Fin box damage

[thethink]

Hey guys, this is my first post here, but I came prepared.

Basically, I was teaching my buddy how to surf over the weekend of July 4th, and he ran it aground. Let me rephrase that. He refused to give up on a weak wave, jumped on the board, slammed his feet down hoping it would give him momentum, but instead he drove it into the sandbar. He's apologized profusely for the event, and I'm not going to ask him to pay for it (as I'm soon moving about 4 hours from the beach anyhow and figured I had plenty of time to get it fixed) but the temptation of hurricane season is just too strong. From the looks of it, just the rear fin got jammed, cracked (but didn't separate) from the rear box attachment, and pulled the forward box out a little. I saw when it happened -- as he'd been bucked off the front of it suddenly -- and immediately pulled the board out of water. It has since dried up. I don't think there was much if any water let into the crack, and I've been checking it periodically just in case. From the looks of it, it only peeled fiberglass to another middle layer. The chip is very very thin, about 1mm or less. Anyhow, here's more illustration:

You can see how far it's been pulled up

And yes, I know that the board was once fixed just next to this, that was before I got it. Any of you repairmen out there know the general cost of fixing this? I know I'll probably need the box removed, routed, and reinstalled after new substrate is added... I realize that, but I don't want this costing nearly what I paid for the board or it's gonna end up a decoration in my house. Thanks in advance for your help/advice guys. I've been lurking the site for a while, you guys have a great thing going on here!

[kitesurfer]

I would charge about £40 for a repair like this not including replacing the fin. Less to mates.

KS

[surf patrol]

£39.75 for mates.

[esonscar]

My view . . . .

Keep the fin.
Pull the fin plugs.
Repair local area.
Re-fit fin plugs.
Sand back.
Re-polish.
Re-install fin.

For a proper job - mmmmm maybe I'd charge you GBP£70.00 .

This is for a repair with carbon fiber reinforcement on the reinstalled fin plugs (certified F1 type carbon, not heavy china carbon!)

I love carbon fiber !

[thethink]

Haha yes I would love to feel an all-CF board, but unfortunately my budget will likely only cover the basic repair. The fin is cracked so deeply that I fear if I surf on it, I'll need to drill/pull it out. For that reason, I'll probably be sanding/glassing myself (I do have over 800 hours of glassing experience in various projects) and hopefully not having to fill the hole and redrill for the plug. I just thought I should check and see the going rate on such fixes. I also have a link at a board repair service, but she's been rather busy with summer swells lately.

I am also in the US, so I have horrible waves I think a mid-budget fix would be in order for a mid-budget reasonable-wave board such as my Byrne. Our waves are big enough for this board maybe 10 times a year. It was my learner board, but I thought I might be able to fix it for H-season. Thanks for the info guys! It has really helped to make my decision

[jaffa1949]

With your experience the glassing should be a breeze, fins can be picked up cheaply on ebay or whatever your local equivalent is, there copies of the fin available in both futures and world fin systems, and there are poor quality but very cheap Asian imports the choice is there.
Another option is to make your own fins laminate and foil shape a set. A very interesting learning experience building on your 800 hours.