Bavaria 36 and light hull grid damage

[Jussi]

Hi all,

I recently acquired a Bavaria 36 Cruiser year 2003. There are some cracks in the hull grid at the stern end of the keel. I do not know what is the cause of this damage since previous owner tells that he has not even noticed the whole crack 

I am now planning the repair and I thought that I ask some advice. Does anybody happen to know if the hull grid is through glass laminate or does it have some plywood ? Also, I can see that some sides are much thinner than some other side so does anybody have any idea about the structure thicknesses at different parts of the structure or drawings/photos of the structure. Please, see the photos and feel free to comment.

Jussi

[symphony2]

Welcome to the forum.

Your photos suggest the boat has been severely grounded - hit a rock probably. Your surveyor should have identified this and warned you of the consequences before you bought the boat. First thing to do is to check the security of the after end of the keel from the outside. Given the extent of the internal damage there is likely to be signs of the keel detaching from the hull in that area.

This is not a DIY repair. You need to consult an expert surveyor or repair yard. It can be repaired, but the damage is probably more extensive than is obvious from the photos.

[Markus]

It's a bit difficult to say from the photos but as there are visible cracks both in the grid and also what looks like a cracked plywood galley wall or partial bulkead, I tend to agree with symphony2 that the boat has been most probably grounded. Better get a surveyor involved to assess the damage, after which you may consider asking compensation from the seller. Looking at your profile, I have heard nothing but positive about Leevene, though I have no personal experience with them. So that would probably be my first contact point to get an expert assess the damage and sound the hull for possible delamination.

For what it's worth, the grid does not contain plywood or foam inside - at least as far as I have seen this era Bavarias...

[sy_Anniina]

My grid from 2001 even had stainless steel inside... Found when drilled holes for mounting screws for new bilge pump.

Welcome to the Forum,

Tommi
s/y Anniina

[Yngmar]

There's no plywood in the grid. You can see in a few places where hoses are routed through holes what it looks like inside and how thick it is. Also see attached photo of the building process.

The damage might be the result of a grounding, but given the cracked bulkhead I suspect it may be more likely that the boat was dropped/slipped a sling while being lifted and fell on the keel. Grounding damage applies a strong aft force which levers the keel down in the front and up in the back, causing damage at both ends. Fall damage just forces the keel upwards into the boat and if it was a sling slip it would fall on either the forward or aft end of the keel, transmitting sudden upwards force into the grid and bulkhead there only. It may be something the yard/crane crew neglected to tell 

[Harveyhall]

I had a similar situation before I purchased my 36 2005. A crack and an attempted repair was found by a surveyor.  The 2 previous owners both claim not to have grounded. When all of the floorboards were removed and the grid was sounded by the surveyor, he found larger areas of delamination.

I also would seek a good survey to check further.  Mine was repaired before I purchased and supervised by an independent surveyor. I my case after very involved repairs it was declared as strong or stronger then new. Approximately 1/3 or the cabin area grid joints were ground down and retabbed to the hull, keel removed, resealed to hull, re-epoxied with 3 coats, repainted.......  The hull needed to me supported fully to prevent the hull from changing shape while a large portion was detached from the hull. With other measures to prevent the hull from changing shape.

If photos or further information is needed or wanted you can email me.
Good luck with your boat.  I am very happy with mine.
Harvey

[Jussi]

Hi,

Just to let you all know what happened then...

I eventually found out that the first owner of the boat, not the one who sold the boat to me, had grounded the boat. It was repaired by a local boat yard but this particular spot was merely glued together since it, most likely, was visible part with strong curved forms, which are hard, laborous, to reproduce with hand lamination. The other places had ridiculous thick repair lamination.

Well, fixing this was really laborous, since it is visible part and if that were ground away the fix would not have looked like the original. So I made a hole to the side of the keel matrix, ground the material away underside until I just had thin layer of material left and the laminated new core from underside. Finally, patched the hole and laminated over. Or at least that is the short story since the whole project took quite many hours and contained lots of details.

[nightowle]

Happy to hear that you were able to get some positive results.  This is a painstaking job, but if done correctly the vessel will be as good as new.