1 I can hit the area with the palm of my hand it it all feels solid. The area is just below the anchor locker.2 I'm not exactly sure when this occurred, and wondering if bumping the dock while tied up could have caused the flexing, it appears to radiate out from the chine / strake area as maybe it could have caught the bumper at the dock, I have no idea, I would have assumed if that was the case there would be marks on the hull3 The next question, if no structural damage, would it be safe to say it could just be a fluke brittle area, grind out the cracks, fill with gelcoat, sand, polish and move on and see if they reappear?
Quote from: TXFishin on March 20, 2018, 03:53:33 AM1 I can hit the area with the palm of my hand it it all feels solid. The area is just below the anchor locker.2 I'm not exactly sure when this occurred, and wondering if bumping the dock while tied up could have caused the flexing, it appears to radiate out from the chine / strake area as maybe it could have caught the bumper at the dock, I have no idea, I would have assumed if that was the case there would be marks on the hull3 The next question, if no structural damage, would it be safe to say it could just be a fluke brittle area, grind out the cracks, fill with gelcoat, sand, polish and move on and see if they reappear?1 It’s not uncommon for gel coat to develop stress cracks. Gel is brittle and inflexible compared to FRP. It’s good that you can’t make the hull flex.2 It looks like the boot stripe is worn away close to the area where the stress cracks appear. It looks like the boat could have spent some time tied up where the area may have been subjected to repeated impact or rubbing. Could even be wave or wake related.3 As long as the glass underneath is in good shape, the repair sequence you describe is spot on. Personally, I would grind the gelcoat off the entire damaged area rather than just chase out the cracks. This will give you an opportunity to inspect the underlying glass for signs of damage. As long as there’s no bruising of the glass, the hardest thing about the job will be matching the gel color.