Oil intrusion and keeldamage 49ft Hit Object

[freebritney]

Hi,


this repairjob belongs to a 49ft sailboat. It hit an floating object under the waterline and this is the rapair. Only that one stringer showed little cracking at the top. There was somehow an oil intrusion into the cracked laminate starting from the keelbolts. They removed most of it, but not every single bit. Inside and outside they built material up with vynil ester. Do you consider that a safe and sound repair?


Whats your opinion? Every opinion is highly appreciated, since I got an accepted offer on the boat. Nothing signed yet.


Regards

[freebritney]

More details:

[Manateeman]

There is just not enough information to answer your question. Even if you supplied the boat manufacturer and who did the repair, it’s impossible to say if the repair was done correctly.
Oil between the laminates which are very dry, indicates quite a large area to be reconstructed. It’s difficult to determine how much damage has occurred untill you get into the grinding and hammer testing. Do the repairers have a good reputation? What was written about the damage and the repair...any reports to share? Do you have doubts about the quality of the repair? Who supervised it...
Just a lot more detail is required.
Mark and his crew of professional boatbuilders now concentrating on ice cream .

[freebritney]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

There is just not enough information to answer your question. Even if you supplied the boat manufacturer and who did the repair, it’s impossible to say if the repair was done correctly.
Oil between the laminates which are very dry, indicates quite a large area to be reconstructed. It’s difficult to determine how much damage has occurred untill you get into the grinding and hammer testing. Do the repairers have a good reputation? What was written about the damage and the repair...any reports to share? Do you have doubts about the quality of the repair? Who supervised it...
Just a lot more detail is required.
Mark and his crew of professional boatbuilders now concentrating on ice cream .

The repair itself seems to be solid and strongly built up nicely. It’s from a small ship service which are doing this work on regular basis. They only have these pictures as documentation. Thought I assume that this rest (red marked) of oil soaked fiberglass is enclosed in epoxy now. For sure they built up strong from both sides, but I have no clue if this could lead into big trouble later in some time because of the oil in it? Will the fiberglass somehow react with the oil inside and bridle? Thank you so much for your engagement. It is not easy to make right decisions without many years of sailing wisdom and don’t loose a serious bunch of money. Many of you had been through this for sure

[Searles]

Oil plus diesel plus bilge water migrating down a keel bolt ,one or more ,when were the keel bolts last re torqued or replaced ,more ,much more investigation needed, remove all glass that has oil or appears to have oil damage, your lives may depend on doing this properly .⛵️⚓️

[boatpoker]

Epoxy does not adhere to oil.
I would not be interested in this boat.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I would not be interested in this boat.

+1

LittleWing77

[Manateeman]

I’ve built a lot of boats and I have great respect for Boatpoker and his opinion so I’ll go along with his conclusion.
The repair might be ok but the downside would be a huge loss of money and the first obligation any captain has is to the safety of his crew.
Post collision, bolted on keels are a challenge for the best of boatbuilders. A proper repair requires knowledge of the layup and the supporting structure.
The black oil...well not everybody has squeaky clean bilges but this might indicate very careless engine oil changes and thus a vessel which was not taken care of in other areas. Poker is again so very correct. No epoxy sticks to oil. Oil between laminates means no adhesion. One of the photos looks like it was taken after new glass was laid in but I can see black around the keel bolt holes. Oil is not a core material. It looks like the repair area is not extended far enough up the hull. If you had access to a hundred photos, and the engineering and layup, a better opinion could be given. Sorry, but I’ll agree with Boatpoker 100%. I’d pass.
No one is condemning the repair, it’s just too difficult to judge and the downside could be huge. Lots of fish in the sea, lots of boats floating above them.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark

[Stewie12]

You will never be able to tell if the repairs are good and when you come to sell it there could well be more problems. Walk away and find a boat that is undamaged.

[MV Caroline]

I wouldn't touch that boat with a 20 yard pole.

[Apollo366]

The fact that there was DRY FG in the area of the repairs tells a lot about the original build quality.

RUN don't walk away from this boat,
RUN like a lion was chasing you!

Apollo Wayne

[Ken Z]

It was a good choice by the repair company. Vinyl ester is superior to poly and epoxy and has properties that help it adhere to areas effected by fuel, it is stronger. But the oil problem probably bilge to keel bolts wasent cleaned up, so I would feel total impregnation of the damaged area couldn t be achieved. Almost like epoxying over rotten or damaged wood. But to remove all the oil damaged glass could be a large job. Its difficult to conclude without a hands on , eyes on view. All said I would always have a uneasy thought in my mind about a failure, and the failure is below the waterline . I would not buy this boat.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Ken Z

It was a good choice by the repair company. Vinyl ester is superior to poly and epoxy and has properties that help it adhere to areas effected by fuel, it is stronger.

Sigh !

[freebritney]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

I’ve built a lot of boats and I have great respect for Boatpoker and his opinion so I’ll go along with his conclusion.
The repair might be ok but the downside would be a huge loss of money and the first obligation any captain has is to the safety of his crew.
Post collision, bolted on keels are a challenge for the best of boatbuilders. A proper repair requires knowledge of the layup and the supporting structure.
The black oil...well not everybody has squeaky clean bilges but this might indicate very careless engine oil changes and thus a vessel which was not taken care of in other areas. Poker is again so very correct. No epoxy sticks to oil. Oil between laminates means no adhesion. One of the photos looks like it was taken after new glass was laid in but I can see black around the keel bolt holes. Oil is not a core material. It looks like the repair area is not extended far enough up the hull. If you had access to a hundred photos, and the engineering and layup, a better opinion could be given. Sorry, but I’ll agree with Boatpoker 100%. I’d pass.
No one is condemning the repair, it’s just too difficult to judge and the downside could be huge. Lots of fish in the sea, lots of boats floating above them.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark

An honest thank you to all of you. I am a very interested person in everything and quickly fall for things I desire. Thats making me hard times beeing objective sometimes. My gut told me that this is fishy. I'll go with your opinions plus this undefined feeling and move on. Furthermore I want to say it makes me happy that there are plenty of people out there following their own journey and offer free help. I will contribute at another time and place for another youngster.



Have a great Sunday.

[JPA Cate]

@freebritney:

An additional lesson here is to pay attention to your "gut." It is that you already knew, but had not been able to put into words, that something was not right. Through asking and getting enough out of the answers, you can explain to others.

All good.

Ann