Thoughts on cracks in gel coat

[peppiatt]

Hi All,

I know this has been posted many times before but I am in the process of purchasing my first RIB and my only question is around a couple of cracks in the get coat. One is at the inner corner of the transom, the other is the underside of swim platform on port side.

Any input would be appreciated.

It's a 2008 Nautica 18 Widebody with a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke (2008).

Thanks in advance!

[nocando]

Is that the outboard well? If so and If you havent bought it yet then keep looking is what I would do.

[ribber]

The diving platform you can understand, with the weight of someone jumping/standing from. The inner side of the transom, perhaps not so easily explained. You say crack in the gel coat, looks more like a structural crack beyond the gel coat.

[charliee]

I'm with Ribber & Nocando, that looks far worse than some gelcoat crazing/cracks. Given its on the transom i'd be concerned and need to do further investigations or keep looking

[Fender]

Run.......................

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Fender

Run.......................

[Bigtalljv]

Originally Posted by Fender

Run.......................

Unless you want to learn how to rebuild a transom I’d pass. That’s going to be bad. If you can get it for a song and want to learn how to do fiberglass work and rebuild a transom it might be a nice project. That’s If you think being covered in fiberglass dust is your idea of fun too.

Jason

[Ribtecer]

Originally Posted by Fender

Run.......................

.......................and very fast

[breezeblock]

stand on the cav plate and bounce up and down to see if it opens up the crack either way it doesn't look very good those don't look like minor crazing that looks more like structural failure of the transom

[Orwell boy]

i Have a nautica 19 and have noticed the following which is worth thinking about .........Are the cracks structural areas ? if they are then run is good advice ,however nautica boats are far superior to most but how they let themselves down is by adding bits to accomodate extras , " do you want the standard inboard or the outboard model sir ?"
"would you like the swim platform sir ,we can add that" , mine has the through tube access door ,again it is an addition at a late stage ,just like a fibreglasss barrel gelled into the tube glueing area , it is showing cracks like your pictures ,but has no structural use ,infact the cracking shows me where i need to cut to remove the swim door when i consider retube
if its not structural youll have to go a long way to find a better boat in my opinion ,but that will be a rare opinion on here ,but just note the quality of the general fittings for example

[gtflash]

I agree that it would be worth standing on cav plate and looking for flex.

It also looks like gel has been applied over metal plate? If that is the case, it could simply be too much gelcoat which is brittle and non structural. The concern would be how deep the crack goes, and only a grinder is going to discover that

[Last Tango]

Originally Posted by gtflash

I agree that it would be worth standing on cav plate and looking for flex.

It also looks like gel has been applied over metal plate? If that is the case, it could simply be too much gelcoat which is brittle and non structural. The concern would be how deep the crack goes, and only a grinder is going to discover that

That metal plate looks like it's retrofit. I think I'd want to see what's underneath it.

As others have said, if it's not yours yet, I'd walk away.

[nugent]

Walk the Fek away

[Ribtecer]

It's an interesting subject boat, I'll give you that. And if it were your problem you would unfortunately have to address it - but it isn't.

There are loads of unloved but structurally sound Ribs out there, buy one of them, sometimes they're just as cheap.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by nugent

Walk the Fek away

....and you won’t get better advice from a better source.