crack in the grid of beneteau

[thomashoebus]

A time ago I observed a crack in the grid (approx in the middle of the boat) of my boat (beneteau oceanis). It's 5 cm long and perhaps 1 mm wide at its widest point. Probably the crack was there when i bought my boat 4 years ago. There are nowhere signs on the hull or keel of an accident and there is no other crack to be found. I don' know if this is alarming or not. The only thing i found is that when the grid is coming lose from the boat the situation is alarming and the repairs are costly. Since it's not easy to check this because the joints between hull and grid are nearly nowhere visible i wonder how one can control this. On the places where i can check it everything is just fine.

 

[woody001]

I can't help you, but what is a grid?

 

[thomashoebus]

according to beneteau:

a solid fiberglass hull that is reinforced with a complex interior grid of floors and stringers. The interior bulkheads and furniture fit neatly into the grid and are then fiberglassed in place. Once the internal systems and furniture have been installed the deck and headliner are attached to the hull with mechanical fastenings, high-strength adhesive and fiberglass tabbing. The end product is extremely rigid and strong while being relatively light.

 

[Evadne]

If you want to know if a grp crack is the surface manifestation of something deeper then the solution is be to dig down and/or grind away until the crack is gone and you are looking at sound grp, or something worse. If I were you, and really worried about impact damage or whatever, then before doing anything drastic I'd talk directly to someone knowledgeable, starting with your boatyard (potentially free advice) and then a surveyor if you felt it warranted it. It's either (most likely) nothing to be worried about, in which case you're paying for peace of mind, or else a real problem, in which case it won't go away by itself.

 

[NPMR]

Don't know if it's similar but a friend of mine with Beneteau 35s5 had bulkhead come loose in a big blow off Ireland.

Beneteau said it was not their problem but when enough litigation was thrown at them (my pal can and did afford it) they backed off and sorted it for him. Boat was about 3-years old at that time, since sold.

 

[jonjo]

During the next scheduled lift out get the travel hoist operator to lower your boat on and off the keel a few times. Watch the grid during this operation, if there is a serious problem some unexpected movement is going to be observed.

You might need the trained eye of a surveyor but their fees seem reasonable when called in to assess a specific problem.

 

[steve6367]

Depending on how big the crack is I would grind it out with a Dremel or a Grinder with a flecible sanding disc. This will should you how deep the crack is, you can then repair either with just epoxy filler if it is only surpace or by laying up some glass is it runs deeper.

 

[Heckler]

i looked at a beneteau first before i bought my 351, it had been bumped on the keel and there was a lump at the front of the keel and a depression at the back where it met the hull, inside there was cracks in the grid.
get a surveyor to look at it but i must say i would be worried if it was mine
Stu