www.iFourWinns.com

As I always do, I washed our '06 Funship after an outing yesterday. As I was cleaning the underside I noticed a 3-4" chunk of gelcoat gone from the hull. It's about 1/8" wide and under the gelcoat I can see black; presumably the fiberglass.

Too bad, I just got the boat back for some other gelcoat repairs. I assume there's no danger in continuing to use it? I'm close my 20 hour and we'll probably winterize at the end of October anyway. The scratch appears superficial to my novice eye.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

If any glass is exposed you want to get it fixed ASAP, at least before it's splashed again.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Brand new boat, repair before putting in the water again. If it is below the waterline, you can cause some expensive damage if it gets wet.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I'll take a photo, maybe you can tell?

I went to http://www.spectrumcolor.com to see what I need to fix; they have a gelcoat repair paste for about $23 shipped.

Does anyone know what color white the gelcoat is; Spectrum lists two. I emailed them for more info.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Click images for SUPER SIZE!

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Ok, this was deserving of a 2nd look. I had myself convinced it wasn't the trailer despite the exact color match.

I'm guess, beacuse of the impact point and subsequent scratch, I was coming in crooked. I gave it too much gas in reverse which caused the bow to plunge down. Since I was at an angle, the bunk provided some, but not much impact resistance.

In looking at the part of the trailer that would come into contact with the boat under this scenario, I now notice some scratches. It's consistent with the boat's mark, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would have been; hence my disbelief.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

The glass is definitely exposed.

That will need to be filled with martex or formula 27 to the surface, then sanded to below the surounding surface and gelcoat sprayed to fix.

You are looking at a fairly costly repair as it is more than just cosmetic. I'm going to guess but you are probably looking at $1000 - $1500 in repair costs.

You may want to consider an insurance claim.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Ouch. Spectrum patch kit is NOT for that kind of repair. Only a gelcoat gouge or scratch. Listen to jvalich.

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

This is not what I wanted to hear.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

I agree with John. This needs to be professionally repaired. Patch kit will not suffice. DO NOT use the boat until it is repaired. Johns' estimate is right on .
Minimum 1K to fix that damage correctly.

For reference, give Spectrum color your hull ID number, that will tell them
exactly what gel coat color you have. Not needed in this instance, but should you incur any more scratches, it may be of use.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Agreed.

I still don't see how the rear end of the trailer could've done that, though, even if you did apply too much power in reverse.

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Didn't you know what boat stands for?
B ust
O ut
A nother
T housand

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06' 180 Horizon

That's a fact!

I got the tape measure out last night. It's difficult to be 100% due to curvature of the boat and dealing with three-dimensional objects, but I took a couple of measurements.

From the point where the trailer beam extrudes it is approximately a 45 degree angle (forward) to where the bunk begins. The outer bunk is about 6" toward the center of trailer from the extruding beam.

Measuring the point of impact and angle of the hull, the boat would have had to been at an incredibly odd angle to hit that beam; almost an impossible angle. That, or the boat would have had to approach the submerged trailer at a (nearly) 90-degree angle; which never occurred.

I'm simply baffled. Even my dealer said it's virtually impossible for the boat to hit the trailer on the extruding beam and couldn't offer a definitive explanation.

My main concern, other than getting it fixed, is determining how it happened to prevent it from happening again. I really wish I had an easy means to remove the boat from the trailer and examine the trailer.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

This topic is sure getting some good coverage and alot of interesting input
here.
http://www.boatingabc.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/6446.html

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Thanks, I was going to post a link over there. I'll post what I just posted over there.

WE FIGURED IT OUT!

First off, it occurred to me that the images I uploaded probably made the gouge look worse than it was. I provided no scale and simply described the gouge in inches. When I met the salesman, who saw the same images I posted here, he was unimpressed. He thought it was much larger.

Earlier in the day I spoke with the gelcoat expert, Jamie, at Rambo Marine in Hazel Green, AL. He actually figured it out while we were on the phone. When I got home to check, sure enough he was correct.

The vertical guide bunk on the port side was the culprit. Since the Funship is a deckboat the hull flares out on both sides forming a "channel", for lack of a better term. The port bunk was caught in this channel while I was reversing to correct my angle of entry to load on the trailer.

It was the OUTSIDE support that caught my boat. Here are a few images, you'll notice the rust/point of impact. I also photographed the other side so you could see what it should look like.

Next step, other than being much more careful, is to do something so that won't happen again.

Also, kudos to Rambo Marine (again). Jamie says he could have my boat back as early as tomorrow! He also said it would have been okay to use the boat, it wasn't as deep as the images made it appear.

Again, click for SUPER SIZE.

_________________
SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com