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water in boat

Repair, or reconstruction. Gelocat or structural fiberglass. If it's hull related, you'll find it here

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jimmymoon
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Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:51 pm
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water in boat

Post by jimmymoon » Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:46 pm

how do you know that the foam flotation was bad in your boat? cause i was wondering with the small hole that is in the side, also the previous owner said the carpet would get a little bit damp in the rear of the boat after a long day like out all day, and i was wondering since the floor is sealed is it water spray or leaking from inside the boat? so bassically how did u know that the foam slotation was bad?

farupp
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Post by farupp » Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:32 pm

Weigh the boat and compare the current weight to the weight on the specifications. If the current weight is a lot higher than the spec weight, your foam is saturated with water. With a hole in the side there is a good chance that the foam is wet.
Frank Rupp
1959 22-foot Sea Skiff Ranger
283 Flywheel Forward engine

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Bill Basler
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Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:48 pm
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

Post by Bill Basler » Mon Apr 04, 2011 9:45 am

Jimmy, sorry for the delay on getting onto this question. On my Corsair, there were clues. First, the fiberglass floor had delaminated from the plywood substrate. The plywood layer was somewhat bowed up, and would slap against the underlying plywood when you walked across it.

As well, every seat mounting location looked like it had been redrilled an inch forward, or an inch aft of the factory location. This made 2-3 holes for every original hole. And yes, the old holes were left unplugged for the most part.

With all of the issues I had, it was easy to deduce that the boat had water in it. I used a moisture meter, reading at various points on the hull bottom and transom. I moved the boat into the garage where it stayed some 6 months before I tore into it. The moisture levels hardly dropped at all, even having gone through a winter.

On your boat, look for obvious places where water can pool/collect, or enter through holes. If you find some suspect areas, use a moisture meter in the hull and report what you find.

As for the small ding on your chine. My guess is that this is not hurting a thing. I serious doubt that this is the source of water entry. I have seen a down boats with dings in this same location. It just a vulnerable area, and since the gelcoat is on an outside corner, it's pretty easy to get it to chip like that.

I am 99% sure the underlying fiberglass is fine. Most of the time these chips come from car doors opening into the boat.
Bill Basler

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