Cracked FST how long should I leave it?

On a trip In south Portugal at the moment, cracked the bottom of my EF on a reef break this morning, checked it about 10 times but somehow did not manage to notice the dent/crack in the bottom of the deck so spent a good two to three hours in the water with it.

I'd say its more of a shallow dent with a few shattery looking crack lines I can just about catch my fingernails in, I can't tell if its gone all the way into the foam.

It doesn't seem to be leaking even a drop of water.

Ad its the only board i have with me i need it back in use asap, so i was thinkng Il probably check it again in the morning and if the crack is still dry il put some epoxy suncure over it and when i get home on sunday il sand it back properly and give it some extra just in case dry time and use some cloth n resin and finish it properly.

Does this sound like a fair call ? Or am I risking trapping water inside and causing more damage, never really been sure how to tell if water is out of a ding or not so I always leave my boards about a week or so when I'm at home. Not the best idea when on a trip.

Cheers for any advice

Ps fst is unbelievably strong, I'm sure my old pu boards would have a mega hole in them after that reef infraction

Give it a good suck and see if you can taste salt. Or pour a little water on it and see if if gets in.

Cheers PRJ

I had a better look at it and it seems like there is sufficient enough crack to let water in (although only over a very tiny area maybe just a cm or two), having said that iv left it crack down for a good few hours and sucked it and it still seems bone dry and doesn't taste of salt.

Should I be expecting it to literally look damp around the damage if its taken on water or could it have soaked into the foam?

If so what's the recommended wait time for foam to dry out?

Cheers again appreciate it

If it has taken on water over that time frame you'd be looking at a pretty substantial drying time without any assistance in the process.
I don't think it would show on the skin it's self because I don't think that the H80 skin sucks water. Only the EPS beneath it.
If you're not seeing any water coming out of the crack its possible that you didn't penetrate the skin and the core is dry. I think if it was taking on water over a couple of hours you'd be able to feel it in the weight. 1lb EPS would drink it up like a sponge.
Can you feel the air pulling through as you suck the cracked area? If you can't get any suction them its probably still water tight.

All right, Portugal should be a bit cold at this time of the year. Take the board from inside a warm place (home,hotel room etc) outside, let it out for a few minutes and then back in the house.
The temp difference should make the air inside contractéexpand which will allow you to see a bit easier if the board had taken water.
Do you feel the board considerably heavier at the moment. Since you are on a trip now and that is your only board, after doing the tests seal the wound and once you finish your last session of the trip re-open it and let it dry thoroughly and fix it properly

Cheers guys,

I can't feel any sort of expansion when sucking in. Tried the out door indoor thing and it didn't seem to show anything (hope this is a good sign)

I havnt got any scales to hand so I can't take an accurate measurement of the weight but it feels about the right weight, it's certainly a lot lighter then my girlfreinds 6'6 aadvance, I can't imagine the core is waterlogged, I can't check the weight more accurately when home (should be same weight as my Dom)

Only thing that worries me is if I push the middle of the dent I can see it opens up a really small crack at the bottom of the dent that goes through the glassing, however I may have done that after i got out of the water through pushing the weakest point to see how bad the damage was.

Il probably end up doing as iggy suggests and leavin it as long as possible (24 hrs most likely) seal it up and then sand it open again Sunday when home and leave it a couple weeks to dry out before doing a decent fix to be on the safe side.

Worse case scenario I am only delaying drying out any water that did get in by a few days, this shoulnt make it any worse should it, as long as I dry it out sooner rather than later? I'm assuming the the two reasons why you dry it out are that a) it keeps the board lighter and b) it's reduced the risk of delam which happens because the water is trying to find its way it somewhere. Just don't want to risk doin permenant damage.

In the long run salt water is bad for the core and the bond. It's sounding like you may have gotten away with it though but hard to say without checking it over.

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Originally Posted by Matt_s

Cheers guys,

I can't feel any sort of expansion when sucking in. Tried the out door indoor thing and it didn't seem to show anything (hope this is a good sign)

I havnt got any scales to hand so I can't take an accurate measurement of the weight but it feels about the right weight, it's certainly a lot lighter then my girlfreinds 6'6 aadvance, I can't imagine the core is waterlogged, I can't check the weight more accurately when home (should be same weight as my Dom)

Only thing that worries me is if I push the middle of the dent I can see it opens up a really small crack at the bottom of the dent that goes through the glassing, however I may have done that after i got out of the water through pushing the weakest point to see how bad the damage was.

Il probably end up doing as iggy suggests and leavin it as long as possible (24 hrs most likely) seal it up and then sand it open again Sunday when home and leave it a couple weeks to dry out before doing a decent fix to be on the safe side.

Worse case scenario I am only delaying drying out any water that did get in by a few days, this shoulnt make it any worse should it, as long as I dry it out sooner rather than later? I'm assuming the the two reasons why you dry it out are that a) it keeps the board lighter and b) it's reduced the risk of delam which happens because the water is trying to find its way it somewhere. Just don't want to risk doin permenant damage.

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Matt , think you are freaking out about it and it doesnt sound that bad. Spider cracks that you can just catch your finger on dont mean the board is sucking water...highly likely it isnt and remember the high density core also provides some level of water barrier. If water had got in...you would know for sure. Have fun on your trip and worry about it when you get back.

Yeah FST is a composite. Glass, then PVC then glass. From the sound of it I doubt you have penetrated to the core. The crack sounds like it is just the top layer of glass.

Thanks for the responses guys, FW you are right thinking I'm being over the top cautious, iv left it overnight with tissue under the crack and still not a drop is coming out so I'm pretty sure now it hasn't taken on water.

Sealing it up and back into the surf ASAP deal with properly later