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Hull repair, fin on bottom of boat ripped off


ragtopdave06

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My buddy has a 2000+ model Malibu sunsetter that has, or had, a fin on the bottom of the boat. He took it out this past weekend and was not paying attention, and ran over a log in the lake. He said there was no change in the way it drove after he hit it, but noticed that the ski storage compartment in the floor was taking on water. When he brought it back in and looked under it, he noticed the fin was gone and there was a gash where it was, where it had been most obviously ripped off when he hit the log.

Has anyone had this happen to them before?

Can the boat be repaired? If so, where do you order those fins?

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The tracking fin(s) can be had through your local Malibu dealer. There were probably 2. They are not that expensive, < $ 100 / ea I believe. But unless your buddy is an experienced fiberglass guy he needs to have the damage repair professionally. Yes.gif Putting the new ones on is not that big of a deal but repairing the damage takes some skill to do it right so that the repair doesn't let go under the constant pounding that the hull takes.

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The tracking fin(s) can be had through your local Malibu dealer. There were probably 2. They are not that expensive, < $ 100 / ea I believe. But unless your buddy is an experienced fiberglass guy he needs to have the damage repair professionally. Yes.gif Putting the new ones on is not that big of a deal but repairing the damage takes some skill to do it right so that the repair doesn't let go under the constant pounding that the hull takes.

Okay on the tracking fins, he said he thought there was only one, but most boats I've seen, and mine, does have 2 fins.

I'm sure he plans to have it repaired professionally, but just doesn't know where to look in our area for something like that. I would guess a local boat shop would be able to give some suggestions.

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You should be able to find fiberglass repair in the yellow pages. If you'd let us know where you are (profile info <<----), many here can let you know of the repair experiences we've had with local shops/etc.

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The tracking fin(s) can be had through your local Malibu dealer. There were probably 2. They are not that expensive, < $ 100 / ea I believe. But unless your buddy is an experienced fiberglass guy he needs to have the damage repair professionally. Yes.gif Putting the new ones on is not that big of a deal but repairing the damage takes some skill to do it right so that the repair doesn't let go under the constant pounding that the hull takes.
The tracking fin(s) can be had through your local Malibu dealer. There were probably 2. They are not that expensive, < $ 100 / ea I believe. But unless your buddy is an experienced fiberglass guy he needs to have the damage repair professionally. Yes.gif Putting the new ones on is not that big of a deal but repairing the damage takes some skill to do it right so that the repair doesn't let go under the constant pounding that the hull takes.

Okay on the tracking fins, he said he thought there was only one, but most boats I've seen, and mine, does have 2 fins.

I'm sure he plans to have it repaired professionally, but just doesn't know where to look in our area for something like that. I would guess a local boat shop would be able to give some suggestions.

Plus1.gif I agree wth NorCaliBu on this one. I recently knocked one of mine loose and I knew that the glass work needed to be done by someone who knows what they're doing. It's normally an insurance job.

also on 98 and earlier VLX's there was only 1 fin.

Edited by vlxjeff
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Happend to a friend of mine (04 VLX), he was taking on serious water. There were two holes left, each about the size of a quarter, he barely made it back to the ramp. All fixable, not necessarily cheap though, I agree with the insurance angle.

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Depends on extent of damage, mine pulled out clean, as they were not thru bolted, only machine screwed thru the fiberglass. Could have rethreaded to larger screw bolt but elected to use same bolts and capped them with nylon nuts, hoping to eliminate any severe damage to fiberglass if it happens again and it will. Also used adhesive cualk. The 2000lxi has 3 fins BTW. Hope ur friends damage was minimal. mike

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I would be surprised if he did not also have damage to the shaft, prop, or rudder. I would check those areas for damage too. :(

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You should be able to find fiberglass repair in the yellow pages. If you'd let us know where you are (profile info <<----), many here can let you know of the repair experiences we've had with local shops/etc.

I've found 2 shops in the yellow pages in our area. One is called "Anything Fiberglass Repair" and the other is "Mann Marine Inc." We both live in the Winston-Salem, Lexington areas of North Carolina.

Also, the part where the fin came off is torn only a little bit larger than where the fin sat. Does anyone know a ballpark figure of what the repair cost would be? I know it's different for each place that does the work, but a roundabout figure.

Edited by ragtopdave06
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  • 1 month later...

Just thought I would throw out an update on this and see if anyone else has had this kind of wait time.

I took the boat to Pro Marine in Burlington, NC to have them do the repairs. Fiberglass work and the tracking fins. I took it to them on May 5th and they said it would take approximately 3 weeks. I figure, that's a little long, but considering the time of year, I would go with it. As of today, I still don't have the boat and it may not be ready by this weekend, which will be 5 weeks. Just to repair some fiberglass and put on the tracking fins? Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but then it's the first time I've had this type of repair.

Is 5 weeks too long?

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Yes seems too long to me...do they have an explaination as to why it is taking so long?

You may want to look into Powersports Malibu in Charlotte...They are about an Hour from you, but they do great work, usually very fast...I bought my boat there and get all my maintence and repairs done with them...ask for Jeremy (serv. Manager) or Scott B. (owner).

Good luck

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Yes seems too long to me...do they have an explaination as to why it is taking so long?

You may want to look into Powersports Malibu in Charlotte...They are about an Hour from you, but they do great work, usually very fast...I bought my boat there and get all my maintence and repairs done with them...ask for Jeremy (serv. Manager) or Scott B. (owner).

Good luck

Thanks wakecrzy. We will definitely take the boat somewhere else for any future service, and that sounds like a good place to go. We went to Pro Marine on someone elses recomendation, which we learned was a bad one. The reason they say it took so long is because of other boats in front of it and having to wait on the fiberglass repair before they could put the tracking fins on.

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My buddy has a 2000+ model Malibu sunsetter that has, or had, a fin on the bottom of the boat. He took it out this past weekend and was not paying attention, and ran over a log in the lake. He said there was no change in the way it drove after he hit it, but noticed that the ski storage compartment in the floor was taking on water. When he brought it back in and looked under it, he noticed the fin was gone and there was a gash where it was, where it had been most obviously ripped off when he hit the log.

Has anyone had this happen to them before?

Can the boat be repaired? If so, where do you order those fins?

Just thought I would throw out an update on this and see if anyone else has had this kind of wait time.

I took the boat to Pro Marine in Burlington, NC to have them do the repairs. Fiberglass work and the tracking fins. I took it to them on May 5th and they said it would take approximately 3 weeks. I figure, that's a little long, but considering the time of year, I would go with it. As of today, I still don't have the boat and it may not be ready by this weekend, which will be 5 weeks. Just to repair some fiberglass and put on the tracking fins? Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but then it's the first time I've had this type of repair.

Is 5 weeks too long?

So who's boat got wrecked, yours or your buddy's? Tease2.gif

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My buddy has a 2000+ model Malibu sunsetter that has, or had, a fin on the bottom of the boat. He took it out this past weekend and was not paying attention, and ran over a log in the lake. He said there was no change in the way it drove after he hit it, but noticed that the ski storage compartment in the floor was taking on water. When he brought it back in and looked under it, he noticed the fin was gone and there was a gash where it was, where it had been most obviously ripped off when he hit the log.

Has anyone had this happen to them before?

Can the boat be repaired? If so, where do you order those fins?

Just thought I would throw out an update on this and see if anyone else has had this kind of wait time.

I took the boat to Pro Marine in Burlington, NC to have them do the repairs. Fiberglass work and the tracking fins. I took it to them on May 5th and they said it would take approximately 3 weeks. I figure, that's a little long, but considering the time of year, I would go with it. As of today, I still don't have the boat and it may not be ready by this weekend, which will be 5 weeks. Just to repair some fiberglass and put on the tracking fins? Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but then it's the first time I've had this type of repair.

Is 5 weeks too long?

So who's boat got wrecked, yours or your buddy's? Tease2.gif

ha ha, well, you ARE paying attention. My "buddy" is actually my brother in law (we're great friends as well as related). It's his boat, but I'm doing the legwork for him because he is unable to get things taken care of during the day and I have a lot of flexibility with my job.

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I had the same thing happen with my boat. First time we fixed it, did alright, but the place did a s***ty job of fiberglassing. Then it happened AGAIN, and then AGAIN. Yes, three times the problem happened. My lake has major debris problems, but the fiberglass job was so terrible until the most recent time (When they attached the skegs to a steel beam/plate on the inside of the boat hull) that the skegs would repeatedly get ripped out.

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...they attached the skegs to a steel beam/plate on the inside of the boat hull...
You do realize that if you rip one off again your boat will most likely sink due to the huge hole that the plate system will leave. Shocking.gif
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...they attached the skegs to a steel beam/plate on the inside of the boat hull...
You do realize that if you rip one off again your boat will most likely sink due to the huge hole that the plate system will leave. Shocking.gif

Yeah, which is why we hope to not have that happen. We pretty much have to hit a fallen tree to take it off now, so hopefully I can at least avoid those.

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Yeah, which is why we hope to not have that happen. We pretty much have to hit a fallen tree to take it off now, so hopefully I can at least avoid those.
:lol: Hopefully. :) Good luck with that. :lol:
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