Re: 15' Seahunt CC - WATERLOGGED! HELP!
ez, thank you for the encouragement. I'm going to be taking the hull to my uncle's shop next week where I will have the room and support to attempt to lift the cap off the hull. If it comes off cleanly, I will probably proceed with my first resto, under the guidance of an experienced hand. If it seems like it won't come off without breaking, I will sell the hull as a project to someone who's interested and transplant my engine onto a new hull.
aj, the transom definitely has wood in it, and having checked in a variety of places via drill holes I've found nothing but dry wood. I don't know for certain, but it is my belief that the interior open cavity of the hull that has the water in it does not actually reach the transom. Its separated by a deep splashwell and I don't believe there's any foam underneath. Either that or the water just hasn't worked its way into that foam to make it to the transom, because it's good to go. Another reason why I'm encouraged to try and salvage this hull I love so much. Though I haven't had many responses to my specific inquiries, hypothetically, IF (its a big IF) I can remove the cap in tact, I should be able to get at all the foam and the fiberglass stringers. It would also give me the chance to flip it, remove the annoying bottom paint that's just aweful, do the necessary mending and put a nice shiny new coat of paint on it.
As I removed the entire rub rail, I could see that the boat has definitely had some patch work done to it, in one spot in particular where its obviously had some impact damage and reglassing. I'm guessing thats why the cap was originally removed, but its right at the line where the two meet, but the cap portion didnt appear to suffer any damage. But this is well above the waterline and I don't suspect water was coming in from there. Considering the very gradual nature of the water buildup, and where its concentrated (in the rear of the boat) my best guess is that it was coming in from the bilge; in previous posts I outlined what appeared to be a drainage hole for the interior of the hull, but the pipe leading to it was broken so water was working its way back into the pipe from the bilge and getting into the hull from the broken spot. The portholes were the first thing I checked since there's two of them towards the rear of the boat, but they were solid.
