Temporarily Covering Stress Crack

[firecadet613]

I have a 2' long stress crack that appeared over the winter. It's not warm enough yet in cold storage to repair it, so it'll have to wait until the boat is in the water.

Is there anything I could put over the crack to "seal" it and prevent water from seeping in and making it worse? I'll have to grind it before I repair it, so thinking out loud right now, I could probably just use West Systems epoxy as a temporary repair?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Most times, typical stress cracks don't let water in. But if it's big/wide enough that you're worried about it (I can't see it from here!), then sure, a temporary fix is a good idea. Honestly - you could just put shrink tape over top of it. It doesn't deteriorate (at least not anytime soon) from the UV and removes easily without much mess.

Of more importance than grinding and filling the crack, though, is the root cause? Where did it originate from? What started it? There's usually more to this than just a quick fix.

I don't recognize the boat model in your signature? Is it not updated?

 

[firecadet613]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - and here I am not attaching a picture!

Not a Sea Ray, I had a Sea Ray years ago and have stuck around CSR (is it not the best boating message board out there). It's a Four Winns 358. Looks like the previous owner tapped the rub rail pretty good on that side of the boat and the crack opened up after she was hauled out for the winter, before it got cold even.

I had an estimate given of just shy of $3,000. Of course it is the full grind it out, lay fiberglass cloth and build it back up then gelcoat, which I agree will fix the problem and it won't return. For $75 and some time, I plan on using the Spectrum Color Patch Paste kits. If it doesn't work out, the repair cost is still the same. I had hoped to have more free time now to get it patched before launch, but oh well.

Here are the pics. How much is the shrink wrap tape? I've got epoxy here - so that cost is $0.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Rubrail? In the pic, it looks like it's travelling horizontally just above the boot stripe.

If it's all solid feeling underneath, I wouldn't sweat it too much - it's cosmetic (from what I can see, anyways). Drill a small hole at the ends of the crack, just through the gelcoat and then dab a little epoxy in the holes. The holes will keep it from going further.

Both the epoxy and the shrink tape are just a band-aid - dealer's choice.

 

[firecadet613]

Thanks, Dennis!

That's my plan, but I forgot about drilling the small holes to stop the spread, so thank you for that!

It's above the rubrail, right at a body line on the hull. Exactly where you think it'd crack if you hit a piling hard on that side.