Under floor floatation foam revisted

So I get all done with my restoration project. 86 Bayliner Cuddy 20ft. New floor, upholstery, the works , etc. We get to the launch and she's leaning to the right. NOooo!

When I had the floor out I checked the foam and stringers, etc. it all seemed good and dry or it would have been replaced at that time. So I take a 7/8 inch drill bit and drill a hole in the stringer from inside the storage compartment in the center of the floor. Seems dry. Go to the back of the boat about 8 inches from the transom and drill another hole it the stringer. Yep it's wet. Stringer wood is wet also. Damn!

The only way I can figure water got into it is when I redid the cubby windows.
We were cleaning, wheeling, and washing the exterior before I had the windows caulked up. When I got done I discovered that the window on the right side had leaked into the cubby storage compartment on the right side to the tune of about 2 inches of water.

So my big question is, is it a total loss? To have to rip out my new carpet and start over is not an option. What I'm trying so far is I took a shopvac, put it on blower and shoved the hose in the first hole I drilled. Enough air psi is building that I can feel the air coming out of the rear hole. The boat is also baking in the hot sun out of the water.

I've got my fingers crossed. Anyone have any experience with this sort of attempt. I know the thing to do would be replacement, but I don't think the water has been there long. There's no rot smell and the stringer wood when I drilled was a nice white color like new wood. The only thing is that the lean of the boat in the water tells me the foam must have soaked some of the water up to account for the unequal weight.

Christ I'm bummed out. Everyone who saw this boat at the launch had a positive comment on how nice it looked. I just gotta get this stuff dried out without ripping it apart again. I can't afford to do it. Force drying seems my only option at this point in the game.

I need a novel solution here.

Re: Under floor floatation foam revisted

well if the wood is not dry roited, I would'nt worry about it, I would just make sure to let it dry out completly before covering it up again, when you think its dry, wait another week, if marine wood got damaged after getting wet one time, it would'nt have been put in a boat. just make sure you fix your leak and enjoy your restoration

Re: Under floor floatation foam revisted

Nothing dries out wet lumber better than moving air. This is probably gonna' hurt a little but you'll need to make a couple good sized holes where the water damage is. Kinda' go by your 'exploratory' drill holes. Force air through there - doesn't need to be heated - . The second hole will let the air out of the stringer. Also, when you think it's dry ( use firehogs advise ) you might want to consider using some CPES - here's your link to that. http://www.rotdoctor.com/
Sorry about your problem but all is not lost.

Re: Under floor floatation foam revisted

The thing that concerns me is that something got wet enough to cause the boat to lean to the right a good half a foot while it was sitting dead in the water. Created a ballast tank of sorts I guess.

I did take it out for a test run. We would be running a pretty good plane when all of a sudden the boat would lean and steer to the right. Back off the throttle and I could even it out but it would still lean slightly. I also have to fight the wheel a lot to keep it going straight. All indications of a weight imbalance. It feels pretty dangerous at times, and I assume it is.

When I drilled my hole in the rear part of the stringer, I drilled as low as possible. I couldn't get any actual water to drain but the wood was wet and so was the foam inside of the hole.

I took my air compressor hose and duct taped it into the front hole. I'm running about 120 psi in there for the last couple of hours. Seems to be doing a nice job, but I know it's going to take a long time.

I'm thinking of adding some additional holes but right now I like the fact that it's building psi inside of the compartment. I'm hoping this forces more of the moisture out.

I guess I'll just keep you posted on my progress. Maybe it'll help someone else in the future. Thanks for the support.

Re: Under floor floatation foam revisted

Well today I tried a new approach. I've been running the shop vac on blower for a couple days and supplementing that with the air hose from my shop compressor. I'm afraid of damaging the compressor from running it so long so that's out.

Then I got to thinking. The compartment is for the most part sealed. Why not suck the moisture out with the shop vac. So this is what I've begun now. It's having much better results. I'm actually getting moisture into the shop vac tank.

I poked around in my exploratory drill holes with a coat hanger and managed to pull out some nice dry light colored foam material. So I think I might be on my way soon.

Then I got started thinking more. More suction, faster dry time. So I'm going to hook up some more shop vacs. Vacuum also boils moisture. Specifically at 30hg of vacuum. I'll never get that with a shop vac and the compartment isn't 100% sealed tight. But I could create one hell of vac draw and facilitate the dry time.

I have an old air conditioning vacuum pump that I was considering rigging up, but I think I'd probably have better luck with several shop vacs.

Just thinking out loud here ....