Cracks along the strakes

[Ralph Savarese]

Well I flipped the hull over today to start stripping the bottom paint. I found that there are cracks that seem to follow the length of the strakes several feet long.
Has any one done any repair like this or is it just a typical thing on old 2+3's ?
This seems to be a point where the hull flexes I guess with stress on the strakes! Is there wood in there that I should be concerned about?
Ralph

[Looped]

Ralph,
What you can do to beef up the hull strength is what Waleyetwo was told to do by I think Mercruiser (Steve is this right?). That is to cut PVC piping in half lengthwise and glass it in along the outside of each of the 2 stringers. This will stiffen up the hull enough so that the hull will stop the twisting effect. Here is a shot of what Waleyetwo has done:
http://www.donzi.net/hull/451/DONZI18.jpg

Craig

[Christian]

hello all,
i saw this problem on a older 16 that came into the shop a few months back. to fix the area we removed the deck and gave it new stringers and supports, as well as filling the strakes with a mix of resin and filler from the inside of the hull.(most offshore comps. like cig mag, apache do this while the boat is in the mold). we then grind the crack and dressed it with glass, filler, and gel coat. we prob over did it a bit but we now know that the job will last a long time. We also do it on the R/C boats as well. anything to make it feel like we are building a custom yacht. hope this helps.
o and hey all us Nj guys would you like to start a donzi gathering for the summer?? Frank C., Geoo, and the rest of u guys up north???
stay well and stay out of the no wake zones

Christian DC

[Looped]

Ralph,
This was just sent to me by Scott Pearson on another way that you could strengthen up the stringers. These are Scott’s stingers and they ain’t goin’ nowhere.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1399308&a=11451597&p=45535551&Sequence=0

Craig

[Ralph Savarese]

I did strengthen up the stringers but I don't know if you guys understand the problem .
The cracks are on the outside where the strakes attach to the hull and run the length of the boat about 3 to 4 feet long
Ralph

[CDMA]

Ralph,

I had them on my boat. I delved pretty far into them and basically what I determined is that it really is not a "stress" crack. The gelcoat cracked there not because there was stress but because the fiber glass was not pushed all the way into the chine when it was molded. If you look at those strakes from a molding point of vuew they are some pretty extreeme angles that have to be made. What I did was dremel them out and use a high density/collodial cilica filler. That worked great. My only regret is that next time I would cut some kind of form to drag down the filler reducing the sanding. The filler is very hard to sand and those corners do not allow the use of a DA or anyother methods. I WOULD caution you not to use lets say a micrlight or microballon filler. These fillers are generally not recommended for below the waterline application.

Scot,

I have to admit I am a little concerned regarding your strings. Mainly the ones that "climb" the hull. I was ready to do that to mine and researched it. I can't remember where (maybe Big G) I was informed in another Donzi that added those stringes they created strss points that caused the gelocat/paint to flex more severly in an issolated area. This lead to paint/gelcoat stress cracks over time. Just something you might want to look into especially with your paint... Oh and I am a litte mad at you. No matter how hard I worked on my bildge of course yours looks 10x better ... ain't it life...

Chris

[Ralph Savarese]

I was thinking about filling them with
DuraGlas milled fiberglass filler its water proof

[Scott Pearson]

Ralph,
Chris is right. Mine also had some gelcoat cracks. Its not from stress its how it was molded. I V'ed mine out and went with a filler.

Chris,
Thanks for the comment on my Bilge. The bracing that runs up the hull. Ok I sandwiched some foam inbetween the wood and the glass. Also they do give to a point. I thought of the same thing when I was doing it. I guess will see....

Im running PVC for the bilge pump right now. It comming out great. Cant wait to paint it orange!

(NJ)Scott

[Jamesbon]

Wow! Good job guys, those hulls look great!

Can you elaborate on what method you used to lift the deck off of the hull? I'm within weeks of starting a complete restoration of my 21 and am still contemplating how I'll lift the deck. My 21's deck is considerably larger and probably heavier than the 18...

I'm thinking of using a pair of chain hoists and a boat load of bracing underneath the deck......and all of this will be in a 1 car garage. (ouch)

Nate

[Scott Pearson]

Nate,
I had 7 people help lift my deck off. 3 on each side and one up front to get the weight off the bow. It worked great. You should keep the hand rails on to help. If you have them.

Good Luck.

(NJ)Scott

[CDMA]

Nate,

When I pulled the deck off the 18 I used 5 guys and 1 girl. It really worked great. I too thought about the chain hoists and so forth but this way worked well enough that when I do the 22 I just am going to get about 15 people and lift. I liked how easy it was to control as well as the unifrom weight distribution. In looking at the construction if the 18 I really ( is I ever used a chain hoist) would stay away from the bow. Ahead of the dash there is very little and I would be worried about structural bending/gelcoat cracking. The only thing that would make the deck a lot easier to do which I will do for the 22 is to take off the wheels and drop the trailer on the ground. Just my .02. I just think if you have 10 or so good buddies call on them grab some pizza and beer and call it a night.


Chris

[Jamesbon]

Thanks guys. "People Power" it is!

With my friends, I'll really have to ration the beer though, that is until the works done. When too much alchol is added, we tend to end up throwing tennis shoes and things into the ceiling fans......