Bow eye hook crack

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Hockeysurf7

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I noticed a crack near the bow eye hookIMG_4757.jpegIMG_4759.jpeg. It looks like it might just be a gel coat crack, but I’m also seeing the area kind of lifting, almost like the hook could be pulling out. I attached some pics any opinion on what might be going on here?
 
What year and model of boat do you have? It's difficult to tell via pictures alone... but it almost looks as though there was damage done to that area and/or someone did a previous repair to it, replaced the bow eye or something similar? At least to me, it appears as though the gel coat in that area looks a little different in color/smoothness than the rest of it? I'm also not sure if the bow eyes are different between different models/sizes of boats, but the one I have on my 2004 GW 228 Seafarer looks a bit different from that one.
 
The crack, by itself, doesn't concern me. But it's what I'm seeing in your second picture that deserves more investigation - the bulging and then that fact that the crack follows that bulge. Sound it with a nickel or your knuckle - compare to other parts of the bow keel.

Get eyes on the interior side of that.

Remove the hook and further inspect.

It's possible you may need to grind the gel away to fully inspect.
 
That looks bad. Not just looks....Needs to be fixed
Look at the inside....inside anchor locker?

My guess is it is compromised on the inside. There should be a block of wood glassed inside. The U bolt goes thru it. there is usually a bracket on the U bolt with a hole to attach anchor rode.
 
That area was fixed before and apparently not correctly. First step is to inspect the inside of the anchor locker. Is there structural metal bracing that has corroded or come loose?
Is there lifting ring on the top of the deck above the anchor locker?
I can't make out what the starboard side of the hull looks like. A picture or two of that side may help.

Note that sometimes bow eyes are used as lifting eyes but are not built to that spec ( incorrect internal bracing) That can put excessive pressure on the eye and surrounding area,
The hull may have hit something like a dock in the past and suffered structural damage that was sort of patched up for looks but not strength.
 
seasick said:
Note that sometimes bow eyes are used as lifting eyes but are not built to that spec ( incorrect internal bracing) That can put excessive pressure on the eye and surrounding area,
Click to expand...
Just a small point of clarification - it depends on the manufacturer. For example, Sea Ray's bow eyes ARE meant for lifting, as well.
 
I stand semi-corrected:) Does that Sea Ray fact apply to all hull sizes?
At my club, there are limited examples of SeaRays and those tend to be larger hulls ( 30 + ft)
 
Looks like the bow ring and backing plate want to pull out of the hull.
 
When I got my Grady, it had the lift ring system that went up through the pulpit and down to the eye and had a huge stainless steel frame which I think helped the stress of the lifting. I did have a small crack around the eye, but not a huge area lifted like your pic shows. Since I would never lift it, I removed all of that. I removed the eye and reglassed with several layers of 1708 on the inside, ground out the crack and reglassed, then gelcoated. Re-installed they eye and has been no issue for since repair now for 14 years.
In your case, for sure it needs to be inspected on the inside to find what is going on and will need some glass work and re-enforcement.
 
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