discovered a long time leak on the rubber connector for the exhaust manifold to the Y-pipe that dropped straight down on the rear of the exhaust manifold. The leak caused rust and moisture in the bilge. Check those connectors on yours.

Post us more pictures of your boat when you can and keep us updated on your bilge issue.
 
I don't have a good picture of the bilge under my engine - I'll get one for you next time I am at the boat, probably a week or so. For now this is all I have.IMG00219-20120422-1430.jpg
 
Being a new boat owner this forum is a great resource. Thank you all. I believe I have found one of the sources of the rust coloration in the bilge. The water distribution bracket is rusting pretty good on the bottom. Other than that you can see from the images the engine looks in pretty good condition. The orange tube on the water distribution housing drips alittle but I think that its just its internal seal is worn and probably needs replaced at some point. Has anyone found any information on how Searay builds the liner to fiberglass transition under the engine? I have tried to find this information so I can make sure when scraping/repairing the defect I do not cause more damage or problems. Has anyone else seen this before? Once the temperature is stable above 70 I plan on starting to prep to repair & paint.
 

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The cracking/chipped bilge gelcoat appears to have had a previous repair attempted. The color isn't matched and there are thick places in the repair, plus the FRP underneath the gelcoat that has chipped away shows no sand marks that should be there if the FRP had previously been repaired by a skilled technician. This is going to confuse your attempt to determine what or why this is happening.

Rust particles trapped in the resprayed gelcoat are typical of a boat that has had a ferrous metal part replaced.

Your boat is well out of warranty so, unfortunately, Sea Ray isn't going to help out on this one.
 
Finally got a decent picture of my bilge. If you look about where the oil filter is, that is where the liner ends the last foot or so to the transom is gelcoat over fiberglass - you can see it is not as smooth as the liner. Not sure what is going on with yours, but that is not how it should be.B3917647-80BE-47B6-9DEB-C0C4F856257B.jpeg
 
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You missed a spot cleaning. I see small traces of dirt by your bilge pump. (;-).
 
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