1988 15-footer Being Purchased Has Crack in Rear Seam

A conversation among Whalers
mcamuso
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:40 am

1988 15-footer Being Purchased Has Crack in Rear Seam

Postby mcamuso » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:51 pm

I am buying a [a 33-year old 1988 15-footer of undesignated model]. [The seller mentioned] "Oh by the way...the starboard rear seem had a slight crack in it when [I] purchased it." The seller says he [used epoxy resin to make a repair].

Q1: Should I walk away?

I do not want to regret the purchase. I do want to have to rebuild the transom.

Q2; Is there anything to inspect, other hitting the transom with a rubber mallet or looking for discharge out of drain tube?

jimh
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: Slight Crack in Rear Seam

Postby jimh » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:11 am

mcamuso wrote:...the starboard rear seam had a slight crack at in...


Your quoted comment from the seller does not make clear where the seam that has the crack is located.

Q3: are you talking about the green-line joint at the top of the transom that is the structural joint line between the hull and the liner?

The green-line joint is not a seam. The green line joint is a structural bonding of the two primary structures of the hull, the hull bottom and the hull liner. The joint is not a seam line that is to be filed with a sealant. It is a joint line that is bonded in the original construction of the boat so that the hull bottom and liner are forever joined into a single structure.

A crack in the green-line joint could be an indication that there has been ingress of water into the transom, causing the wood to swell. Or, if the boat was kept in a cold northern climate, perhaps water in the hull at the transom froze and broke open the green-line joint.

Or the green-line joint might have just been a bit substandard originally and it cracked.

There is little hope to know the reason it cracked, but having an obvious crack in the green-line joint is an indicator that something is not quite normal in the hull in that area.

There is no chance in the universe that Boston Whaler sold this boat with a crack in the green-line joint. The seller's explanation that the opening in the joint was there at time of purchase could only mean that he bought it as a used (or misused) boat from another person.

mcamuso wrote:...hitting the transom with a rubber mallet...


I don't understand what would be revealed by hitting the transom with a rubber mallet. Were I selling a boat I would never let the buyer start hitting the hull with a rubber mallet.

Generally if you want to use an aural technique for locating discontinuities below the gel coat layer of the laminate you would lightly tap with a hard object, like a wood handle of a screwdriver. You would need to develop an ear for the sound that a strongly bonded section of the hull makes compared to the sound that a section of the hull with an air void just below the gel coat layer makes. You would tap, and with some training, be able to locate air pockets under the hull laminate layer. I don't think a rubber mallet would be the best tool for this sort of tapping.

If you want to assess the strength of the transom, use the gear case of the outboard engine as a lever arm. Assuming the engine has hydraulic tilt so the engine is locked in position, pull up on the engine gear case or push down on the engine gear case, while looking closely at the transom for indications of flexing or other signs of weakness or lack or rigidity. Since there is a crack, carefully observe the crack to see if it flexes during the testing.