www.iFourWinns.com

Well the trip to Grand Lake was outstanding. We rented a slip at a nearby Marina which worked perfectly the first two days. What we didn't expect was a really bad storm that pressed through that night. Although the boat was secured and bouy'd to the dock the wind and rockers that came through must have raised and lowered the dock really bad.

End result is a bad gash in the hull followed by a horrible scrap. I'm absolutely sick right now I can't even begin to tell you. At home when we put a boat in slip we moor it in the middle, this slip wasn't the best but weather was suppose to be calm and the slip was very protected.

Ultimately I have a great body shop that does fiberglass work and a guy I would trust with anything moving. I have no doubt he can get her fixed up to look like new. I will have to order a new decal so god forbid what thats going to cost. I'm afraid I'm looking at an insurance claim.

Here's my question to you guys. It can be fixed next week after the fourth, the damn hail storm has locked me out until then. We have huge plans for this weekend and the new boat. The gash is pretty high on the boat and wouldn't touch water other than incidental. The scrape is a little lower but didn't actually puncture the fiberglass. The body shop says they will cut and replace the bad sections and rework the paint.

1. Am I safe to take her on the water this weekend without fear of doing interior damage to the hull.

2. If not is there something you would recommend to seal the area until the repair can be made.

Thanks in advance, talk about putting a dark cloud over the entire trip. I'm just sick over the entire deal.

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2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

Any chance of a photo of the damage?

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Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

If the damage is not structural, and is way above the water, I would go ahead with your plans. If it were me, I would probably apply packing tape (clear plastic) over the eara as well.

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

There is no paint involved. Beyond that, it's hard to make a recommendation without pictures. So sorry about this! Slipping is one of those things that keeps me awake at night. When you were buying this, I never thought to ask you what you were doing about fenders. The 224 is worthy of some bigguns.

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

Well this is the best I can do with the lighting situation. I have two seperate areas on concern.

First Mike I thought the fenders would be sufficient but was wrong. What complicated this matter was the slip after better inspection was poorly protected. To the best of my detective skills a non protected bolt did the damage in the first two photo's. The other two came from the angle iron that protruded just slightly from a piece of the slip. I can't tell you the heartache I have for not checking this better. It was the only slip we could find complicated by the fact that the water was so high getting the boat in and out of the water was dangerous in it's own right. I was so glad to find a spot and the water was so calm it was an oversight I'm paying for big time.

These first two pictures are right above the stainless steel gaurd and naturally are in the crease where I believe the bolt got caught. They are higher on the boat but the damage is definately deeper. In one small spot you can push though the first layer of fiberglass all together.




These are in the other spot where it is more of a gash type scrape. It's just enough to take off the first layer of gelcoat down to the fiberglass. Actually looks worse and say bye bye to the decal. I keep reminding myself it can be fixed.......not helping.





All of these spots have the propensity to get water splashed on them or hit by a wake in the water. None of them are in constant touch with the water.

Also anything of great importance to tell my shop guy to make sure and do with the repair.

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2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

I would not attempt to seal them - it may cause all kinds of problems with the repair. I wouldn't be concerned about the upper one as far as continuing to use the boat. How far back on the boat is the lower one?

I hope they don't have to replace the whole rubrail, but if they do it should be done by someone who knows what they're doing.

The first time we slipped our boat it was like that - the dumba$$ owners thought so little about peoples' boats that there were rusty bolts sticking out (that served no other purpose), angle irons - it was like hell for boats. With a lot of time and work we figured out how to protect the boat, but that one trip was enough to convince me to invest in four 8" Polyform fenders. They're still the nicest fenders I've ever seen.

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

So no sealant but clear packing tape would be ok? They are all towards the rear.

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2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

hmm, packing tape sounds like not a bad idea, but if you decide to do it, check it OFTEN to make sure water hasn't gotten behind and trapped by it. Also I added a comment about the rub rail.

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

The rub rail has a mark but very small and un noticible. I'm having a hard time deciding between taking the chance it's replaced poorly or just leaving it alone. No major damage and you have to really look to see it. Part of me expects the rub rail to get small marks over time. Just not looking for the damn gelgoat to be destroyed. Your thoughts?

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2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

At first glance I thought the damaged areas were bigger than they are. Using the screw in the rub rail as an indicator of scale, these areas are pretty small. I'd go use the boat and enjoy it. Another thing you could consider is to have your repair guy just do a quick & dirty patch to get you through the season, and then they can have it all winter to get it right. But if he looked at it I bet he'd tell you to just go use it.

If you can live with the rub rail, you might consider leaving it alone. You're absolutely right that it's there for a reason - to take the hits. The repair guy might be able to put you at ease about repairing it, though. I'm certainly no expert.

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

Yeah the gash is probably about 3 1/2 inches long with only a pin hole size through and though. The other damage is maybe 3 inches but just a layer.

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2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"

Well, the packing tape may not be a bad idea. But make sure no water gets trapped behind it.

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

Talk about a bad weekend. I got a 3" scratch in my gelcoat from the dock while retrieving my boat over the weekend in some nice 2' waves....luckily for me my gelcoat patch paste kit arrived today, but I have a feeling I'll take it to a shop for this repair.

Let us know what the repair cost.

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

That's another idea - you could get a patch kit. Only thing is, it might make the final repair more time consuming (expensive). And it'll look like hell in the meantime since it would be white on the black gel coat. But if you want to go that route and want to get it done in time for the weekend, I've got one you can have for the price I paid for it.

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

sorry to hear of your troubles, especially on your first outing with new boat
I would be tempted to use Duct Tape(black) as its seals quite well, and if cut and applied neatly, wont be noticable and could possibly see you out for the rest of summer and have it repaired once and properly. That way at least youll have an uninterupted season. All the best with it.
Robbi

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2008 V288 with twin 5 litre Seacores
http://www.galwayhouse.com.au