TON of questions about Starcraft Islander (22' - 1968) upgrades, modifications, etc. :)

[acarleson]

Hello, everyone!
I have a 22 foot Islander from 1968, and it's going to be in dry storage for a few weeks while they're ripping up the road in front of my local marina. I figure I can use this time to make some strategic modifications For reference, I'm pretty mechanically-inclined, have most tools in my shop, and mostly use my boat for fishing, if that gives you an idea of what modifications would be in my wheelhouse. So I have a very broad, general question and then some specific questions.

The Big Question: What are your recommended older ('68-ish) Islander upgrades or modifications? Like, what would you all recommend doing? What upgrades have made your boating life MUCH better?

Specific questions:
1) Flooring. The big issue that I have with my islander is that the floor is just plywood and carpet, which means I have to get that cover on TIGHT when it rains. I'm so jealous of the boats with fiberglass floors that can just sit out in the rain and the water drains right out, and they never have to worry about water damage. One thing I'd love to do is to re-do my flooring, but I have no idea what kind of task this would be for an islander. I'm imagining that it can be as straightforward as just taking the seats out, pulling back the carpet, and re-cutting plywood to the right shape and re-fastening it. So, my questions on flooring: Is it that easy? I'd love to rip out the flooring that's in there now and put in fiberglassed plywood so I don't have to worry as much about rain, is that reasonable or will I always have to worry about rain?
2) Floatation Foam: I'd also like to re-do the floatation foam. do I need to take the flooring out anyways to do this? How much foam do I need, is there some calculation that gives me enough foam so that my boat won't sink in the event of an accident or whatever?
3) Livewell: My absolute dream is to install a livewell, or even a small baitwell. Is that possible in an old islander? Has anyone ever done this? I imagine that I could just install something underneath the flooring, which I guess would have to be done with the flooring out (I had no idea that so many of my questions would be about flooring). Can my boat support a livewell, or should I really just stuff every square inch under the flooring with foam? If I can add a livewell, where is the best place to put it (bow, stern, middle)?
4) how strong is my bow cover? I've been walking around up there lately, but I can't tell how strong the aluminum is. Should I feel totally comfortable walking on the bow, or not? If it's quite strong, is there any way to install a higher railing or even seating up there?

Any other tips, tricks, upgrades, modifications, etc. talk is welcome.

Thank you all, I love this community!

 

[acarleson]

Hi,
I'm working on a 22' starcraft islander, which is an aluminum i/o hull. I've been reading through posts about how to properly foam a boat, and I've noticed that the big issue seems to be: when you have larger boats, especially with big heavy motors... where do you put all the foam?

And some posters have kind of commented things like, yeah, this is why large boats don't really rely on foam (implying that there's maybe some other way that large boats stay afloat in the case of a catastrophe). So my question: what do people use, if not foam? Is it possible to foam an islander enough to keep it totally afloat in the event of a full hull breach?

I am hoping to redo the floors in my islander in the very near future and would like to put in an in-floor livewell, but if my only flotation option is foam, and it'd be barely cutting it close as-is with the whole bilge filled with foam, maybe I just won't have any room for a livewell at all.

Any thought appreciated, thank you!

 

[Watermann]

Before any removal and upgrades of deck covering, is your current decking rotten and needing replaced? Not covering a boat after spending time and money will result in the interior being ruined no matter. Case in point all the old fiberglass boats we get for donors are derelict being rotted out from neglect.

Flotation foam in most cases will keep your boat from going down immediately and the formula I used was put the foam everywhere you can get it and hope for the best in the rare event.

The bow cover is thin Al, the bow support arches if in good condition will have no problem supporting someone. As far as making an Islander a bow rider with high rails and seating, I really don't know what to say about that.

 

[acarleson]

Thanks, @Watermann:: My current deck is not rotting, but I have a ew under-deck things that I'd like to do, plus my boat is so old that I feel like some inspection stuff is probably in order. For example:
+ I'd like to track down a minor rivet leak and tighten.
+ I'd like to inspect the gas tank and lines
+ I'd like to add an under-deck live well
+ As far as I can tell, my boat has NO foam and I'd like to add... some kind of flotation.
+ I was just going through @jasoutside's rebuild and I realized for the first time that islanders have wood inside their stringers? I had no idea. So I should look into inspecting those, as well.

But your point is well-taken about not leaving it out in the elements either way. but that makes things easier because if I'm going to keep things covered and buttoned up tight anyways, maybe I only need to paint the plywood.

But good to know that it's okay to walk on the bow, because I've been doing it!

 

[Grub54891]

If it's an original deck, when you pull it up you will see where the foam actually is, if any. Replace it with the same, and Maby some extra if there is places to put it.

 

[acarleson]

I doubt the deck is original. I've peeked through as much as I can and I don't see any foam in there at all. I guess my question is also more about how much foam it's possible to put in an islander... is it possible to pack enough foam in there so it won't sink? I'm just not even sure whether it would take 10x the foam that I could fit under the deck just to keep it afloat or whether a few pieces of styrofoam just floating around under the deck will do it. I tried using some calculations that I found online but I don't know the answer to a number of the variables. I feel like someone out there must have packed their starcraft full of foam and then had a bellows rip out or something, right? Did your starcraft sink or stay afloat? lol. Thank you.