Cracks

junebug

Hi everyone I am new year I just recently sold my 03 Rinker 232 that we have had for 8 years and loved.  I am currently looking at a 2008 Rinker 280EC.  The only issue I see with the entire boat is that on the port side there are approximately 4 linear cracks near the rear of the boat about 6-8 inches long and two near the front coming from the corner of a cabin window.  They are hairline cracks and they are only in the black side of the boat.  There are no cracks in the white portion of the sides and no other crack in the whole boat.  Is this something major??  The seller said he brought it to a dealer and they said its just cosmetic.  Could it be caused by heat being its only on the black?  Any feed back would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance.

randy56

@junebug, welcome, so are these cracks in the gel coat? not deep just surface?

Michael T

What you have described would worry me and if you are not familiar with gel coat crazing as opposed  to structural cracks or impact damage,  which could  get  real  expensive real fast,  I would get a professional opinion. Good luck. 

raybo3

Get the boat surveyed. A good surveyor will be able to tell you if this is going to be a problem or not. Good luck and keep us posted

MarkB

Could be from an impact.

Gelcoat won't crack due to heat.

It cracks mainly for 2 reasons:

- impact

- applied too thick and it isn't flexible

Are the cracks propogating from a certain point?  Can you push on the area, and is it flexible?

junebug

thanks everyone.  The cracks are only in the black and are in straight lines.  I am going to have the boat surveyed prior to committing 100%.  It doesn't appear to be damaged from impact at all as they aren't all together and if they are just hair line cracks.  If you push on them they don't move.  A friend who is a marine mechanic told me its nothing to be worried about but I will way on the side of caution and have a survey done.

jme097

Have any pictures by chance?

junebug

No I don't have any pics and wont get back to see it until mid april.  I called and talked to a marine surveyor yesterday and he will look at it in April with me.  He was pretty confident it would be nothing major due to the year of boat.  He said the ones around the window would be from stress and not being flexible enough.  All the cracks are higher too nothing even close to the water line.

califco

I purchased my 312 two years ago with the same condition, spider cracks on the color hull on both sides of the boat. The dealer sold the boat New and they told me that the cracks developed about 5 years after they sold the boat. They tried to get Rinker to fix but were unsuccessful, I got the boat surveyed and was told that the cracks were not structural so I purchased the boat after asking for a discount. Will try to get the cracks fixed this year if is not too expensive. Ps. There was also a crack on the steps going to the bow. I guess this boat was built on a Friday.. I have no issues with moisture but it is annoying when the boat is out the water, on the water can't really see it.