PDQ OWNERS FORUM

Friends, my 36 has some issues that are making me rather nervous. I have included photos. Between the forward lower window and the chain plate on the port side, there are numerous stress cracks. Between the aft lower window, there are also fewer and less intense cracks as well as at the ends of the windows. The deck over the stringer stiffening the port side sloping foredeck of the cabin has two parallel stress cracks running down it. Some issues that might have effected this are listed below.

The old windows were too large and installed without sufficient space for expansion. Could thermal expansion of the plastic windows cause it? In my moorage, the port side gets direct sun exposure. Just replaced the windows last summer with smaller ones leaving more space for expansion. The cracks predate the installation.

I don't think the shrouds are too tight but, if they were, could this cause this issue?

Could the boat have been run aground by the previous owner and the damage turn up slowly? The reason that I speculate about this, is that the port keel leaked and was repaired during our last haul out

Could a haulout via travel lift cause this kind of damage?

Heck if a mystery

Sorry about the repeated photo posts. Has anyone ever seen this kind of damage? I have been messing with boats for a long time and not seen this before.

Yikes - I've not seen that before either. My guess - and it's purely a guess - is that this very well could be caused by repeated strain to cause cracking and compression to chip pieces out, not inconsistent with being hard aground and getting banged around a lot, or possibly even banged against something repeatedly while in a slip during a weather event or something, but that wouldn't explain the keel, which may have had a previous but not completely effective repair.

The cracks look deep enough that they might require some fresh glass work? Does the cracking continue to get noticeably worse, or has it been static since you replaced the windows?

The parallel stress cracks down the stringer could be from some kind of impact perhaps? They don't sound like they are aligned with a shroud chain plate.

I am not at all an expert...just thinking out loud.

Thanks for the reply, it is hard to figure out. I think that it has been more exposed since I did the windows, the paint over the cracks having been knocked off in the process. Possibly expansion and contraction of the previous windows over time did the damage. I don't know if water in the cracks, freezing and expanding, would make it worse.. I am in Seattle and we have at least one good freeze per year. I need to find a local expert to take a look. I know one guy but he may have retired and moved on. I will need to grind a test section to see how deep the cracks are.

Is there anything structurally between the window and the chain plate? I keep wondering how it could happen, maybe damaged during a haulout? Stressed by powering through a rough tidal rip a couple of years ago? It is a mystery.

Had two pros look at the cracks in the side of the cabin. The consensus its that they are caused by the sun heating the gel coat under the black paint. The plan is to remove the paint and examine the cracks to see how deep they are.
Marc