CONTINUOUSWAVE

Hi - just joined the site and this is my first post. I recently purchased a 1992 Outrage 17. I noted a crack on the transom gel coat when I made the purchase, and I assume it is cosmetic but would like to get some expert advice.



The crack is what I would call a "hairline" crack, narrower than a sheet of paper. It is about 12-inches long and located in the corner of the transom where the transom goes in about an inch. The transom sounds solid when tapped. Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

[Image orientation problem fixed--jimh]

Can you post a picture showing exactly where that crack is located?
Archie

To better understand the crack location see the two attached photos. The crack is located beneath the swim platform in the corner. I hope this will give you a better idea of what I'm dealing with. After reading a bunch of posts, I think I'm convinced to take it in to a repair place and have them take a look. I live about 90-minutes north of Los Angeles if anyone has recommendations for a repair facility in my area.

Thanks for the help. I'm hoping this boat will last me through retirement.





(edit - corrected orientation)

That drain plug looks about ready to replace.

JOEL—for help with image orientation oplease read this article from the INTRODUCTION forum:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2569&p=14573#p14573

For help or advice regarding using the forum, please post to the INTRODUCTION forum, and do not use a boating forum for topics about the forum itself.

Welome to the Outrage 17 family. We are a small but proud and scrappy bunch. I owned a 1991 for 7 years and now have a 1992.

Given it is a single crack I would discount it as a stress crack caused by movement in the transom and proffer that it is a result of age and an over application of gelcoat in that seam at the factory.

It is cosmetic.

If one really wants to reduce its appearance, the crack should be ground out a bit and colored gelcoat patch paste, sold by Spectrum, can be applied. Note color matching is not exact due to age and variations in production.

Phil - thanks for "welcome" and the response. I also contacted Boston Whaler customer support and a local experienced whaler repair shop who gave me the same reassurance that there is nothing serious to worry about. So far I love the boat and am happy to be a member of the 17 Outrage family! Happy boating.

In areas of the hull molds were a rapid curving of the surface takes place, it is common for there to be a build up in the thickness of the gel coat layer. Gel coat resin is not particularly flexible, and in thick areas the resin has a tendency to crack. It is common to see on older Boston Whaler boats that some cracks appear in the gel coat layer in certain areas of the hull which may have some bending stresses on them (such as at the transom) and where the gel coat layer is thicker than elsewhere.

Gel coat applied to flat hull surfaces will generally not be particularly thick, perhaps only 0.020 (or "twenty mils") thick. But if the gel coat layer has been build up to be much thicker, it may exhibit stress cracks.

As long as the crack is confined to the gel coat layer and the underlying laminate and resin layers are not involved, a gel coat crack is mostly a cosmetic flaw. However, a gel coat crack was probably produced by some stress on that area of the hull, so it could be seen as an indicator of some slight flexing.

In the case of a crack that extends for several inches and runs vertically along the edge of the thicker portion of the transom where the hull has embedded reinforcement material, a careful examination should be made of the stiffness and rigidity of the transom. A simple test is to tilt the outboard engine lower unit to an 45-degree angle with the transom, and then use the gear case as a lever arm, pulling up and down on the gear case while observing closely the transom for any indication of movement. On a solid transom there won't be any movement.

Since [the gel coat crack in the transom that is the topic of this discussion] is most likely cosmetic, [I recommend using] MagicEzy nine-second chip fix and MagicEzy Hairline Fix (in the hue “snow white” for Boston Whaler).

I have used both on my Outrage 17-II. [They are] amazing stuff and work great.

Somewhere [the products] won the marine product of the year.

carreracup03 wrote:[I recommend using] ...MagicEzy Hairline Fix (in the hue “snow white” for Boston Whaler...

Not all Boston Whaler boat hulls use the same gel coat color. A hue that matches an OUTRAGE 17-II might not be a good match for every Boston Whaler hull, particularly hulls with a Desert Tan or Outrage Gray hull color.

[In my earlier post I] was just pointing out there is a product I used with good success. I was more speaking about the quality of the product, and how well it worked for me. I was actually surprised how well it looked with limited effort.

[The product] is offer in many colors. I am sure one [of the colors available in the product] would be close to another color Boston Whaler offers. The color "snow white" matches Boston Whaler "standard white" well. The manufacturer offers other white shades that might work better for slightly more weathered gel coat.The color choice is more up to the user and probably a finer art for some of the slightly weathered colors.

Some of the cracks I filled look similar to the one in [Fig. 1 above].

The likely mismatch of the product you endorse as “Snow White” to many classic-era Boston Whaler boat hulls will not be due to “weathered gel coat.”

The mismatch will be due to the original gel coat color being non-white, particularly for the two Boston Whaler hull colors known as Desert Tan and Outrage Gray, as I mentioned in my earlier remark.

If the eponymous-named originator of this discussion uses your advice about the product and color to repair the crack in the transom of his Boston Whaler boat hull we can discover if the recommended product and recommended color were up to the task.

point is - I used that color for my 1998 outrage and it was a match. They make many colors, and it is up to the user to try to match it. Just pointing out that the product works on cracks, similar to the one shown in figure 1 above.