Buckle in deck

Headed out to take my 18 to the lake today and found new damage. The area in red is noticeably raised, and the cracks in yellow are new. I just did the anchor plate upgrade and the boat has been on the water 4 times since. What has caused this?

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2010 AHPC C2 #218

Hi Bacho

You list that your H18 has "Magnum" Wings .... the depression looks like a "heel" mark .... is it possible that someone "walked/stepped" in that area or on the hullport???

I also have "Magnum" Wings ... and you can see "heel" marks on the decks between the crossbars .... though mine are more numerous towards the rear crossbar .....

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

That certainly is very possible. I was not aware that a step would leave damage like that.

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2010 AHPC C2 #218

My guess is delamination starting from the porthole and extending forward.

Have to agree, that gremlin of delamination is the issue.

Added to this......... do you have a boat cover. Where I am going with this is UV light degradation etc.

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Richard Stephens

I don't think that's delamination. That area of the deck is solid fiberglass. On some years the laminate was pretty thin in that area. To add to that, the older boats originally came with a pop-in deck port that required a pretty hefty pull to get the cap off (I'm guessing your boat was upgraded to the screw-in deck ports at some point). So years of repeated cycling/flexing evenutally degrades the fiberglass in that area. I had the same stress fractures show up on my '85 boat. If it concerns you, the answer is to grind back the gelcoat and inspect the fiberglass for cracks or crazing and repair as necessary. You can also inspect internally through the access port using a flashlight and mirror.

If the remainder of the deck is solid, I wouldn't get too concerned about this.

sm

The cracks look a little too far from the port, to be a result of snapping out the older style pop up port. IMHO heel marks make sense.

If you decide to do this repair it could be a winter project. I would think that this is not a high stress area, since it is between the crossbars and just behind the front one. I assume you do lake sailing around Hartwell and Jocassee and not in the ocean.

Good luck.

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1984 Hobie 18

I autually sail more in the ocean than the lake. I will probably just reseal both ports. On our lake trip Sunday a friend turtled this boat sailing solo while i was helping my fiance with her h16 that she capsized and broke a shroud while pulling it back over. Anyways there was 5 or 6 inches of water in the hulls so i figure i am leaking pretty good at the ports.

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2010 AHPC C2 #218

Silicone isn't going to do anything to correct the dent & cracks.

I would push down on the deck all around the front of the porthole and observe how much it flexes. Again, the deck was quite thin in this area for some years (my '85 is probably an 1/8" thick or less around the port, so very likely that your '86 is the same). I suspect that this damage is most likely caused by repeated flexing of the deck in this area due to the pop-out deck ports, as well as walking and sitting on this area in general. I don't think it's a major issue, but one that still deserves some attention. If the glass is cracked through, it should be ground out and rebuilt.

As far as re-sealing the port holes. You really don't know where the boat is leaking until you do a bubble test. There are a number of potential leak points. It could be the ports, or it could be somewhere else in which case you would just be removing and replacing perfectly good silicone.

sm

The deck feels pretty solid in the area. There is not much flex there at all. I have done a bubble test but didnt check the ports. They have been suspect to me of leaking because they do not fit well at all. There is no crack i can see from the undersisehu

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2010 AHPC C2 #218