I finally got beneath my 357 this past spring and there was a ding in the hull- not much to look at- looked like a few chips in the gelcoat. The hulls pretty thin once you get out from the keel-

I found some small holes in the anchor locker, from the anchor banging around. Patched the holes, dried everything
out, and the water stopped. Well, it worked for me.

Yep! seen it and today my friends fiberglass guy came from the marina and checked it out-Its cracked. getting fixed next week. He thinks water was in the hull and froze. At least as long as I keep the boat it'll be stored in a heated garage.

That blows big time. sorry to hear that man.

Well I gotta look at the bright side, its not as bad as I thought and the repair isnt going to kill me, and lastly the guy doing it worked building Columbia boats so he knows his chit.
Even though its layed up till spring now I still get enjoyment working on it. I'll be taking pics of this project and posting all winter. I will say after being widowed for 7 years this boat has given me my life back and has made a bond with me and my daughter you couldnt buy. I'll post some pics of damage tonight.

Hey guys, sorry to hear about this issue with your boats. My question is what year are your boats? and please clarify 'step area', ie are these cracks by your step into the cabin area or are you talking about in the area of the step in the hull ? Just wondering as my boat will be stored on the lift this off season and it had always been stored in a heated garage by the previous owner. Needless to say I will be doing a precautionary viewing of this area of the boat as I am winterizing it this weekend.

My boat is an 87 and the step area we're talking about is right under the step to go down in your cabin, this step has an opening under it and for some reason formulas are famous for getting water in there.

There's a bulkhead that runs all the way across the hull beneath the cabin door so any water that enters the forward half of the boat collects benath the cabin step. In my opinion, this is not a big deal- I cleaned out the cracked glass with a grinding attachemnt for a drill- ended up with about a 3"X1" hole, packed it with MarineTex and sanded it smooth after it cured. Total of about $5.00 and 1 hr's work-