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I leave my boat in the water most of the time. I pulled it out yesterday and noticed a big hole in the hull where it begins to curve up. It has been in for weeks. I have not noticed it taking on water. The hole is right at a cross brace. There is a good welding business in town. I was thinking I would bring it to them, but thought I would look here for some suggestions first.

What other options do you have besides getting it welded up???

Giga will tell you it didn't take on water cause the foam saved it!

Nice hook. Caught a stump or something pretty good.

If they know what they're doing, theyll beat that back out from the inside, weld it, then put a plate on it and weld that. Shouldnt be any patching of that on the outside other than a bead to seal it on the outside then grind it flat so it doesnt catch any water. If they take the easy route and patch on the outside, it'll work, just not what I'd recommend unless cheap was the route you wanted to take.

#CFFITR
#TheGhostBoat
#whoneedsphysicsihaveamudmotor

Cutting a hole in the floor is exactly what I'm talking about. You're lucky it's at the rake, so a patch on the outside could work ok, but I still dont recommend it.

Though it might actually be a decent idea knowing you've popped a hole right there to put a patch all the way across up the rake and down the bottom a foot or 2 to avoid that happening again in another spot at that transition.

#CFFITR
#TheGhostBoat
#whoneedsphysicsihaveamudmotor

That material is stretched like crazy. You can beat that from the inside, but its never going to be flat. If its 60 series, its going to crack when you try to flatten it. Not to mention you have to cut holes on the inside and pull the foam. I would have a good fabricator cut a piece that fits in there cleanly, then seal weld it and finish it off from the outside.

I drilled a 1 inch hole from the inside and picked out as much foam from the area as I could. I then to a half inch dowel and pounded it back best I could. It was not perfect, but I was able to get most of it flush with the brace.

The welder then welded the crack. I also had him weld 1/8" aluminum plate over the entire rake. (4' x 5').

Then I covered the bottom with 5 coats of gator glide.
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if it ain't leaking i'd roll that thing till it does leak, then go get it patched.

How did you do that to begin with? Hit a pipe or something?

I honestly don't know. Did not know it was there till I pulled it out