Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Wood boat repair advice

I will post a picture tonight, but I just wanted to get this out there and test the heartbeat of this forum.

I have a tatman boat

Pretty much this exact kit.

I had a mishap the other day where I was floating under a low bridge, the water levels went up a few inches during the day and my boat ended up being dragged under the bridge backwards after not being able to fit going forward. Needless to say, I did some damage.

After slapping the underside of the bridge as we floated underneath, the bow stem cracked. The crack is about 8 inches long and goes directly down the middle of the stem.
I come to you guys for advice on how I should proceed to fix up my boat. I did not build this boat, so my knowledge of how everything is done is limited, but after looking at the bow stem it seems like the lynch pin of the front of the boat.

Replacing the bow stem looks somewhat difficult if not impossible without taking most of the boat apart. Is this a correct assumption? Should I be trying to put a band-aide on this wound or is it something I could fix with some elbow grease and still be able to float some more water this summer?

If it's fixable can someone please try to help me along the process on how I should go about making the repairs?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Jay on July 14, 2011 at 9:41pm

i can push pretty lightly on it dave and it flexes pretty good. Feels like a loose baby tooth or something.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Jay on July 14, 2011 at 9:40pm

after removing the deck it looks a little worse. not sure, you guys decide?

is this the stem cap that you mention randy?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Clarke on July 15, 2011 at 5:51am

Epoxy and wood flour with through bolts to draw it tight still look like a solution to me. As Randy suggested, you could countersink and plug the bolt heads and nuts. Good luck!