Water goes outside the Boat Right ?
03-11-2009, 11:26 AM
#1
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Water goes outside the Boat Right ?
So I started this year off by deciding to cut out one side of the floor in the engine compartment to replace it in my 1996 26' 280. I thought, it's no big deal and could easily have it done in a day and have the fiberglass be setting up by afternoon. Before I bought the boat two years ago previous owner had let some water sit in that corner which over time ended up making the floor a little soft once the water seeped down into the ply. Once I pulled the top poly sheet off to get to the Plywood the rabbit hole just kept getting deeper...
The more I dug the more chewing tobacco I kept finding in the form of stringers and floor. The engine compartment bulkhead and lower half was completely trash from moisture being trapped against it from the rear bench area getting wet. After cutting the complete rear bulkhead and engine compartment stringers out I started moving forward in search of stringers that have a nice sharp pop sound when you hit them. I decided to cut the floor out just up to where the front of the bench sits. The floor was nice and hard/dry/ and strong from there forward to the cockpit bulkhead. After doing so and checking the stringers that saddle the gas tank, I came to find more currently moist soft stringers.
From there I started cutting away feet after feet forward toward the cockpit bulkhead in search of solid dry main stringers.
At this point, I reached the forward cockpit bulkhead and still finding soft moist stringers. Through this demolition process I've found out several fatal problems with this boats lay out.
1) Stringers are not actually (encased) in fiberglass and resign. They are more or less wrapped in a 1708 Fiberglass which is somewhat porous. Water can easily seep right through it to penetrate the stringer.
2) There inst much of through holes so the boat can drain and breathe. There are several, but all stop at the rear engine bulkhead, except for one lower one that allows water to travel from the engine bay to the forward anchor locker under the false floor under the Bed. Depending on how the boat sits and how "well" these through holes were cut and fiber glassed, in case of my boat most were mostly closed from sloppy fiber glassing. So once water got in there was no way for it to get out or properly breathe to dry out.
3) Driver side main engine compartment stringer was laid so crooked it was about a complete inch off in the front Vs the back.
At this point I have decided to replace all the stringers from the bed bulkhead back, I'm planning to cut out both front benches in the v Birth tonight and start grinding to prepare for new stringers.
I'm planning on racing the boat possibly next year or even at the tail end of this year and are planning to go back with 3/4 ply AC fur stringers but to do a substantially better fiber glassing job to help reinforce and encase any wood from being able to get wet again.
As you can see in the pictures I have taken off the bow rail, swim platform, windshield, dash humps and fiber glassed the dash back along with molding in the rear intake vents. With 6 gallons of new paint and 4 gallons of clear and 2 weeks of wet sanding.
Add a new trailer on top of that and at least the outside looks the part. I'll post new pictures as I continue the work.
The more I dug the more chewing tobacco I kept finding in the form of stringers and floor. The engine compartment bulkhead and lower half was completely trash from moisture being trapped against it from the rear bench area getting wet. After cutting the complete rear bulkhead and engine compartment stringers out I started moving forward in search of stringers that have a nice sharp pop sound when you hit them. I decided to cut the floor out just up to where the front of the bench sits. The floor was nice and hard/dry/ and strong from there forward to the cockpit bulkhead. After doing so and checking the stringers that saddle the gas tank, I came to find more currently moist soft stringers.
From there I started cutting away feet after feet forward toward the cockpit bulkhead in search of solid dry main stringers.
At this point, I reached the forward cockpit bulkhead and still finding soft moist stringers. Through this demolition process I've found out several fatal problems with this boats lay out.
1) Stringers are not actually (encased) in fiberglass and resign. They are more or less wrapped in a 1708 Fiberglass which is somewhat porous. Water can easily seep right through it to penetrate the stringer.
2) There inst much of through holes so the boat can drain and breathe. There are several, but all stop at the rear engine bulkhead, except for one lower one that allows water to travel from the engine bay to the forward anchor locker under the false floor under the Bed. Depending on how the boat sits and how "well" these through holes were cut and fiber glassed, in case of my boat most were mostly closed from sloppy fiber glassing. So once water got in there was no way for it to get out or properly breathe to dry out.
3) Driver side main engine compartment stringer was laid so crooked it was about a complete inch off in the front Vs the back.
At this point I have decided to replace all the stringers from the bed bulkhead back, I'm planning to cut out both front benches in the v Birth tonight and start grinding to prepare for new stringers.
I'm planning on racing the boat possibly next year or even at the tail end of this year and are planning to go back with 3/4 ply AC fur stringers but to do a substantially better fiber glassing job to help reinforce and encase any wood from being able to get wet again.
As you can see in the pictures I have taken off the bow rail, swim platform, windshield, dash humps and fiber glassed the dash back along with molding in the rear intake vents. With 6 gallons of new paint and 4 gallons of clear and 2 weeks of wet sanding.
Add a new trailer on top of that and at least the outside looks the part. I'll post new pictures as I continue the work.
Last edited by speeddemon651; 03-11-2009 at 11:36 AM.
Platinum Member
03-11-2009, 06:57 PM
#7
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Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!
And ask yourself ..... Self, what the fock were they thinkin'.
Looks like you have a handle on it! Looks good.
Last edited by RaggedEdge; 03-11-2009 at 07:01 PM.
I had a 1962 Owens 35 that had fun every where you looked.
03-12-2009, 06:33 PM
#10
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Location: Warwick, Bermuda
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Does anyone have any suggestions of keeping the water out of those areas, I have that problem as well, i've tried putting mini soccer balls in the vents but water still seems to find it's way to the corners of the engine compartment.. I know the obvious would be to keep it in a sheltered storage building, but living on an Island 21 sq. miles long and 3 miles wide that type of space is hard to come by..lol..and pretty pricy i might add..
