Mid cabin bilge

[EddieF17]

Hi guys, I am fairly new to boating and have inherited a 1995 rinker 280 fiesta vee. It needs work as it has been sitting for 4 years. While entering the cabin area, the carpet and wood under the carpet felt kind of soft. I decided to pull the carpet up as it was already coming unglued and noticed this. Is this normal? I already have a secondary bilge under the steps and this hole under the carpet doesn’t look original.

Can anybody help me with this?

Thank you in advance!
Eddie

 

[airshot]

Looks like you have some rot going on, you have your work cut out!! Start checking because if it is there then probably other areas also!!

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Welcome to iBoats. Looks like there needs to be more investigation. Looks like a nice boat, though not very entry level. That could be a massive amount of work and money depending on the shape it’s in.

 

[EddieF17]

Thank you for the reply guys! I really appreciate it! I was starting to feel lost not being able to find anything online!

I found more info and it appears that at one point the mid bilge stopped working and water came up to the top of where the table platform lies. I’m assuming this is were all that rot came from :/

Stairs, bathroom floor, engine bilge and aft cabin floors feel solid, so I am hoping that it’s only confined to this location

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Hopefully you’re right and it was contained to that. But it is an old boat, so make sure you do a thorough survey.

 

[EddieF17]

Hopefully you’re right and it was contained to that. But it is an old boat, so make sure you do a thorough survey.

Baylinerchuck, would you be able to give me some pointers as to what else to look at or tear apart? The last thing i want is to miss something and then something catastrophic happens when i have my family out on the water. You definitely seem to have a lot of experience under your belt! I am pretty handy when it comes to woodworking/fiberglass work an consider myself to be an adequate diy guy. What would you recommend?

Once again, i seriously appreciate all the advice. I was feeling like i was walking down a dark corridor with no guidance up until now. So this means a lot

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I don’t have any experience on these cruisers. But like most boats of this era, they weren’t built well and much of the structural elements were not properly encapsulated leaving the wood cores to become water logged and eventually rot. Freeze thaw cycles exacerbate the process. For areas that you can’t get into, a bore scope attached to your phone can be a great tool. My boat looked great from the deck, the carpet wasn’t even stained. One small soft spot caused me to pull up some of the carpet. What I found was rotten plywood, and I learned very quickly from this forum that boats rot from the bottom up. The carpet was covering up a lot of ugly. That led to a complete gut and restoration.
Open up as many panels and hatches as you can as low in the hull as possible. Drilling small test holes in the encapsulated wood will help you determine what’s wet. If the wood chips are dry, just fill the hole with 5200 and move on. There is a lot of help on this forum as you start looking around. Hopefully you can just replace the portion of the deck you pulled up and go boating. That’s best case scenario.

 

[kcassells]

Not for nothing but it looks like a shower behind the door?
Try and run it to see if water shows up.

 

[garbageguy]

Dealing with the rot is one (big) thing.

But before you do (if you want to get into that), I'd suggest determining how it happened. Did she possibly sit on a trailer for awhile, exposed to rain and/or snow, without properly draining? Our 25 ft wouldn't drain that area unless the trailer she was on, was well-tipped aft-wards, with the plug out. Certainly there could be other liquid-sources (nearby head/shower being one possibility)

 

[EddieF17]

Dealing with the rot is one (big) thing.

But before you do (if you want to get into that), I'd suggest determining how it happened. Did she possibly sit on a trailer for awhile, exposed to rain and/or snow, without properly draining? Our 25 ft wouldn't drain that area unless the trailer she was on, was well-tipped aft-wards, with the plug out. Certainly there could be other liquid-sources (nearby head/shower being one possibility)

Yea, the boats been sitting for 4 years in storage and the tarp that was covering it was torn and it appears that water was getting into the boat. I was also told that at one point the boats cabin flooded up to the table pole due to a faulty bilge pump. I’ll try the kitchen sink and shower as suggested just to make sure there arnt any holes or perforations in any line that maybe causing water accumulation.

Thank you guys!

 

[EddieF17]

Well guys, I did as you said and pulled the steps out of the way and sure enough it spread.

Anybody have any clue how to even tackle something like this?

 

[airshot]

Major dissasembly, like take everything out and start from scratch. You must consider time and effort to see if it will be worth it !! Consider 6 months to a year for complete rebuild.... What your seeing is a reason I only have aluminum boats.

 

[EddieF17]

want to trade? Hahaha this stinks! Are those full fiberglass shower assembly’s removable?

 

[airshot]

Every thing is removable ...with enough time and effort !!!