[dudders]

I noticed the other day that I have 2 sets of stress fractures on the bottom of my hull. They are about 1 to 2 feet in length, but look to be only on the outer gel coat.
Does anyone know whether these need to be repaired immediately or can it wait for a while?
I have spoken to the local Mariah dealer and he said just to keep an eye on the water ingress and get it repaired as soon as we get the boat out of the water.
I cant get photos of them for a little while unfortunately.
Is there a product that I can put on these cracks in the interim?
You can see them but barely feel them when you run your hand over them.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[ShabahZ280]

Hmm, that's an interesting one, and without seeing it, I can't offer a full verdict on it. As soon as you can get photos of it, post them up here and we'll try and help you figure it out. I would say it's probably not serious enough to get concerned, unless they look like the holes I had in the bottom of my boat.

I'm kind of wondering if it'd be covered under Mariah's Lifetime Limited Hull Warranty. I would imagine so, maybe hold off on putting anything on it until you find out for sure!

[dudders]

The stress fractures look kind of like fine lines in the gel coat, i doubt that they go deep into the hull and no are not as bad as those chunks that were in your hull.
I will take photos in a few weeks an post them. Hopefully the photos will come out.
Has any other members experienced stress fractures?
I was wondering if it could be from the trailer or hitting something under the water.

[mikeyt]

hmmmm. it'll be interesting to find out what may have caused the problem. Possibly you were bouncin' off some salties while out cruising?

I would think a heavy coat of wax would provide some short term protection as it sounds like the crack is very fine & only in the gel coat.

[indykoch]

I would doubt you hit anything. Those are usually caused from very slight flexing of the hull. Could have been large waves, imperfect lay-up at the factory, or even a large bump in the road while on the trailer. I would do as Chris suggests - contact Mariah and/or the dealer and see what they say before doing anything! It may be covered under warranty as it's supposed to hold up to common waves and bumps.

I don't think you need to worry about water intrusion (this is without seeing them, of course). I've seen stress cracks on many boats that are usually only in the gel coat and water can't get through unless left alone for a really long time.

[uscghutch]

I have the same thing in certain spots on my SX20. As long as they are fine lines and are small, its ok. It comes from the flexing in the boat and the temp changes. They are normally only in the upper layer of the gel coat. There are gel coat repair kits out there, but its something to just keep an eye on from time to time. And no the warranty doesn't cover it. It's a normal thing for gel coats.

[dudders]

Thanks for your replies guys, makes me feel a bit better. Still pissed because they are there (I think a couple are definately from the crap roads here in West Oz).
I have put heaps of wax on them so should be ok.
They really are very very fine, so I will just keep an eye on them.
Only started when the dealer moved the wheels a little further back to put more weight on the tow ball for me. Doh.