Greetings!
Soooo I had this soft spot in the floor of our (new to us last year) boat. Yeah... You seasoned boaters can probably see where this is going already. We didn't know any better at the time and got a great summer of fun out of it as it was. In any event, what is done is done. On with the saga.
The interior was kind of tore up in the rear section so we decided to get some new seating for it because that seemed a really easy thing to do which would make going out more pleasant. Which led to some new carpet because the old stuff was coming up, was pretty nasty and really thin (I know! I know! no carpet). Soooo we have some new seating and carpet sitting in the garage now. Well while I'm at it I might as well deal with that soft spot in the water-ski locker thingy (wakeboard wont fit in there). Up comes the top sheets of plywood and ooh boy. She's pretty rotten underneath. Ugh..
More iboats reading and I have some questions.
1) I'll spare the foam or no-foam debate that appears to have been pretty well discussed in several other posts. The foam thats in there doesn't seem remotely close to enough to float the boat and doesn't look particularly structural so I'm guessing it was for insulation. Anyway, foam aside: my "stringers" appear instead of being glass boards running lengthwise are more of a cross hatch pattern of glassed plywood making up a series of boxes?!?
a) Presumably I need to replicate this pretty closely with marine grade plywood or maybe PT plywood and then glass those? (read a bunch of posts on plywood prep).
b) Maybe its just me but, there doesn't seem anyway for water to escape one of those little boxed compartments...which strikes me as somewhat of a questionable design choice? Obviously somebody at Crownline thought it was a good idea?
c) I hate the thought of pulling the front seats and such out but at this point with what I've seen I think that needs to happen. Port side of the boat has a little mini storage cabin that looks like all fiberglass. I think that might just unscrew and come right out of there (hah! just cursed myself I'm sure). The other side has the helm controls. Disconnecting all that stuff kind of worries me. How easy is that stuff normally? Any other good options that might involve leaving it there somehow?
2) I still need to drill the motor mounts and transom and check for rot there (and then fill with 4200/5200 (whatever number tube of stuff I got from iboats). Honestly I was so disheartened with what I found today I just didn't have it in me to check. Judging by the angle of one of the motor mount bolts I am not holding much hope. Maybe I'll be lucky and it was just about the only angle it would go in at! I keep telling myself that. It's not working so far..
3) Scary how close the fuel line runs to one of the pulleys on the engine! Probably should route that a little differently or at least secure it on both sides so it doesn't get bounced against it somehow? I don't really need the kind of excitement that might create if it got rubbed through.
4) What's with the blower vent with no blower? There's an intake "blower" hose come in from high on both sides. The port side blower hose extends all the way down just shy of the bottom in the bilge area and has an inline blower about halfway up and exits the aft center vent. The starboard side hose just hangs down near where the batteries are/were and exits the same vent as the port side. Is that actually an intake of sorts or should I stick a blower on it?? Lengthen the hose so it drops into the bilge area also?
5) My motor (7.4l Mercruiser) has a red button! Some kind of circuit breaker obviously, but for what?? Electric fuel pump? As much as I like to push red buttons, I figured I should find out what this one is first (that and the motor is winterized so I wouldn't be able to tell anyway). It looks to me like it needs pushing though.
Any advice, sarcasm and general harassment is welcomed!
Respectfully,
-T
Soooo I had this soft spot in the floor of our (new to us last year) boat. Yeah... You seasoned boaters can probably see where this is going already. We didn't know any better at the time and got a great summer of fun out of it as it was. In any event, what is done is done. On with the saga.
The interior was kind of tore up in the rear section so we decided to get some new seating for it because that seemed a really easy thing to do which would make going out more pleasant. Which led to some new carpet because the old stuff was coming up, was pretty nasty and really thin (I know! I know! no carpet). Soooo we have some new seating and carpet sitting in the garage now. Well while I'm at it I might as well deal with that soft spot in the water-ski locker thingy (wakeboard wont fit in there). Up comes the top sheets of plywood and ooh boy. She's pretty rotten underneath. Ugh..
More iboats reading and I have some questions.
1) I'll spare the foam or no-foam debate that appears to have been pretty well discussed in several other posts. The foam thats in there doesn't seem remotely close to enough to float the boat and doesn't look particularly structural so I'm guessing it was for insulation. Anyway, foam aside: my "stringers" appear instead of being glass boards running lengthwise are more of a cross hatch pattern of glassed plywood making up a series of boxes?!?
a) Presumably I need to replicate this pretty closely with marine grade plywood or maybe PT plywood and then glass those? (read a bunch of posts on plywood prep).
b) Maybe its just me but, there doesn't seem anyway for water to escape one of those little boxed compartments...which strikes me as somewhat of a questionable design choice? Obviously somebody at Crownline thought it was a good idea?
c) I hate the thought of pulling the front seats and such out but at this point with what I've seen I think that needs to happen. Port side of the boat has a little mini storage cabin that looks like all fiberglass. I think that might just unscrew and come right out of there (hah! just cursed myself I'm sure). The other side has the helm controls. Disconnecting all that stuff kind of worries me. How easy is that stuff normally? Any other good options that might involve leaving it there somehow?
2) I still need to drill the motor mounts and transom and check for rot there (and then fill with 4200/5200 (whatever number tube of stuff I got from iboats). Honestly I was so disheartened with what I found today I just didn't have it in me to check. Judging by the angle of one of the motor mount bolts I am not holding much hope. Maybe I'll be lucky and it was just about the only angle it would go in at! I keep telling myself that. It's not working so far..
3) Scary how close the fuel line runs to one of the pulleys on the engine! Probably should route that a little differently or at least secure it on both sides so it doesn't get bounced against it somehow? I don't really need the kind of excitement that might create if it got rubbed through.
4) What's with the blower vent with no blower? There's an intake "blower" hose come in from high on both sides. The port side blower hose extends all the way down just shy of the bottom in the bilge area and has an inline blower about halfway up and exits the aft center vent. The starboard side hose just hangs down near where the batteries are/were and exits the same vent as the port side. Is that actually an intake of sorts or should I stick a blower on it?? Lengthen the hose so it drops into the bilge area also?
5) My motor (7.4l Mercruiser) has a red button! Some kind of circuit breaker obviously, but for what?? Electric fuel pump? As much as I like to push red buttons, I figured I should find out what this one is first (that and the motor is winterized so I wouldn't be able to tell anyway). It looks to me like it needs pushing though.
Any advice, sarcasm and general harassment is welcomed!
Respectfully,
-T