Stress cracking

[Julio Santana]

I presumed it was bound to happen at some point. I've found my first gel coat / stress crack and it's on the inside floor / cup holder on the passenger side of the boat. I've found no other stress cracking anywhere on the boat that I can find. I guess after 7 years of owning the boat, that's not bad, but what's the best way to address the problem in that particular area / spot?



I should mention it's a 2000 Nitro 700 LX SC with a 2004 Merc 125 HP on it.



Just had it out this weekend again after a long time of being garaged and not used at all. She's running fantastic though and I've been very happy with the boat.



I think I'm going to add the flo-rite livewell pump out that's in the grab bag. Looks easy enough to install...



Any suggestions?



Julio

 

[Jim B]

If the crack really bugs you you can get it fixed by a fiberglass repair shop but it will be costly and not worth it. Most sress cracks are cosmetic in nature. The fiberglass and gellcoat flex at different rates, thats why they crack. unless the gelcoat is pulling apart of the crack is growing every time you take the boat out its most likley cosmetic. All glass boats get them at one point or another and any ares where there is a radius like near a console, cupholders etc are more prone to cracks.



If it were my boat i would leave it alone and not worry about it.

 

[Julio Santana]

Gotcha. no big thing and it doesn't bug me, I was just wondering if there was an ounce of prevention that would be worth a pound of cure here on this one.



It's very minor and not anything I'd worry about... just if there were something I could do to square it away early before it got worse, I'd do it.



Thanks for the info.