Transom cracks/delaminating

This is probably just a cosmetic blemish and I haven't worried too much about it, but I figured since I wasn't going to use the boat for the next week or two I would address the issue.

It appears that part of the transom is pealing away. To be honest, I don't even know how long it has looked like this. I'm hoping it is something I can repair with something like six10 but I have a good fiberglass guy near by that I can bring it to if necessary.





Here is the other side of the motor for reference

 

Humph. Well that sucks. Is there an easy way to correct this problem?

 

I'm taking it to a fiberglass shop today. I'm hoping it's not going to require the transom be cut out and replaced. If the entire transom has to be replaced I'm not sure I am willing to put that kind of money into this hull. It's only 4 years old with less than 500 hours on the whole rig.

 

I sent some pictures, more for an opinion than anything else, but I don't think it's their problem to fix. I dropped it off at a shop, after a quick look they didn't think it was caused by flex. I don't think we will know for sure until they get the motor off and start the repair process.

 

That's pretty much the exact conversation I just had with the shop. He said it looked like someone got a little over zealous with the grinder and left that part a little too thin. He's going to grind it back and try to get it as pretty as he can.

As for the manufacturer, I'm curious to see what their thoughts are, but I don't see this as a problem that they should consider warranting. Its not a catastrophic failure or a structural issue. It should never have happened but it's one of those situations where not being the original owner makes it my responsibility. 

Who knows, maybe the previous owner had something done to it that caused the Crack. It sucks but I can't expect warranty work, it just wouldn't be reasonable.

 

Never heard back from the manufacturer, so I opted to just go with what the shop suggested. I haven't seen the boat or the bill yet but from what I gathered from talking on the phone they found some issues. At the end of the day it was not a structural issue or anything caused by flexing, so I suppose that's good news.

 

Yeah I got the boat back. Ended up costing me $600 to have it repaired. From what I understand they had to take the motor off and grind back the part that was pealing away and put new glass in it's place. It went deeper than they anticipated but it wasn't a structural issue or a flexing issue.

Since I'm not the one who ordered the boat I can't say for sure what caused the cracking. The shop seems to think it was nothing more than just a thin spot that cracked from vibration over time. I guess it's all just part of owning a boat that's hand built to order, little things sometimes happen. I can't really complain but it does reinforce the fact that I need to learn how to do these kinds of repairs myself.

I would have liked to have known what the manufacturer thought but I never heard anything back. Maybe I will try to contact them again. I trust the guy that did the work for me but maybe the people who made the boat could offer a little more detail into what could have gone wrong and how to prevent it the future.

 

I didn't want to say but Tomahawk is right.

Don't let this scare you away from Ankona. It's been a great little boat. Thankfully the transom problem I was having was just a cosmetic issue. From what I understand from talking to the guys who worked on it, it wasn't technically the transom. I had to fork over a bunch of cash to have it repaired because I don't know how to work with fiberglass. It was cracking where the gelcoat met up with the textured finish, that's the best way I can think of to explain it. Almost like that edge was ground down little too much before the top was painted.

Had I known how to work with fiberglass It wouldn't have been a big deal.