CONTINUOUSWAVE

During the last few trips when [the author's 1999 Conquest 23 boat is in] waves of two-feet height or more I have heard a loud squeak. If I put my head down, the squeak seems to be coming from in front of where my feet are while driving on the starboard side. The gel coat in that area is starting to crack. Now it may have been cracking before and I didn't notice, but the squeak is new.

Give me any thoughts you have about the cracking and the squeaking?

Do make a repair, do I cut it out and redo the area? That seems like a huge job to do.

I was thinking of cutting a access panel just above it [where?] and maybe can do something that way.

The back side is hollow but the part with the cracks is sitting on the hull.

Heres another of the backside.

and the hull drawings

Cracks appear in gel coat when the gel coat layer becomes thicker than normal and there is some movement or flexing. It is common that the gel coat layer thickness increases in areas of the molded laminate parts where there is a concavity or a corner. In fabrication it seems inevitable that the gel coat thickness builds up there.

Since the crack is appearing on the deck immediately below the helm station, it seems reasonable to presume that there is some flexing of the deck in that area. Since the deck in that area appears to be covering a below-deck storage area, it appears that the deck is not reinforced there.

The greatest load on the deck in the area adjacent to the helm station would most likely be from the weight of the helmsman standing on the deck or sitting in a deck chair attached to the deck. How much do you weigh?