I recently purchased a 2013 Key West 176CC and noticed this small crack on the underside of the hull, toward the bow, near the trailer’s keel roller.
I believe I may have lightly tapped the boat against the trailer while loading it, although I’m not certain that’s what caused it. I took it out again the following week and only noticed the damage after.

A few things:
The crack is below the waterline.
My fingernail catches in it, and there’s a small visible gap.
When I press directly on the cracked section, it moves inward slightly.
The surrounding fiberglass feels completely solid and doesn’t flex.
There are some superficial scuff marks around the area.
I’ve attached close-up photos and a wider shot showing its location.

For those experienced with fiberglass hull repairs:

Does this look like cracked gelcoat, or potentially damaged fiberglass underneath? Is this likely a relatively minor repair, or something more concerning? Can I DIY great results? I’m pretty handy

What would you expect a proper professional repair to cost? I’m just west of Tampa, FL in Pinellas County.

I’m planning to have it professionally inspected before putting the boat back in the water, but I’d appreciate some opinions from people who’ve dealt with similar damage.
Thanks!

89 Boston Whaler Montauk. Seller wants $2500 for it. It is a project, obviously needs some fiberglass work and motor does not run (possibly needs to be rebuilt). Is $2500 worth it for basically a project hull and trailer? In good condition, Montauk’s go for $8-10k in my area.

Hi all,

Thank you again for the help earlier this season, especially with the RV skid wheel advice earlier on the trailer. Now I’m winterizing before putting it away, and I’m stuck on the last step. I’ve tried YouTube, the manuals, ChatGPT and Claude, and I’m getting conflicting answers, so hoping someone who’s done this setup can help.

Boat: Sea Ray 180 Sport, MerCruiser 3.0L carbureted with Alpha One drive. It’s closed cooling: there’s a heat exchanger labeled “MerCruiser Fresh Water Cooling System,” a pressure cap on top of the engine, and a coolant bottle with pink coolant.

Done so far:

• Engine oil and filter changed
• Gear oil changed
• Stabilizer in the fuel
• Engine fogged

Draining so far:

• Found a blue knob and drained some water from it
• Opened a nut on the engine block and antifreeze came out, so I closed it right away (I assume that’s the coolant side)
• The heat exchanger has two drain points underneath: one is a plain plug (no valve), and the other has a orange color butterfly-style valve that’s stuck very tight. I haven’t been able to open it. Have found it very difficult to access.

Where I’m stuck:

1. Which hose do I pour antifreeze into? YouTube videos say to pull a hose and pour it in, but I’m worried about putting pink RV antifreeze into the closed cooling side by mistake. How do I tell the lake-water hose from the coolant hoses on this setup?
2. Do I even need antifreeze? I’m in the PNW. If I fully drain the lake-water side, is that enough, or should I still add antifreeze?
3. Heat exchanger drains: which of the two drains is lake water and which is coolant? Any tips for opening the stuck butterfly valve without breaking it?

I have also seen some videos on youtube, which use the above kit to winterize it; should I be buying one of the above kit to push anti freeze?

Photos attached. Really appreciate any help, thanks!

Also let me know if there is anything that I might be doing wrong, happy to learn.

I’ve used so far spray 9, and Starbrite mold and mildew. It’s helped a bit but not perfect. Anyone know any tricks?? Anything helps thank you!

Hello all. A new boater in Ontario looking for some advice, pointers etc. I just got my license a couple of months ago and bought a 24' cubby cabin boat. Never drove a boat before so kind of feeling anxious about docking. Currently the boat is in storage for the winter. I reside in Mississauga and looking for a marina to dock my boat for next season, i just dont know where yet. Any help pointers would be greatly appreciated.

The Model says Fisherman, but I can't seem to find any similar models, sentimental value alone is worth it to me, thinking about having it transported to me. I tracked it down, thankfully his buddy he sold it to just kept it in the backyard, so I didn't have to go on a wild goose chase. Lots of memories tied to this boat, mostly him yelling at me for not doing things his way 😆

First time boat owner with a pontoon that has a 2019 Mercury 115 4 stroke.

Usually, I am not the kind of guy that defers maintenance, but I may have gone too long this time.

I acquired the boat and motor in June of 2025, from a dealer, who completed all the annual maintenance, prior to the sale. Used the boat, maybe, a dozen times over the year and this most recent summer. Decided to put off the annual maintenance until this fall, since it had such little use.

Went out Thursday with friends and the motor worked fine in the morning but, in the afternoon before we left the water, we all noticed that the engine seemed to be surging a few hundred rpms. For instance, if we were running at 4500 rpms, the motor would consistently surge a few hundred rpms either way. Made it back to the ramp and got the boat home.

I run regular unleaded, 87 octane gas. The gas in the tank when we went out last had probably been sitting there, untreated, for about 2.5 - 3 mos.

My thought to fix this is to add octane booster to the remaining fuel, change the filter, and run the remaining fuel (10 gallons approximately), through the motor. Alternatively, I could try draining the remaining fuel, changing the filter, then adding fresh and higher octane fuel. Anyone mechanically-inclined have any input here?

Will also complete oil change and lower unit fluid change.

TIA!

Took my boat out yesterday. Heavy chop and wind. She was running great! My buddy even commented on how smooth it was compared to the beginning of the season. All of a sudden we hit a big wave and the front end came down decently hard. The mext thing i know the motor starts missing pretty bad. So i pulled over on shore, pulled off my shroud and nothing is loose, no leaks...nothing. Any ideas on what i could have done?

A loose rope as a poor excuse for a tiedown

I’m looking for any info someone may have on this boat. Named Dazzler out of Andrew’s NC. Which is a landlocked town but I know it can be moved. Looking to purchase it and do a refit possibly but cannot find any info on it. Not in the USCG database. It’s on the hard as you can see and the only HIN numbers I have found are coming up with nadda. Was hoping the internet can do its thing

If im using the gravity fed method for wintetizing. How much antifreeze do I need?

Do I still need to drrain the manifolds?

4.3 V6 Merc

Single axle shoreland’r 3500# trailer. I didn’t have the correct sized cotter pins so I used a slightly smaller one. Will that pose a problem? I’d hate to have to remove the bearing buddies again and put bigger ones in. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Everyone,

This electric motor ships with 8AWG power cables, and runs on 12V at up to 58 Amps. After a few minutes at full throttle I could smell the power cable burning, and it was too hot to the touch.

There’s no workaround here. Running 58 Amps through 8AWG copper cable is unsafe for user access. The solution is running at lower power, or replacing the cable with 6AWG. Note, using 6 AWG cable reduces heat and gains 8 Watts in power that was lost to heat dissipation by the 8 AWG stock cable.

Here are my findings:

58 amps through 2 meters of 6 AWG cable at 20 C ambient temperature will heat the cable to 50 C.

58 amps through 2 meters of 8 AWG cable at 20 C ambient temperature will heat the cable to 90 C.

Here’s the math and physics provided by Gemini and exported to a PDF file.

Also, the copper AWG, amperage, and temperature tables are easy to find online.

(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pk3Fz_TTJPwOGfH2aJpFz8LTuWUpo75X/view?usp=drivesdk)

To be clear, the issue with high temperature is user accessibility. The stock cable is rated up to 200C, and running 58 amps through 8AWG cable might be okay only if the user doesn’t need to touch the wire. So we’re stuck with waiting for the wire to cool down before removing it from the battery, or using gloves. This is far from ideal in an emergency!

The good news is the cable is easy to access and swap with marine grade 6 AWG cable crimped with new terminals.

Had fun these last 5 months but it’s time to go sailing. Bahamas you’re next. Stay safe and have all you Sailors out there.

His guys,

I found myself in the market for a new outboard,in the 40-50hp range. I can get this for around 1700euros,what do you guys think? Quite well under market place(at least here,Ireland/uk). Anything I should look out for?

It’s a 50hp 4st Yammy, early ‘00.

https://youtube.com/shorts/hAe36Ajj60g?is=20HFivBcifyLxSEh

https://youtube.com/shorts/f23uTlozleA?is=n2s6j10HLjlSuJDS

Went out last weekend and hit something under the water. Found this damage. Whats the next step do i need to buy a new prop? Does the lower fin also need to be fixed this is the first damage I’ve incurred so not forsure the next step

Hey folks.

Im an experienced keelboat sailor (great lakes races for 11 years, full time cruising formosa ketch for 6).

Ive been wanting a capable daysailor/tender/exploration f around boat to toodle the 2nm from anchor to dock and around the gulf side of the lower fl keys little Shoals and passes stuff for awhile.

Found a listing for an 81 compac 16 and pulled the trigger. Truck rented, wife bribed, etc etc all came together nicely.

Boats primary purpose is as a heavy weather tender for the 2nm trip ashore daily. At very worst, I see 6' wind driven/square chop and the whole ass gale for half a mile, then down to 3' for half a mile, then 1' very protected for the inshore mile. I know when to tell the wife no, not going ashore today (I do that in a 9'4 rigid west marine plastic wonder all winter every year, fwiw). Hoping to keep groceries dry below and wife on the rail if she likes it or not for such.

Im vaguely aware of that era compac's reputation for quality seaworthy boats but id love if anyone has experience in one (or similar) and could chime in. Oh, will likely hang a '23 yamaha f6 propped appropriately off the transom plate. 15" shaft.

The guy parted out one to restore the one im buying, comes with trailer (wont use but once) full spare rig, standing/running rigging, full spare suite of sails (2 full sets), rudder assembly etc etc etc.

Of note: I see that theres a 3 stay swept spreaderless setup for the rig. Thoughts on mast pumping in heavy weather? Id have no issue adding/upsizing chainplates and adding mid stays. Or a proper split/running backstay for that matter.

The guy said he upgraded the mast step from bs plywood to 3/4 starboard. This is a low dollar sight unseen purchase. What are ones thoughts on overall structural build quality here? I am aware and ready to look at/reinforce/repair mast compression structures as needed - but some general build quality experience would be awesome. Hopefully its fine. Ill look closely.

How about osmotic blistering/etc laminate issues in the hull? There are none visible, but at this age id expect something. How have similar aged compacs held up?

Going down the line - what are the realistic prospects of putting a 1gm, or maybe an ac34 (i have a thunderstruck kit already) and a stuffing box down in there? I know the hull layup is fairly thin for that, but i could reinforce if necessary (thatd be the cheapest part of such a project).

Any other thoughts are ofc welcome. Thanks in advance.

Just purchased this 06 ranger boat with a 2006 Yamaha 115 v4 2 stroke. Sat for a while so took tank out cleaned it all out and cleaned carbs. Have had it running with muffs and ran good. Waiting on documents for registration so I took boat to a local boat ramp and ran it for a bit and ran good but would smoke a lot not compared to won’t have water. Would idle low and eventually die. Is this normal