1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

[motochris]

Hello All,

Very new greenhorn here

anyway I picked up a 1981 15' Sea Squirt yesterday for $300. The trailer is great, the boat has issues. I live in Colorado and my 10 year old son and I fish a lot of the lakes around here so we do not need a big boat. In fact this is the perfect size boat for Colorado. I would like to restore this boat and get it back to usable shape. My son who is very much into video games and TV has showed a lot of enthusiasm for this project, and this is something that I feel can bring us closer together and also teach him some valuable skills.

Issues so far

Damaged keel
Many small holes in deck
warped floor

It seams previous owner went expoxy crazy and would try and to band aid issues instead of fixing them right. In addition they cut a 14"X 12" hole in the deck (under the console) to maybe try and fix the keel damage as it is right above it. Then they put foam in there laid a large sheet plywood and epoxy over it. Their work was horrible.

I am honestly not sure if this boat can and or is worth repairing? For $300 I figure its worth a shot. Since there is no upholstery or carpets to deal with I figure this could be a fairly strait forward fix? I would like to spend less then $1000 in boat repair materials and another $1000 on a motor when the time comes and do all of the work ourselves.

I would like any and all advice around my current plan of attack. Initially we have pretty much stripped it down. We have removed that added plywood over the deck out and we were able to get the center console out. My plan is to separate the top and bottom (is that possible?) This boat I think is full of foam? That way I can start working on the hull and keel, then start working on the deck. Am I on the right track?

The previous owner also tried reinforcing the transom. I took all the supports out and would also like to look at what shape it really is in? If I can get the boat to separate I should be able to get to the transom? Correct? I will also want to take a look at the stringers as i am sure there are some issues in there as well.

The Hull seems pretty solid overall so I think I have a good shell to work with.

Any and all help is appreciated and will probably save me a ton, of time, money and headaches. If you know of links to similar projects please respond.

Pics here
https://plus.google.com/photos/105455478937901992431/albums/5710981113662719089

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Welcome to iBoats!
I love Father Son project for the very reasons you state. You will never regret time you spend on the boat with your son. As for the boat. It appears that the top cap can be removed. I am not familiar with that particular boat but the rub rail ( the part that goes around the boat with the rubber insert) can be removed and there should be rivets and or screws to remove and then the cap can be removed. This will allow you to get to the strringers and the transom and the keel damage. I would also open a free photobucket account to post your pics. It's a lot easier to use and allows you to post them directly into your thread here on the forum.
Keep posting pics and questions and you will get a ton of responses.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Welcome to the drydock, motochris...

You are in the best of all possible places to get the info you will need to bring that boat back to better than new condition...

And the best part about it is the bonding experience you can share with your son...

Anything on a fiberglass boat can be fixed and with all of the super knowledgeable guys here, it will be no problem...

OK then, roll up your sleeves and let's get started...

First thing everyone is going to be asking for from you are pictures, tons and tons of pictures, they help us see what you see...

Secondly, read through as many threads as you can...

Third, ask lots and lots of questions...

Here are a couple of links for you to get started...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288451

Pay special attention to #11 and #15...

#12 will help you with posting your pictures, However, if you start a free PHOTOBUCKET account, you can post better pictures...We can help you either way...

I am not going to pull your chain and tell you that this is an easy undertaking...there will be plenty of sweat, some cussin, a little bleedin, and some frustrations along the way...but we will be here to guide, support, and even harass if necessary to get you through this...

You seem to already have a fair grasp of what you are up against...most of the structure of the hull will probably be coming out and you will be replacing it with new wood and fiberglass...

The cap of the boat comes off by one of a couple of methods, the most common being the removal of the rubrail and the several dozen screws or rivets that you will find underneath...

That should get you warmed up and ready...

Good Luck and get ready to have some FUN!

GT1M

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Thanks for the help so far. I got a photobucket account and put a short clip up on youtube.

So today I would like to get the cap off and the rub-rail has like mentioned above several dozen rivets keeping it place. I plan on just drilling them out.

Couple of questions before I start.

1) Is there an easy way to get the rubber out of the rub-rail, do I just pull it out with pliers? Do I save the aluminum? Or do I replace it?

2) Is there anything special I should be doing when it comes time to pull the cap off? Will it simply pop-out? I guess I am not sure what to expect? I will post pics of this as I get it today.

Thanks for any and all help. It is really appreciated.
Chris

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

1) Is there an easy way to get the rubber out of the rub-rail, do I just pull it out with pliers? Do I save the aluminum? Or do I replace it?

2) Is there anything special I should be doing when it comes time to pull the cap off? Will it simply pop-out? I guess I am not sure what to expect? I will post pics of this as I get it today.

1) Try and pull it out as carfully as possible using pliers...if it is reuseable, wrap some tape around the pliers to keep from damaging the rubber, unless you plan to replace it, which can get quite expensive...that applies to anything on the boat...when you start looking at prices for replacement parts, you will quickly realize that saving as much as you can will save you bookoo dollars, later...the same applies to the aluminum...it can be cleaned up almost as good as new...


2) sometimes the cap pulls off easy and sometimes they are bonded with fiberglass resin where the splashwell meets the transom, also there may be more rivets or screws behind the rubrail...a prybar, putty knives, wood wedges[shims], can all be used to help separate the cap from the hull...BUT STOP!

DON'T remove the cap without first taking some good measurements and being prepared with some straps or braces to keep the hull from deforming...opening up and becoming too wide or out of shape...

Here is a link to my photobucket, which shows most of the teardown and cap removal...

http://s1182.photobucket.com/albums/x447/GT1000000/Bassassin Restoration/

Page 6, shows the actual cap removal and the micky mouse gantrys I threw together for this part of the project...

The other pages, in no particular order, show almost all of the steps to tearing out of the foam, stringers, and transom...

Keep in mind, when you get to the point of tearing out the structure of the hull, it should be properly supported.

Again, this is to prevent it from getting distorted, because the hull becomes very flimsy without the transom, stringers and decking...

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Thanks GT!

We are making good progress. I am heading over to Home-depot to pick up some 2x6s to make a boat stand. I have pulled out every rivet, screw and miscellaneous piece screwed into the cap. It should be completely ready. I am still not getting any movement with the cap when I try to put pressure to lift it off. It may be really glued in there? Any recommendations on getting a clean separation?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

The design of your boat is somewhat similar to the way my bass boat is set up...the cap is the entire top of the boat, including the interior...

First check and make sure there are no fasteners holding the deck down...also remove the lift ring on the bow, that may be attached to the bow eye...

Remove the drain tube at the back that goes through the transom...you will install a new one when you reconstruct...

By the looks of the cap, you might have a little bit of a mission, but here is what I would suggest...

Go around the edge with a stiff putty knife and tap it in with a hammer...a little bit at a time...keep going around and around until the putty knife gets deeper...start putting in some wood wedges, like shims used to square up window and door frames...as you work your way around, it should start to separate...

The hard part is going to come when you try to separate the interior deck from the hull...the floatation foam that is poured in there, is probably acting like a glue, holding every thing together...

Anywhere you can get access between the deck and the foam, use whatever long prybar, to wedge between the two and wiggle it back and forth to break the bond...all that foam will end up being removed and replaced, also...so if you have to tear it up to get access, go for it...

Hopefully, that will work...otherwise you might have to take slightly more drastic measures and remove the cap in sections...by making certain cuts, and removing as you go along...

Let us know what you find and we'll try and help...

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Great to see your son in there & working already! Welcome to iBoats dry dock!

Please do me a favor & take a better shot of the transom 'cap' junction that you mentioned as a hack job repair by the previous owner (PO) because of some cracking. It is the starboard stern transom area.

While your over there, shot 1 of that hole that had an inspection cover but it is removed in your last pix.

Then a couple shots of both stern areas of the 'cap' as it flows down & into the transom.

And 2 or 3 more shots that clearly show the underside of outside lip where the rubrail was attached. Similar to the pix above where a woman in a red jacket is walking away from the camera. When you look closely at that lip, does it look like 2 pcs? An upper pc: cap, & a lower pc: the hull, joint? At the top of the photo where that lip goes out of frame, it looks like it might be 2pcs, and in 1 or 2 other places along that edge, it does too. But I suspect that it is not.


I want to do a search @ google. I'll be back. JC

May your stay in dry dock be: shorter then you expect, less expensive then you expect, less painful then you expect, and turn out better then you expect. And remember that even 'just' 1, 2, or 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

I learned way too much about some sort of edible sea cucumber, but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. However, more then 1 source indicated what your pix show: The Sea Sprite is essentially a copied Boston Whaler hull/layout.

So although in the strictest since, there is a 'cap' on your boat, it is not remotely like mine or GT1M's, where there is a single point of contact along a narrow edge from transom corner to the bow on both sides. The transom &/or splashwell is usually fairly well stuck, but not impossible to separate. Once separated, the cap lifts off of the hull fairly quickly. It just requires adequate support for each once pulled apart.

Yours is probably much closer to this:

From Boston Whaler's web info: The Special Foam
Once the fiberglass and resin for each has cured, the hull and deck liner are joined and filled with 428lbs of a special two part urethane foam for 28 seconds. The foam heats up to 200 degrees and provides a fully cured bond overnight. Once cured the rough edges are trimmed:

​

I may have been wrong about the 2 edges meeting at that lip I asked of 2 or 3 more pix of, and that it probably wasn't 2 pcs, based on this photo, it probably is 2pcs. But w/ this sort of injected/expanding foam filled cavity & structural foam filled 'walls' under the gunnels, it becomes a much different proposition to repair & put back.

If your Sea Squirt is made this way, getting the cap to lift off is so hard to do, because the entire upper portion (deck liner) is adhered to the foam in almost 100% contact. WAY more difficult to break the bond & pull the cap off. And there is a possibility that there is no wood in your transom either. Could be several different products. SeaCast, StarBoard & NylaBoard are 3. The last 2, I maybe slightly off on the brand names. But they are all composite materials, used in much the same way as wood is in several areas on boats.

The hull fiberglass is probably in good shape, but w/ the keel damage (from regular beaching, &/or caused from hitting a part of the trailer when unloading/loading at the ramp) the foam is probably holding water, and waterlogged, making it heavier then it should be. The PO's poorly done repair has caused further water intrusion from above as well. The good news is if you can get it apart, there is probably no wood encased in 'glass stringers, so you won't need to redo them. The photos of the transom look like there is wood inside the 2 'glass skins, the soft wood transom might be the cause of the cracking you noticed at the corners.

BTW: The 1981 Sea Squirt is rated for a 50hp max. It may have had a larger motor at some point, that could cause the damage too. It looks like a 50hp or smaller now. Either way, once damaged & not repaired correctly, it probably isn't still a dry & structurally sound wood transom.

Look for oops and PM him: Go to the iBoats forum homepage, there is a search box you can enter his user name (oops) and go to 1 of his posts. Left click on his user name & private message is 1 of the choices. Ask him to swing by your thread. But try to avoid asking too many questions in a PM. They like to keep the Q&A in a thread so that others can benefit from the Q's & A's.

Once you PM him, give him some time to respond, it make take several hours. Go ahead & just ask some questions in your thread & post as many photos on photobucket &/or here. The vid was great by the way. Other's may have better 12st hand knowledge then I do about your specific boat.

oops or other moderators will swing through & help anyway they can.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Using the advanced search window, I found 23 Sea Squirt threads. No one had anything bad to say about them in the 1st 5 or 6 I quickly scanned. The foam filled hull & liner make them significantly more unsinkable then the Titanic.

Boston & VIP's marketing info both claimed that they were completely unsinkable.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

I was doing the same thing and might try one of the seacucumber recipes...I was unable to find any info on the actual construction of the Sea Squirt, but i do believe that jbc, has pretty much nailed it...after looking at your pics for some time, it almost definitely seems that the construction of your boat is very similar to a Boston Whaler.

If that is true, you will probably have a heck of a time trying to separate the two halves...

You might be able to do it in sections...what I mean by that is to pick startegic places to make some cut lines, and remove the upper half in sections...

Give this a little time and wait and see if one of the more knowledgeable guys here jump in and give you a better idea...
Or you could PM oops! and ask him what advice he can offer...


But I would definitely look into doing the repais, becuase, like jbc stated, the foam is probably water logged and by logical conclusion, the transom is most likely mulch...

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Additional details. The transom is wood and has turned to mulch. There were a few drain holes back there and I was able to pull sopping wet chucks of plywood out. There also seems to be some wood under the floor (but I am not 100% sure yet?) The boat has been dripping for 3 days now out of the keel damage so it looks like you said, the entire boat is water logged. Funny thing is it hasn't been in water in 4+ years! But I think it was holding snow for the last couple months. I will definitely post more pics over the next few days of the requested areas.

Question. So with a whaler type of Hull is it all foam? are there any stringers? Is there any plywood under the boat floor?

Either way I am going to have to get this thing apart or cut the floor out. I definitely need to fix the keel and redo the transom. Would I just then pick up that flotation foam and dump it in the hull and put the cap on? I am not sure how foam plays into this, from an "am I over my head perspective?" Do I remove all the existing foam in there? There is that section of foam that i can easily remove on the deck (from the PO fixing) Maybe I start there dig that all out, and and pry up the floor off the foam?

under the lip of the rub rail it seems to be glassed together. Some spots looks like they are cracking / chipping but there is no clean seam between the cap and hull. Should I use a cutting wheel to make a seam around the boat?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

I'll swing back later, but basically I don'[t know enough about how the Squirts were built to answer the wood under the deck or completely answer the foam Q's.

If you don't get some iBoaters w/ lots of experience through here Today, hit oops w/ a PM like I mentioned, it doesn't have to be very specific, just say that a couple other people said he was 'The go-to Guy....' for help w/ your project.

Be back soon, JC

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Like jbc said, some more research is in order... No worries, we'll get this figured out...

As for the foam question...

Yes, since it is probably waterlogged, all of it will need to be removed...

When the time comes to replace it, there is a product called pour-in liquid expanding polyurethane foam that is sold at most fiberglass supply houses...it comes in different densities for different applications...

For some further info, look at this site... http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

I tried to Pm oops..."oops has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her." (His inbox maybe full?) I will also continue researching. Again, thanks for all the help so far.

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Also looks like this thread is very similar http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=489201 Additionally when I am not working full time and hanging with my family I like to brew beer. So I offer to anyone that has helped and if you are in or drive through N. Colorado a personal invitation to stop over and have some home brew!

The one one the left is a raspberry ale (just added raspberries) the one on the right will be a pale ale in a few weeks.

Back to the boat!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

I quickly scanned the other similar thread, but w/ the iBoats server acting up, I couldn't see any pix & can't spend much time reading it to understand the details.

Still b back

Congrats on the home brew, someone else here just started a resto thread & is an electric home brewer....

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

That's going to be a great fishing rig and definitely a worthwhile project. Any idea if that Evinrude runs?

 

[motochris]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

The Evinrude can be had for about $300 the guy said it ran 4 or 5 years ago, so I may pick that up as a possible option. I have a few really good leads on some other motors as well. In addition I have a 2005 Toihatsu 4hp (long shaft) used a couple times on my canoe that I am also willing to use as partial payment on a solid 50. The 4 HP is like new so I am thinking I could get maybe $400 or $500 in a trade? If you or anyone for that matter knows of any other good resources for boat parts /motors in Colorado let me know.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 1981 15' SeaSquirt Project

Nice boat... I really like that set-up and it will make an awesome fishing rig for you and your son...

Not sure if you will be able to get that cap off if JBC and GT1M are right... You might (and this is extreme) just have to get a cutting wheel and go all the way around the perimeter exactly where the rub-rail was.... Once you have be-headed her, lift it up.... Ordinarily, I would say, don't worry with (too much trouble), but you mentioned a warped (possibly soft?) floor so we might need to dissect this vessel to see what's causing that - just to be safe, etc...

Here is another thought that might be easier: Just remove a few small portions of your deck and run (sort of inspection holes, if you will) and then run a 1" pvc pipe down into the foam until it hits the hull. Lift out the foam plug and see if its wet. If all the core samples are dry then maybe you can live with a warped floor and simply deal with your transom.

If you are not pulling the cap completely, just cut away enough of the splashwell top to dig out what's rotten and then pour some seacast down in their for a new transom. Pricey, but might be an option for you.

As an aside, I see two trends (side hobbies) developing on i-boats: (a) people sewing; and (b) people making their own beer. Both are valuable in their own right and are a nice compliment to our boat-resto hobby. Tough call, but I think I might see if the beer guys will have me in their circle.