WILakeBoating
New Member
Hello all,
Was doing some trailer maintenance and noticed a sizable hole under the water line, probably from a trailer/bunk strike when the boat got sideways taking it out of the water. I'm guessing I'll catch grief for this and the condition of the hull, but it's a 20+ year old boat and I'm just wanting it to be safe in the water and wondering if I keep it or not longer-term.
Anyway, it's a 2001 Challenger 1800. As you can see from the pictures, when I opened up the wound larger so my repair would include most of the cracked/weak parts, some of the soggy core material came out which I removed and then I was left with a partial view of this cavity between the outer layer of fiberglass and the inner hull of the boat. Peeking into the bilge, standing on my head, there is NO damage visible to the interior fiberglass structure of the boat (this is just forward of were the battery sits, starboard side about 3' from the stern on the underside), so I didn't want to go messing around with that and sawing another hole in perfectly good inner structure.
So the question is: Is there a way to determine if water got in between these inner and outer hull layers (because it probably did) and would it naturally drain out to the bilge or where would I drain that from if there's still water between the inner and outer hull (where the core material sits)??
I'm asking because the boat is stored in a NON-climate controlled facility during the winter months. Wondering if there's a bunch of water somewhere I need to figure out how to get out of it before a freeze would happen. If I have to drill a hole in the lowest part of the boat to check this, then so be it, but I'd rather not if it just drains out to the bilge somewhere.
Also, for anyone in the future searching: Since the pictures were taken I have repaired it with West Systems epoxy (under the advice of the local shop) and laid in a thick layer of it until it was almost even with the rest of the outer fiberglass and it was VERY strong. Then Marine-Tex as a top layer and just need to sand it a bit to finish. Happy to post progress pictures if needed but it looks decent for someone who has never done fiberglass boat repairs.
Many thanks to all of you for your input and this forum.
Was doing some trailer maintenance and noticed a sizable hole under the water line, probably from a trailer/bunk strike when the boat got sideways taking it out of the water. I'm guessing I'll catch grief for this and the condition of the hull, but it's a 20+ year old boat and I'm just wanting it to be safe in the water and wondering if I keep it or not longer-term.
Anyway, it's a 2001 Challenger 1800. As you can see from the pictures, when I opened up the wound larger so my repair would include most of the cracked/weak parts, some of the soggy core material came out which I removed and then I was left with a partial view of this cavity between the outer layer of fiberglass and the inner hull of the boat. Peeking into the bilge, standing on my head, there is NO damage visible to the interior fiberglass structure of the boat (this is just forward of were the battery sits, starboard side about 3' from the stern on the underside), so I didn't want to go messing around with that and sawing another hole in perfectly good inner structure.
So the question is: Is there a way to determine if water got in between these inner and outer hull layers (because it probably did) and would it naturally drain out to the bilge or where would I drain that from if there's still water between the inner and outer hull (where the core material sits)??
I'm asking because the boat is stored in a NON-climate controlled facility during the winter months. Wondering if there's a bunch of water somewhere I need to figure out how to get out of it before a freeze would happen. If I have to drill a hole in the lowest part of the boat to check this, then so be it, but I'd rather not if it just drains out to the bilge somewhere.
Also, for anyone in the future searching: Since the pictures were taken I have repaired it with West Systems epoxy (under the advice of the local shop) and laid in a thick layer of it until it was almost even with the rest of the outer fiberglass and it was VERY strong. Then Marine-Tex as a top layer and just need to sand it a bit to finish. Happy to post progress pictures if needed but it looks decent for someone who has never done fiberglass boat repairs.
Many thanks to all of you for your input and this forum.
