Cracks In the Deck

[J876]

Hello all,

I have a 2004 Parker with sports cabin. Over the past year I'm starting to notice these circular shaped cracks become more pronounced (see pics below). The deck is still solid, doesn't feel rotten when I push from the surface. There are 4 sets of cracks. Two occurring exactly at the same distance midship (one set port side and another set on starboard side) and then another two occurring towards the stern - once again one set on port and other on starboard side. There is some rust on one of the cracks and like I said they are equi-distant to one another so is it possible there are fasteners or nails placed at these locations under the deck that are starting to give a little? I appreciate any help. See pics below.

 

[TimC2520]

I have a 1999, 2520 and have the same exact cracks...circular also, maybe 3 or 4 scattered around the cockpit. Not sure about cause but mine do not have the brown stain bleeding from it.
My concern in your case is that the brown staining could be coming from wood that has now gotten wet. I discovered a wet stringer years ago in my bilge. How I found out about it was noticing brown stains in the bilge.

See here........

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5831&p=41215&hilit=Stringer#p41215

 

[Brent]

Maybe nail heads

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[J876]

Thanks for the response. I'm pulling the boat out of the water this week to winterize it. What did you do about the cracks on your boat? My concern is that I will need to have the entire deck ripped up and I can't afford a $6000+ repair at this stage. My bilge is a disaster. These older Parker's don't have a pump in the front drainage compartment and since it's the lowest point on the boat there is always a small amount of water sitting in the front compartment. When I'm running the boat and the bow lifts a decent amount of water accumulate in the stern bilge compartment (but not enough to set off the auto-pump). The water looks dirty so I'm sure there is some rot in that front compartment.

I bought this 2004 Parker 2520 used two years ago from a dealership. The guy who had it before me only put 195 hours on it over 11 years but didn't maintain it. For all I know he could have left it out in the open with snow and rain accumulating on the deck during the winter. It's my first boat so I didn't know any better, although I paid a fairly reputable marine surveyor evaluate it and he told me I was good to go. My options at this point are to use it until it becomes unusable (?safety risk) or sell it this offseason at a discount, which would break my heart. It's a little depressing to say the least.

I have a 1999, 2520 and have the same exact cracks...circular also, maybe 3 or 4 scattered around the cockpit. Not sure about cause but mine do not have the brown stain bleeding from it.
My concern in your case is that the brown staining could be coming from wood that has now gotten wet. I discovered a wet stringer years ago in my bilge. How I found out about it was noticing brown stains in the bilge.

See here........

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5831&p=41215&hilit=Stringer#p41215

 

[TimC2520]

I am surprised yours does not have a forward bilge pump. I am the original owner and mine came from the factory with a forward pump and I do not remember specifically asking for one.
Mine is 5 years older than yours. I would not worry about the dirty looking water as it doesn't take long for bilge water to look nasty if it's been in there awhile. I used painters tape and carefully (it is time consuming) taped around the cracks so only the cracks themselves were showing. Put on rubber gloves and rubbed marine-tex over the crack. Once that hardened, I peeled the tape off. Not the perfect solution, but you can barely see them now and the marine-tex has discolored to almost the same shade of color as the rest of the deck. That's why you have to be careful with the amount of marine-tex to lay down, too much and it will look like hell. The only other option is to have the deck re-surfaced I would guess. I didn't want to drop that coin because my fuel tank is still original. 17 years. Sooner or later that deck is coming up so I will continue to just put bandaids on any cracks that show up.

 

[warthog5]

Well first off put that ripping the deck completely out, ....... out of your mind.

A die grinder to grind the cracks..... And cut into it to find out whats really there. If there are fastners, core them out.....guarantee you will not Pull or unscrew them....

Grind the glass back from the cracks in a bevel. With shrads of 1 1/2oz mat laminate that into the deep groves you have cut.
Then a layer of 1 1/2oz mat over the whole ground area. Grind / sand till it's fair. Sand the whole deck, wash and tape it off Roll Gellcoat over the whole deck.


Look at this........ viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12419&start=575

 

[J876]

Thanks again for the replies guys. Really appreciate the help.

Warthog5: Unfortunately I keep the boat in the water at a marina and have it pulled to be winterized and stored in the offseason. I wish I had a house/garage where I could keep it indoors through the winter to work on it myself but unfortunately I'm at the marina's mercy when it comes to major repairs like this. Add that to the fact that I'm still a newbie when it comes to boat repairs. The guys at the marina said they will take a look at it in the spring when it gets warmer but I have a feeling as you said it will have to be cut to see what's going on underneith.


TimC2520: I like your idea of putting bandaids on this stuff for the time being. As I said the deck isn't soft <yet> but who knows what's going on underneith. My fuel tanks are originals as well and I do see some very minor rust on the exterior of the tanks when I lift the hatches. Maybe I'll just fill the cracks as you did. The rubrail needs to be replaced asap as it is starting to pull away. When I'm running the saltwater that splashes up is leaking through the screwholes under the rubrail into the cabin so I predict a minimum of $1000 for that alone. Hopefully when things get to the point of needing very expensive repairs I will be ready to get rid of this boat and get something new (or newer). I would like to get 2-3 more years out of this one.

 

[akholmes]

Thanks again for the replies guys. Really appreciate the help.

Warthog5: Unfortunately I keep the boat in the water at a marina and have it pulled to be winterized and stored in the offseason. I wish I had a house/garage where I could keep it indoors through the winter to work on it myself but unfortunately I'm at the marina's mercy when it comes to major repairs like this. Add that to the fact that I'm still a newbie when it comes to boat repairs. The guys at the marina said they will take a look at it in the spring when it gets warmer but I have a feeling as you said it will have to be cut to see what's going on underneith.


TimC2520: I like your idea of putting bandaids on this stuff for the time being. As I said the deck isn't soft <yet> but who knows what's going on underneith. My fuel tanks are originals as well and I do see some very minor rust on the exterior of the tanks when I lift the hatches. Maybe I'll just fill the cracks as you did. The rubrail needs to be replaced asap as it is starting to pull away. When I'm running the saltwater that splashes up is leaking through the screwholes under the rubrail into the cabin so I predict a minimum of $1000 for that alone. Hopefully when things get to the point of needing very expensive repairs I will be ready to get rid of this boat and get something new (or newer). I would like to get 2-3 more years out of this one.

You can save some SERIOUS coin if you get handy and learn how to knock some of these things out yourself. Between TheHullTruth.com and this forum (for the more Parker specific repairs) there are likely countless guys out there that have already done any repair/maintenance you're looking to do and documented it with instructions, pictures, or even videos! Use that slightly older parker as your learning platform for the next 2-3 years before you move on.

For instance that rub rail you're estimating $1000 marina repair can probably be fixed by you for $10 with a tube or two of "GE Silicone II" from Lowes/Home Depot. If it's beyond repair and needs replacement you can get a rubrail kit online by "Taco" for $150-200.

I have a thread on here somewhere where I cut cracks out of my deck and reglassed & gel coated them... There are also threads where guys put bandaids on and got lots more life out of that deck.

Basically use THT for most motor type repairs & maintenance and ClassicParker for hull/boat stuff.

Good luck and enjoy that thing! Parkers are built like tanks. Dig in and get to know your rig! If you mess up and have to re-do a project you'll probably still come out ahead of paying marina to do it.