Advice on Fibreglass/gelcoat on a 1994 Silverton 37.

[pete611]

Hi all,
First time poster here. Today I was looking at a 1994 Silverton 37, and it was all in quite good shape apart from a few areas towards the back of the boat that exhibited cracking of the fiberglass and/or gelcoat in the following areas:
1) Rear deck (looks like just cracked gelcoat to me and might be a relatively easy repair)


2) Under the rear deck on the inside of the lower hull - looks more serious than (1), it also looks like wood to me, however i thought these boats were solid core below the waterline? There is some delamination there, however the coating of fiberglass is super thin in this area that I assume it's only there for waterproofing purposes. Apparently it has been like this for at least 15 years without changing size/shape. But I would personally want it fixed. Any ideas as to what the repair would involve for this?

And a close up of the above.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[Golfman25]

The first looks like “normal” stress cracks of older gel coat, but should be investigated further.

The second looks like the area has been compromised and the core has started to rot. Again further investigation is warranted. Will probably need to remove and replace the bad core.

 

[boatbum]

If #2 is indeed the hull bottom where it turns up to the side, yes, that looks serious. Hopefully you are merely looking at it for a purchase. It would be enough to have me moving on.

 

[pete611]

Thanks for the feedback so far. It is a boat that I was looking to purchase, but this had me questioning what it would take to repair this. Here is an additional photo for some additional context.
When reaching up under the hull, I could not feel any defects on the wet side.
It's interesting that this section of core has such a thin layer of glass on it. Without knowing the exact layup of the core, I would like to know what it would take to repair this, as the boat is priced at point where I could justify some repairs. However obviously I want a structurally sound boat.
My next step was to get a surveyor to check it over, but it's thought I'd reach out here for some feedback first.

 

[PascalG]

That’s an odd one. The pattern around the crack looks like heavy fiberglass cloth yet the crack itself doesn’t show any sign of glass. I don’t see any fiber or strands on the edge of the cracks. It looks like just heavy gelcoat which probably cracked due to water intrusion expanding the wood core.

Repairing should be easy. Pull the cracked gel coat as far it takes to get to solid material. Dig out the rotted core till you reach solid dry core. Replace the core using thickened epoxy to insure good adhesion then glass the entire area at least 12” beyond the repaired section.

My concern would be why this had not been repaired all these years and are there other issues in hidden areas?

The price would have to be really good to take the risk…

 

[Golfman25]

Thanks for the feedback so far. It is a boat that I was looking to purchase, but this had me questioning what it would take to repair this. Here is an additional photo for some additional context.
When reaching up under the hull, I could not feel any defects on the wet side.
It's interesting that this section of core has such a thin layer of glass on it. Without knowing the exact layup of the core, I would like to know what it would take to repair this, as the boat is priced at point where I could justify some repairs. However obviously I want a structurally sound boat.
My next step was to get a surveyor to check it over, but it's thought I'd reach out here for some feedback first.
View attachment 2993

Would really need a moisture meter and hammer to get a good idea of the extent of the issue. Surveyor can do it, but will cost some $$$$.