Hewes Owner Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 Are these cracks normal in the older pathfinders? This is from a 2002 24 v with a 2002 f225 on a jack plate. Any advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Fiberglass flexes, gelcoat not so much. Gelcoat also hardens more over time, and is thicker in the corners and areas with compound curves making stress cracks more common in these areas. It is cosmetic and can/will happen in any boat over time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewes Owner Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Good to know. Thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilemaker Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Normal gel coat cracks will always happen but rarely go heavily into the glass. The cracks on the left by itself would not raise an eyebrow but the right appears deeper. If you can get a putty knife in the glass it is a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smooth move Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 my 02 doesn't have those. does the boat hang in slings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 30 minutes ago, smooth move said: my 02 doesn't have those. does the boat hang in slings? Good question. Straps or slings on a boat lift can pinch a boat to the point of stressing the hull. Especially if the straps put lots of pressure on the gunnels or rub rails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewes Owner Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 As far as I know the boat has been on a trailer for its entire life. But not 100% sure. They guy I bought it from said he kept it in a garage for 8 years but not sure about the owner before him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanjj Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 My 2000 year....2400v with F250 had similar cracks both in front bulkhead and rear bulkhead same as yours. The first 1600 hours on boat was HPDI 200 and then 475 with F250 when I sold it. I would not worry about the gel coat cracks, if you fish out front on beaches chasing Tarpon...the boat will sometimes take a beating. I figured for a 12 year old boat , it was a tank compared to other brands that had been used like mine. Ive seen boats with far less hours with cracked hulls, cracked stringers, etc. The Pathfinder can take years of hard fishing or just taking the family on weekend fun days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhinshoreangler Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 My 05 and friends 07 have similar stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlivierHPS2300 Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 That second pic looks more troublesome.... Double check just in case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewes Owner Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 I've talked to a bunch of people and am getting mixed ideas about the larger crack on the port side. I marked them and I'm going to run the boat for a couple trip. If they spread I'm going to bring it to a fiberglass shop and have them take care it. I'll keep y'all posted on what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMB MEGALOPS Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 No big deal....but if it bothers you and you want it fixed you can have a fiberglass glass repair shop grind it back into good glass and fix it. Not that big of repair at all. Very common, but in my opinion not necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewes Owner Posted May 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2017 Heres the update on the splash well area. I have run the boat a good bit since I first posted. The first run was just to see if i could get the cracks to spread. I beat the boat up pretty bad for about 20-30 min in some nasty stuff with no sign of spreading. After feeling a little more comfortable with the boat I made a few 80-100 mile round trips in my typical fishing weather (not blowing much more than 10 mph with a little chop). The cracks have not spread at all! I guess the damage is as bad as its going to get. Im just going to live with the eye sore for the time being. Thanks for all of the reply's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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