gaps in bow eye/anchor hook

[brandboat23]

What is standard industry expectation on bow eye/anchor hook?

Recently took delivery of a brand new custom order Cobalt 2023 R4 Surf. Is it normal to see gaps in the anchor hook/bow eye hook with white caulking? I took it back to dealer and asked to do a warranty claim to make it flush, and dealer sent it back today stating "re-caulk & fixed".

I did some research with other R4 models and found several that had anchor hooks/bow eye flush with little to none white caulking. Is this how mine should be?

The manufacture provided a response to the warranty claim and stated "each boat that is manufactured will have differences to certain components regarding fit and finish and they use several different molds (believes 8 different molds) and that a bow eye fits one particular boat may fit the other a bit different. Basically told me to take a hike.

What recourse do I have? I did some research how my boat was shipping during transportation and appears the truck during shipping may have used the bow eye. Is it common if truck goes over bump for this to pull out and create gaps?

Any feedback/help would be great and how i should proceed?

see photos below

[billk2632]

On any boat you should expect most hardware - cleats, bow yes, stern eyes, windshield frame, anything that is attached to the boat - to be bedded with caulking, usually white. It's common to see a small bead of caulk around any fitting. On your bow eye, that is though bolted, you should be able to see the bolts inside the anchor locker and they should be tight - they are designed to be strong and able to pull the weight of the boat. To me it does not look like anything is wrong with the bow eye, just a sloppy caulking job and with a colored hull it really shows. It would bother me too, I would just clean it up myself if it were me - looks like the dealer has already screwed it up once.

[Sumgai]

THE COBALT Expectation:

The COBALT Reality:



To be sure, Cobalt doesn't discourage the image of a "Harry Hogge" building a special Cobalt for every customer, (ala the Captain Sig Hansen video) but finished by hand is just an urban dream, not the reality of modern production lines, and time is money. "Git 'er on down the line!"
The genius of Cobalt is in the customer service after the sale, which you have enjoyed. Cobalt and it's dealers will do their best to meet customer expectations after the sale, which is a far cry from the buyer of this Malibu years ago:
"There isn't much support for these, either. Tabbutt says that his attempts to get help from the company (Malibu) were met with laughter."
Reading the article (I like Vettes too), and it was a cool looking boat, but.....I swallowed my chew when I learned Malibu owned Cobalt. However, as long as Malibu stays "hands off" from Cobalts outstanding customer service, um, ok. At least all Cobalts are still built with docking cleats. "Then there were the functional bits that the boat was missing. It had no cleats to use with rope to tie the boat to a dock." https://www.thedrive.com/news/36475/the ... ly-boating

Caulk on the bow, as opposed to water in the hold, tough choice. Honestly I didn't even notice it. I did get my engraved owner's plank from Cobalt this week, cool beans!

[Kenboat]

I would take it back and have them remove all white and replace with black.
Maybe the bow eye was place in a different position on your boat than intended and because of that error the couture of the hull does not match the stamped bow eye metal bracket?

[dustinm]

That eye just needs to be removed, adjusted in a vise, test fit, and reinstalled with caulk... should take about .5 hour after its in the shop..... I've checked my personal beliefs of this Malibu owned Cobalt at the door when I entered the thread.