1 yr old Pathfinder, owned since new. 100 hrs. Always indoor dry rack kept. I don’t run hard. Noticed a black spot at the sandbar…closer look on a rack on land…
I would admit if I rocked something…but the angles on the steps would mean I would have to back down on something at a high rate of speed which I don’t do. There are no other marks on the bottom of the hull - none of the normal streaks from a 2x4, coconut, etc…
the chips on the chine looke like they could be air voids. the transom not sure. either that’s a giant air void on both sides or the forklift picked it up or put it down wrong. the glass does not look dry. so the question is does the internal glass conform the the expected mold shape or was it not packed in all the way. if the glass did not make contact with the gelcoat then the gel has no support and will crack. If it is air voids, you probably have air voids somewhere else. You need to take a nylon type hammer and hammer the entire hull. If you don’t find any more air voids, I would be surprised. If you do find more voids than the current damages were probably air voids. If you don’t find air voids, then your boat got dropped. If your boat is under warranty, you may want to speak with your pathfinder dealer and have them send somebody out to make the determination. If it’s not under warranty, you will need to have that fixed, but let your boat go cooking the sun. that should blister up any other air voids and then tap them to pop them. you will do a mix of looking at the boat in the sun and bringing it back into the shade and inspecting more.
Those fractures look like impact fractures, if you look at the areas that separated they are classic results of impact. I highly doubt a manufacturer problem with both sides damaged like that. It leans to me more in the direction of a heavy impact.
I’ve never taken this boat offshore, bay only. The biggest impact on my part has been 2 ft roller from a passing boat. The picture you noted is the rear part of the step…I went to impact of some sort because both sides went.
Heavy impact - would that include dropping on a rack or hitting it with forks? The boat is dry racked.
Thanks Brandon - appreciate the analysis and guidance.
I’m going to have a glass guy do the taps…I’m not sure I’m dialed in on this. But I’m going to watch and learn. The pictures are the rear parts of the hull steps, not the transom, so mid ship.
Thanks, the big damage isn’t on the transom - it’s the step. See the green circle. The picture is looking along side the hull forward. (Image isn’t my boat…just example)
I’ve got a buddy with a 35’ contender that had a little gel coat cracking and failure in one of his steps from his boat lift. The damage on yours looks a lot more severe.
Forklift drivers don’t have the best visual trying to get those forks up in the air and slide them under your boat. They may have thought that they were under your boat enough, but didn’t realize that there was a step that stuck down farther and put the tips into the hull. It’s faintly noted in the photo but You can see some black lines probably caused by the rubber guards on the tops of the forks in around the same area you have cracks.
I’m just looking from photos. I’m not there seeing the boat or the forklift in person, but having forks stuck into a boat is not uncommon.
Look around the bottom of your boat, try and see how many places they’ve either put picked up or put down your boat. Look at other boats in the marina with a step and see if anything looks like yours.
Basically, on the bottom of your boat, you’re looking for black smudge marks from the forklift bunks.
Maybe one day they picked it up in the middle one day on the outside. They just keep moving around the position of the forks, different drivers do different things.
But to have two similar cracks in the same area in rack storage seems suspect.
I’m no expert, but I’m gonna side with Loogie and the others; they look like solid impact damage to me. I would think you’d have heard and felt the impacts if they occurred while you were running. My guess is that the damage occurred out of the water. But that’s only my unsubstantiated opinion; that and eight dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks…
I’m thinking it is fork lift picking up or putting down damage. Not sure what liability the marina may cover for negligence. Or if there is any cameras where it happened. It needs to be fixed but you also need to know why so it doesn’t happen again. Maybe move to a lower rack in the boatel. That way it is easier for the fork operator. Good luck.
