Another crack in the deck

[Uncle Matt]

While washing my boat today I noticed another crack in the deck of my Parker. It is definately new and I didn't notice it on Sunday when I last washed my boat. The crack is approximately 5 inches long and it's near the aft deck plate. This is the second crack near the aft deck plate for my boat this year. My dealer has already fixed the earlier one. I took some pictures and emailed them to Robin Parker. The crack looks cosmetic and if possible I'm going to wait until the fall when I winterize the boat. What do you guys think?

 

[Uncle Matt]

I spoke with my dealer and showed him the pictures. He will have to grind out the whole area out and try to find out what's causing it. Sounds like he will have the boat for a while in November.

 

[DaleH]

Uncle Matt:

Sorry you're going through this ... and a couple thoughts. First off- gelcoat has a tensile strength MUCH greater than the glass layup/substrate, so if 'allowed' to flex - the gelcoat can crack. The answer, to me, would be one of 2 things either:

1) The gelcoat is 'too hard', or

2) Or the deck in that area is flexing too much

#1 can be caused by gelcoat variations, including batch-to-batch. FWIW you won't see one such crack in the older boats but gelcoat formulations have changed over the years due to EPA regs. Pro glass guys in my area tell me that even PPG gelcoat (the largest player in the gelcoat industry) isn't as good as it used to be. You know, maybe that area was shot (gelcoat) with too hard a mix, possibly too much hardener in it.

#2 could be caused if a structural member in that area was missing, not bonded in place, bonded incorrectly, or has broken the bond. I have heard of similar issues with other boats and it was subsequently determined to be things like a stringer that delaminated from the hull bottom and thus was hitting the deck and causing the cracks.

Please note - I have NEVER heard of any such or similar complaint with a Parker hull! And, I am NOT implying you may have a structural issue. At worst, I believe it to be cosmetic, though clearly that isn't satisfactory for a 2004 hull. Hopefully others here with 2004 and similar vintage hulls can add some testimony to their hulls. Talk to you dealer about the gelcoat or possible flexing issue and please report back! Good luck,

 

[Wild Bill]

On my 2000 21 SE dozens of cracks developed on the deck like those. It was too many to patch in. I dropped off the boat at the Parker plant between fishing trips and they ground down the entire floor and re sprayed it. They did a good job but I could tell it was a repair because of the edges where they masked it off. No one else but me ever noticed.

I sold that boat and now have a 2004 23 SE. It has some spider cracks up on the fore deck above where the bulk head angles are screwed up under the fore deck. I had them on my 21 SE also. Parker fixed them two times. The first time they just ground and sprayed the texture gel coat. That cracked also and I asked Robin to do a more substantial repair. The second time they ran an angle piece the entire way across the bulkhead to spread out the streess. That worked. I think now they may be using aluminum angle instead of fiberglass.

Parker does not like to do repairs in their plant but at the time I needed them done my dealer had lost their fiberglass tech. My dealer is going to fix the deck on my 23 SE this Aug while I am in between major trips.

My dealer said most guys who own Parkers do not use them nearly as much as I do. I am sure some use them more.