I just purchased an ’88 H17. On my first time out I discovered quit a bit of water in the starboard hull. The second time I took her out I could hear the water bubbling in somewhere around the centerboard. On removing the centerboard I expected to find a soft spot where the spring rests against the fiberglass in there. But to my surprise that doesn't seem to be where the leak is. I also have a 5 inch access hole on the deck where I can see right over top of this area. There is no damage there and it feels very solid and secure.
Unfortunately however I found
(looking up from inside the well) some cracked openings located on the side of the well about 4 inches up into the well itself. The problem area is located directly under the hole where the center boards retraction line is pulled through the deck. From what I can see
(and feel) through the access hole on top of the deck, the actual damage that needs repaired might be located under what seems to be a fiberglass support provided to add strength to the well’s wall. What I'm saying is I'm only able to see and feel the damage from the outside
(or from up under or inside) of the well itself. If this is the case I really can't gain access without going through the side of the hull
something I'd really rather not do!I took a close up picture of the damaged area in the well and put a link in this post bellow. In the picture you might be able to observe that the gelcoat seems to be peeled away a bit where I may be able to fill in a little bit of resin
(gravity would hold the resin in place while it hardened). Because there really isn't much room in here once the centerboard is reinstalled I didn't want to try and use any of my chopped fiberglass material in this location on the outside over this damaged area. I can't really even get my hands in there to do anything anyway. It would seem like any repairs of any substantial value would need to be done from the inside of the hull.
Any help, thoughts or pictures of cross-sections of this area of the hull would be greatly appreciated.
https://imgur.com/61nNikW