Heard and felt a *thud* yesterday

[haknslash]

Just before returning to the dock yesterday we felt and heard a thud like we hit something in the water while going about 25 mph. I'm thinking WTF karma gods...I helped a guy just a week or so ago trying to get a log off his skeg and this is how you repay me ?! Anyways I circled back around to the area where it happened but we could never see anything floating or just below the surface. When I got home I inspected the hull underneath and didn't see anything until I got to the starboard drain plug area. Something chipped off some gel coat so looks like I'll be joining the spectrum repair club . Maybe it was a turtle or Nessie?

Also while under there I noticed the ride plate is loosing paint . I boat primarily in fresh water and only has been in salt water once and washed religiously. I've heard others on here with this phenomenon so what is a good paint that will adhere to the ride plate and not chip off in the future?

 

[Ilmmct]

@haknslash, not sure this might have been what happened to you yesterday, but the "heard and felt a thud" reminds me of a sitatution that happened to me. Was in the intracoastal waterway and "heard and felt a thump" ... turned out I had sucked up an anchor line and the rope wrapped around the impeller shaft and the force of the rope pulling through broke the intake grate (your second picture). Your question about the paint chipping on the intake grate ... makes me wonder if you had something being sucked up and the it struck the intake grate.

 

[haknslash]

Thing is there is paint chipping in the recessed areas where the bolts go which would be kind of hard for something to get up in there I would think. I'll crawl under the boat tonight and inspect the impeller and shaft to see if there is any rope material. I've also seen the a similar kind of paint chipping from others on here too. I wonder if its something microbial in my lake attacking that type of paint or metal? Is that possible?

I was telling my father about the thud incident yesterday and he said a long time ago there was a buoy pylon near that area and it wouldn't surprise me if some of it is still underwater as there is another spot on my lake that has old pylons hidden just below the surface. I don't think I hit that because where the scratches are on the gel coat are kind of up from the bottom of the transom but who knows.

My question on the gel coat is do I need to repair this before putting it back in the water, like is it going to mess with the fiberglass or is this something I can put of until the end of the season? It doesn't feel real deep or anything but I don't want to get it wet if its going to cause some issues with the fiberglass.

 

[haknslash]

Just checked the impeller and shaft and everything looks fine with no traces of sucking something up. I also looked at the scratches with a bright LED light and it's pretty superficial and I think it will be fine to put it off until the off season. If anyone thinks otherwise please let me know and I'll get the spectrum stuff ordered.

 

[Wayloncle]

I'm no gel coat expert, but the spectrum kit makes it so easy I wouldn't put it off.
I would think if there is no Fiberglas showing it wouldn't hurt to put it in the water.

 

[RiverRat]

I'm fresh water only, and had paint coming off the ride plate after the first season as well.

 

[itsdgm]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet. Glad to hear that it was minor. Good luck with the fix.

 

[tdonoughue]

If you don't have any fiberglass mat exposed (and you don't), you are good to dunk it again. Looks like you just scraped. Just look for cracks, but that is very unlikely. But they are right--this is an easy Spectrum paste job. Just do it when you get a chance.