rotten wood inside my boat

[gord 495]

I own a 1981 Bayliner 2270 explorer, I've discouvered rotten wood flooring inside the boat. underneath the rotten wood is foam, and of course it was wet. my question is this, do I need to replace that foam when I do my repairs, or can I simply leave it out and create accessible compartments under the floor. the hull of course is fibreglass. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks, Gord

 

[smitty112233]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

If you leave the wet foam in all it will do is rot the next piece of wood you put down. I would get rid of everything and start fresh.

 

[jimmythekid]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

first and foremost the foam is there to keep the boat from sinking in case of a swamped boat. Hit a rock, put a hole in the hull, its kinda nice to have something to sit in while waiting to be rescued. (Or have time to fix the leak and motor home yourself)<br /><br /> Some boat designs use the foam to support the floor as well. I think mine did but after I fixed it it did not need foam for support, but I put it in anyway because it was the "right way" to do it.<br /><br />others will jump in and correct me if i am wrong im sure but I think any boat under 26 feet in length need flotation foam to meet US Coast Gaurd regulations, so yes I would say that your boat would need it to be legal. Or maybe its 21 feet im not sure, but if it came that way from Bayliner, it most likely needs it.<br /><br />however, if you want more storage compartments, you can remove foam from one place and place it in another to suit your liking as long as there is enough total foam to keep it afloat in case of an accident<br /><br />1 cubic foot of 2lb foatation foam will support about 60lbs of weight under water.

 

[gord 495]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

thanks jimmy for the advice, I'll have to look into what the required length is reguarding foam for flotation. I wasn't thinking of having compartments under the floor for storage, i was just thinking that at least i could access that area to remove any condensation water should it occur. thats the problem I'm dealing with right now, water got in there and had no way of getting out, because they were sealed compartments.

 

[llfish]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

For safety I would replace the foam rather than leave it out. Might want to check with your insurance company and see if the omission of the foam will void your insurance.

 

[Solittle]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

Make sure that you check the stringers for rot. Often they go at the same time the floor does.

 

[gord 495]

Re: rotten wood inside my boat

the stringers seem to be o.k, they were encapsulated with fibreglass.<br />maybe I should look at putting drainage holes in the compartments so the water can drain to the bilge.