seeping hull

[grampa's toy]

my friend has a 72 25ft trojen do to a faulty bilge pump he ended up with several hundred gals of water in the boat. after draining there was water seeping out of the hull, he thinks the hull is leaking I think the glass is soaked. the hull doesn't look to rough but the plan is for us to sand and reseal the hull this spring. I have been told it takes 2 yrs to dry a hull to refinish, also that epoxy is only 60% effective at sealing a hull. this forum is loaded with people been there done that I need advice from someone who knows what they are talking about.

 

[Whaler Proud]

Re: seeping hull

There is probably water in the flotation foam (if the boat has any0.<br /><br />Try locating the point where most of the water seems to be seeping out. Drill a 1/4" hole in that area and attach a shop-vac. You can pull quite a bit of water out this way.<br /><br />Another way is to drill several holes along the entire bottom of the boat and insert a small strip of cloth. This will help wick the water out.<br /><br />Try and keep the bow end elevated so that the water can drain toward the stern. Keep the boat cobered. Any process to dry it out is going to take time. Also, find out what the boat weighs new (dry) and weigh the boat before you drill any holes. By didviding the weight difference by the weight of wayer per gallon you can get an idea of what you are up against.

 

[Hooty]

Re: seeping hull

WP's got ya on the right track. I'd check with Trojan (the manufacturer or dealer) and find out if they used in-place urethane foam. If they did,you're probably sitting on a huge, wet sponge. The lower density foams (2 lbs/cu.ft. range) is used for flotation and will, eventually, absorb water. The higher density foams (4 lbs/cu.ft. and up) is structual foam and not as prone to sucking up water. The two methods mentioned above will, eventually, evacuate the water. The fastest way is to tear the old, wet stuff out.<br /><br />c/6<br />Hooty

 

[Rhadley]

Re: seeping hull

If the foam dries out, can you just fiberglass over the area and call it done? Or is there wood in there also?

 

[grampa's toy]

Re: seeping hull

thanks for the ideas will contact trojen, the boat is coming out in about a week we will learn more when we can inspect the hull from the out side . I,m not sure if there is foam but I like the shop vac idea. this boat had been sitting for 2 years. before my friend bought it ,It had been donated to a charity .My friend got it for 2200$ .It needs the heads rebuilt but overall not in bad shape. We are going to tear into it over the winter. I'm not sure how to get it weighed. but I'll look into that also. thanks for the advice I'll keep you posted .any other ideas will be apriciated.

 

[grampa's toy]

Re: seeping hull

update we pulled the boat, set it on stands so it will drain. water is seeping from between the layers of fiberglass in the hull . you can hear it and see it, there is no foam . inspection shows some chips in the hull to the glassweave. the hope is the water will drain before it freezes . will be asking for advice on patching the hull and resealing in the spring ,in the mean time can the water in the fiberglass mean the hull is bad? any good reading for beginer on working with fiberglass? thanks for the advice so far

 

[Hooty]

Re: seeping hull

If it doesn't have foam and you can't see a hole in the hull, you've probably just got water under the floor. I'd tilt the bow up as far as possible and punch a couple of good sized hole in the floor (avoiding the stringers) as far aft as possible and either pump or siphon the water out.<br /><br />c/6<br />Hooty