CONTINUOUSWAVE

My search for a 170 Montauk has led me to a 2008 model, in relatively good condition. I have yet to conduct an on sight inspection but the owner and I have spoken at length and he's shared many photos. In those photos I noted two chips in the gel coat, just below the rub rail, long the starboard side. The owner mentioned having found another small chip, "underneath" as well.

how do I evaluate these for cosmetic only damage, or something more significant?

From the photos, I am able to identify a material that is dark in color. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

If the gel coat layer has been damage so that an underlying laminate of a different color is showing, the inference is the gel coat layer has been chipped away. The gel coat layer is often only 0.020-inch thick, and it is not a structural problem if a small part of gel coat is gone. Damage like that is easily repaired with color-matching gel coat paste repair kits.

Damage that penetrates through the laminate layers and reveals the foam is more worrisome and requires more elaborate repair.

Foam usually appears as tan or brown. Laminates are usually another color, like green or blue-green.

Buying a boat based on pictures is a risk. The seller may not show you the worst pictures.

How do these look? There are three 1/2 to 1 inch damaged spots below the rub rail lip, and the additional damage above the bottom paint. Is there the possibility for water intrusion with this type of damage?

Bah, that is nothing to concern yourself with. Easy DIY repair.

The boat is 16 years old. I would expect to find dents, scratches, scrapes, dings, gouges. If there weren't any I would be concerned.

Be more concerned with drain tubes, keel rash, loose fittings, wiring in console and engine service history.

Thanks again, and forgive the additional questions (first boat purchase). I assume these should be repaired prior to putting it in the water? Thinking especially of the one near the bottom paint.

If you you want to use the boat immediately, cover those small dings with tape until they are properly repaired.

ASIDE: the convex hull shape at those areas of chipped gel coat were, in the mold that made that hull, concave areas. When gel coat is applied to concave areas in the mold it tends to accumulate, and the gel coat layer thickness builds up. Gel coat is brittle. If there is not perfect adhesion of the gel coat to the next layer of laminate, the gel coat can fracture if it makes hard contact with another object of greater hardness and higher inertia—like a steel trailer or dock piling. To have some gel coat break off from the laminate is common, and could often be due to a small porosity in the laminate-to-gel-coat bond at that particular spot, coupled with the gel coat being too thickly applied in the hull molding process.

Chipped gel coat is a bit annoying, but it generally is not in itself a structural problem. Long cracks in gel coat can be indicators of underlying flexing of the hull structure because, as I mentioned above, gel coat is not particularly flexible and will fracture into cracks if the surface it is applied to is undergoing unintended movement due to weakness.

They will not ingest water but should be repaired for cosmetic reasons.