Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

[AKCoastie]

I have a 1971 Fiberform open cabin boat that I have a question about. I am having a hard time tracking this info down. The boat has a raised floor. I have been digging around these forums and from what I gather, alot of older fiberglass boats with a sealed hull like that have foam in it to make it unsinkable. I've also gathered that this foam can get very waterlogged and heavy. Is anyone familiar with these boats? Any idea if they have foam in the floors? Is it worth the effort to tear up the floor to dig this stuff out? Sorry if any of these are dumb questions, kinda in the dark about this subject.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

Checking for water in foam

this is what i do when i am inspecting a boat, that is suspect is water logged. i take a 2 inch hole saw, that you put in a drill, i cut a whole in the floor, then i have a piece of 3/4 inch pvc pipe, that i knoched teeth in the end. i twist this down into the foam, and retrieve a core, push the core out, and you will immediately know if there is water there. if there is not water, i reinsert the plug with 3m 5200

 

[AKCoastie]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

So is it a safe bet that it has a foam core then?

 

[salty87]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

do you have any reason to suspect its wet? soft spots, poor performance, always water in the bilge, etc...?

if the deck seems solid and everything else works, i wouldn't mess with it.

 

[AKCoastie]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

Well it does not have a bilge. The compartment is completely sealed except for the drain plug at the rear of the transom. I open it every time I take it out of the water. It's hard to tell if anything is coming out of the drain due to all the other water dripping off the back. I would guess it is a trickle at most after spending a few hours in the water. I just figured, being that it's 37 years old, that the potential is there.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

wait till you get home to open it, raise the bow as high as you can, then open.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Question about waterlogged foam in floor.

Another thing you can do is find out the total weight of what your rig should weigh if dry and redy for the water. Then take it to a weigh station and get it weighed. The difference will be the weight of the water.