78 Thundercraft-Deck and Stringer Repair

[DAWB]

I cut the deck off of my trihull and found standing water, soaked foam, and bad fiberglass on the stringers.
The transom sounds solid, but I will probably cut the fiberglass off of it to check the wood.
I have read many posting about how to do the repairs, and I am ready to start the process.
What I don't understand is should I block off the ends of the stringers so water doesn't get from the bilge area up in between the deck and the hull, or should I leave this space open back to the bilge area?
I will definitely NOT put foam back under the deck.

 

[rickryder]

When I did my resto I made sure I had limber holes in all my stringers and bulkheads leading back to the bilge...if you glass in your stringers correctly water will not harm them as long as it can't stay trapped...The holes will allow the water to flow back to the bilge and pumped out via the bilge pump or drain when you put it on the trailer and pull the garboard plug and raise the bow.

As far as foam goes it's your boat and you do what you want....personally I put foam back in....I used closed cell blue Dow foam board....it will not absorb water... I like the peace of mind that my boat will stay afloat
even if filled with water....without foam you will be calling in a salvage crew to get it up off the bottom....plus the fact that you and your boating party will have nothing to hold on to till help arrives.... But like I said it's YOUR boat and you can do as you please. Just my .02

 

[jigngrub]

I cut the deck off of my trihull and found standing water, soaked foam, and bad fiberglass on the stringers.

I will definitely NOT put foam back under the deck.

The standing water, soaked foam, and rotten stringers are due to boat owner neglect and is not the fault of the foam.

Without proper floatation you may get the chance to be a submarine captain. DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

 

[tpenfield]

Post some pictures of the structure as you go for further input.

The water retention is not the foam's fault. Foam is needed for structural strength and positive flotation.