i went home to the parent's place this weekend, which happens to be the winter location for my boat. 20' center console. as i started to get her ready for the season, i almost cried.<br /><br />i wasn't jacked up enough on the bow (or the bow sunk in the mud over time) and i apparently had some standing water inside the boat at various times through the winter. looks like it was focused mostly to port and aft.<br /><br />normally this wouldn't upset me. but last year, i had to install two new deck access panels for some work i did. the panles were new and had gaskets, but didn't hold up over the winter when they were apparently under water. water leaked into the hull. how much, i have no idea.<br /><br />in the same location of these access panels was foam. i had to cut away some of the foam during installation for the work i was doing. the foam in this area was wet.<br /><br />i immediately pointed the bow to the sky and drained every bit of water i could. the boat remains in that position. i then grabbed a shopvac (only thing i could think of), swicthed the nossels to blow, and blew air into the hull through the access panels. surprisingly, all moisture within arms reach was gone in about 2 hrs (a shopvac running that long starts to produce a nice warm stream of air). i proceded to rotate the shopvac to various locations where i could get into the hull. i probably ran air for about 6 hrs on saturday and another 4 hrs on sunday.<br /><br />as a result of all this water and moisture getting to where it shouldn't be, my deck (looks like 3/4" plywood with glass on top) is soft. the section that is soft is approx 5' x 3' and located port and aft.<br /><br />so what do i do. i think the water is removed, and i obviously removed some of the mositure with the shopvac. but i have no way to tell if there is still water trapped within the hull. considering my boat is a value line (sunbird), i doubt there is a whole lot of foam. with the 65 gal fuel tank in that area, and the open bilge in the aft area for pumps and such, there is not much room left to fill with foam. maybe i got all the moisture out.<br /><br />but then there is the deck. i don't want to replace. this boat won't be with me much longer, but i want to use it this year and maybe next. is it a structural safety thing? what are my options? i was thinking of trying to dry out the hull void even more, which should help dry the deck some. could i drill several pilot holes in the area and use git rot? any other creative ideas that keep me from cutting up my deck?<br /><br />so that's the story. i obviously am concerned from a safety standpoint. i don't want to sink this boat in the middle of the bay. but i just don't know enough to figure this out. are my stringer rotting away as i type? is the deck a waste and not able to be saved?<br /><br />looking to you guys for help...
