cracked swim platform

D

dcwjd

Active Member
Oct 17, 2006
263
Lindenhurst, NY
Boat Info
2007 48 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins QSC 540
Yesterday while backing into a slip i cracked my swim platform on the right side in my 280 dancer. It is a horizontal line about 6 inches long but did not go all the way through. Help!! It's a new boat and i can't stop looking at it. It's driving me nuts. It happened to another guy with a 280 in our marina and the marina fixes it for 700 bucks. I would like to do it myself. Any suggestions???
 
Figure $50 to haul the boat on a forklift, $100/hour and $100 worth of resin, glass, filler, sandpaper, gelcoat, etc. you have about 5 1/2 hours labor. Is that too much? Who knows.......the time to fix it is totally dependant upon how bad the damage is.

It could be worse......the platform is white instead of blue, black, etc.

Its a new boat.....write the check and consider the cost stupid tax and part of the learning curve.

Practically speaking, a lot of boats have platforms that cannot be seen from the driver's position so you have to learn short cuts in handling to avoid damage. I use the pilings if winds, currents or a tight slip gets me so close I'm not sure about the platform. I may back at odd angles or stop when most people wouldn't but if I can hang the corner of the transom on a piling and pivot off of it, I know the platform is clear.

Sorry about the damage.........
 
dcwjd said:
Yesterday while backing into a slip i cracked my swim platform on the right side in my 280 dancer. It is a horizontal line about 6 inches long but did not go all the way through. Help!! It's a new boat and i can't stop looking at it. It's driving me nuts. It happened to another guy with a 280 in our marina and the marina fixes it for 700 bucks. I would like to do it myself. Any suggestions???
Click to expand...

Try to call "Raybo" in Lindenhurst
They should give you better price than your marina, but not every marina allow outside vendors.
 
I'm with Frank. Get out the wallet and get it fixed right. Sooner or later we all ding up our boats and are faced with similar predicaments.

B O A T= Bring Out Another Thousand :smt021
 
well about 800 in dollars to fix? how much is the new ones.. they make aftermarket ones that are a little bit longer right? and i scracthed my swin deck.. so what i do.. SINCE IN IM A NEWBEE.. i get close to the dock then i tell my wife to jump off.. and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging.. i learned the hardway when i got a long scratch along the side of my boat pretty much along the whole length that i look at every day and wonder when ima have enough money to repair it.. So get close enough,kill the engin, jump out and use your ropes to direct the boat into place and tie it down.. thats what i do.. the slower you go the smaller the scratch! thats what my captain told me.! and i live by it.
 
i just gotta respond again.. i hate it when i have people in my boat and they are all looking pretty putting on make up and not even caring about helping me park it... all you gotta do is take one hand off the eyeliner and grab the clete or just put yoru hand out and stop the boat from smashing into the wood on the dock.. but no they just let you smash your boat and get mad that you are yelling at them.. people have to realize that boating it a full person activity.. you wana know what i started doing .. i said ok if you all want to just sit there and not help. every one give me 25 bucks for gas next time you come on the boat.. so to make a long story short.. now i have free gas and hands sticking out to kelp. (the cheap ones offered to help park. lol)
 
If you can't dock an 18' boat without "smashing the wood" on the dock" you do not have a light enough touch and are not thinking far enough ahead of the boat.

I've got a few years on you and several boats behind me but, I can put 50' of boat in the slip in almost any conditions without the boat touching anything....take your time, slow down, pay attention to how the boat reacts, and always be thinking "What will I do if....."

And, I prefer to not have any help...it just takes longer since I have to worry about others getting fingers mashed, falling in, getting hurt, etc. Eyeliner, Cheetos, lipstick, and People magazines....(Wesley, the ink is gone!) are absolute no-no's on my boat..... none react well with white vinyl.
 
Cr0ck1 I am with Frank on this one. I quess you and I just have two different approaches. When we are coming into dock, I tell everyone to stay where they are do not try to help. What I have found is when others try to help they end up causing the opposite of what I am trying to do to happen. Be patient and practice docking the boat in different conditions. Get a routine that works for you and stick with it.

dcwjd - sorry for the hijack and to hear about your swimplatform. Good luck with the repairs.

Frank - glad to hear about the ink - I feel alot better now.

Wesley
 
cr0ck1 said:
its 19'8' to be exact.. lol.. and it was my first time every parking! thats why.
Click to expand...

so probably is easier for you to "dock" a boat on trailer than "park" in your dock?
and using "humans bumpers" one day can be very expensive or even deadly.
 
boatmailster said:
cr0ck1 said:
its 19'8' to be exact.. lol.. and it was my first time every parking! thats why.
Click to expand...

so probably is easier for you to "dock" a boat on trailer than "park" in your dock?
and using "humans bumpers" one day can be very expensive or even deadly.
Click to expand...


no i just tell them if you ron dock just use your foot to kick the boat away from the dock with im gettin the boat all tied down. just a gradual push to keep it in place.. you all act like im telling someone to jump in the water and stay between the boat and the dock and act like a human bumper.. god.. calm down.
 
I also agree with Frank...

BTW, Have you ever done fiberglass repairs in the past? If not, a brand new 280 isn't the rig to practice on... Just write the check.
 
dcwjd,
Just a side thought, is it something that can wait until the season is over? :huh: Not sure how long you would be with out your boat for the fix, what type of turn around time frame are they giving you? May also have other dents or dings that need to get fixed at the end of the season.
 
Waiting to the end of the season seems like good advice. You can have it fixed without giving up a nice weekend, you may save on a haul out and who knows you may bump that platform again before the seasons out.
 
cr0ck1 said:
so what i do.. SINCE IN IM A NEWBEE.. i get close to the dock then i tell my wife to jump off.. and i pull in close enough , shut off the engin and pull her into place.. and use our feet to stop it form banging..
Click to expand...

Sorry for the hijack, but this is a very dangerous practice.
Nobody should be off the boat, or disembarking while the boat is moving or the engine is running. :smt018
 
I may try that "get close to the dock and have my wife jump off" thing today...

"Sorry honey... guess I wasn't close enough for that jump"

:smt043
 
Well yesterday i got matching gelcoat from my sea ray dealer and some wet sand paper. I sanded down the cracked area and applied the gel coat. It actually looks pretty good. You really have to look at it very closely to tell any work was done to it. After looking around my marina it seemed most people with my boat had some work done on there swim platform.
 
dcwjd said:
Well yesterday i got matching gelcoat from my sea ray dealer and some wet sand paper. I sanded down the cracked area and applied the gel coat. It actually looks pretty good. You really have to look at it very closely to tell any work was done to it. After looking around my marina it seemed most people with my boat had some work done on there swim platform.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear your came out good man! :thumbsup:
 
Not to burst your bubble, but if you hit a piling hard enough to break the gelcoat in a spot that big, there is a good chance the fiberglass in the lip of the platform is also broken, If it is, the gelcoat repair will be temporary and the crack will re-appear.

If you can walk around the marina and see other swimplatform repairs, stop and ask the owners who fixed their platforms for them. Make a list so you know who they are and take your boat somewhere else if you need professional help.

White gelcoat on a platform should be an easy repair to do and blend where it cannot be seen.
 
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