Heavy in the water

[Ironside]

I have a 1974 fiberform boat and am pretty sure it sits allot lower in the water than it used to is there any way to lighten her back up<br />Thanks

 

[fireman57]

Re: Heavy in the water

If you trailer it when you get it home for a week then raise the front end up and pull the plug. I know this sounds like the easy way out but you might have foam that has soaked up water. After a week it should drain out if you cranked it hight enough. I'm not saying that the foam will be dry but if you have water on your driveway that would be a good indication. You could have a small hole in your hole or your deck. When you are coming up to plane does your sump hole fill up?

 

[Maximerc]

Re: Heavy in the water

Oh man ,your screen name may say it all !

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Heavy in the water

The most likely culprit is saturated foam. You first have to eliminate any other possibilities, such as having added gear, kicker motor, extra battery, etc. If the average load is about the same as it always has been, then you have to figure out how can water be coming in. If it is left in the rain with no cover, that will saturate it for sure, even with the drain plug out. If the foam is saturated, it will never dry. Even raising the bow and letting it set will give negligable results, as there is usually little or no drainage in the under floor structure. Water gets in through poorly sealed bolt holes in the floor, saturates the foam, and the water has nowhere else to go. The only fix is ripping up the floor and replacing the foam. Ensuring there is adequate drainage in the structure during the repair is key, or it can happen again. The new foams are more resistant to water absorbtion, but you still have to keep it from happening such as sealing everything and keeping it covered when not in use. Good luck

 

[Ironside]

Re: Heavy in the water

Thank you very much i am new to iboat and the advice is great, good call on the water angle . The boat was my grand fathers and was left open many a year . Is the foam hard to replace or is it a matter of removing the deck and foam and spraying in new stuff?

 

[jimmythekid]

Re: Heavy in the water

if its saturated, most likely have a project the likes of jasonj's, dont wanna use spray foam, the marine stuff is sold in two parts and you mix it and then pour it in. On my 85 sea ray, i estimate that i will have relieved of about 400 lbs of wet foam and rotted wood, i am making progress now and will have new pics up in a day or two

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Heavy in the water

Yeah, you can never underestimate the weight of water soaked foam and structure. When I rippid all my structure and foam out, and hauled it to the dump, it filled an 8 ft truck bed and the weight had it settled on its springs quite nicely. I am unsure of the weight, but I ended up setting several inches higher in the water than before. That is still the case even though I have added a kicker, front trolling motor, new larger fuel tank, another battery, casting chair, all of it. I still need to take my rig to a scale to see what it weighs now, but I know the stock hull in it runabout bowrider form was 1150 pounds without engine. I think my rig is staring at about 2000 lbs now fully rigged, but I need to confirm.

 

[Maximerc]

Re: Heavy in the water

The Baja has a lot of its foam in little compartments above the floor. While this is nice and maybe it will not all be saturated I still have to tear it all out to get to it. Before I started this all I took measurements of the boat sitting on the water cant wait to remeasure it !

 

[Ironside]

Re: Heavy in the water

Well it has begun I took the floor off and started cleaning out the hull question does the floor deck realy need to be 1 inch plywood or is that old boat overkill

 

[Bondo]

Re: Heavy in the water

3/4ers" or 1/2" is Much More Common.......<br /><br />My Guess is,<br />Your's is Very Swollen 3/4" ply,<br />Or 2 layers of 1/2".........<br /><br />I used 5/8ths" in my tin boat.......

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Heavy in the water

I used 1/2 inch, but I had six stringers less than a foot apart from each other. That, with foam, provides more than enough structure. If you have less stringers, and they are farther apart, you need a thicker floor.

 

[Whaler Proud]

Re: Heavy in the water

This link has some good information on drawing water out of foam. There is even some repair methods you might look at.<br /><br /> Whaler Foam

 

[Ironside]

Re: Heavy in the water

Thanks guys there is defanatly moisture in there each sheet of plywood i took out was soft and did not seem to be coated in anything , very heavy as well . There are only 2 boards running front to back completly fiberglassed in seem good, the nails were still tight and sounded solid when hit with a dead blow hammer,how can i check the foam for weight, is there a weight per volume and can i check the transom condition, i tapped with a hammer and it sounded like stone or brick?