water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

[Doral76]

I think many will find this inspiring and you will want to rip your floor out if you have water in your foam.
I've been reading on many forums about the subject of water logged foam in older boats with the open type cell.
The problem was first discovered when the floor felt a little springy after the purchase of the boat. Also with the 1976 200HP Johnson in excellent condition, most likely with a recent powerhead, (125 psi on all) and very strong running, my top speed alone with very little fuel (light) was only 46 MPH GPS with a stainless 14.25 X 23 pitch OMC prop. With 2 people on board and a full tank of fuel (25 gallons) 42 mph GPS.

Although this deep V hull sn't made for speed, I expected at least 48-50mph in it with a light load.

I decided to upgrade the seating to a removable post set up with nice fishing seats. After drilling the holes with the holesaw, a lot of water was noticed in the foam. 100% soaked. You would poke a hole and water would drain to it instantly.

I figured out that I must have at least 400lbs of water logged foam in there from the various accounts of water logged boats I read on here and the size of this boat. So before ripping out the still serviceable floor, I decided to try a few approaches too see the amount of success. Sure I wasnt going to get all the water out but at least try to get some out.

My mechanic Jason found a plug in the bilge area that probably was never removed. Looking the plug it was there for a very long time. We had a 2.5 gallon imp bucket by the drain hole and we measured the water coming out. 15 gallons total for a total weight of 150lbs !

Using a powerful shop vac on pressure mode we easily got another 30lbs of water out within 15 minutes after it had stopped draining by gravity. But be warned it puts tremendous pressure on your floors. They will seperate from the stringers if you aren't careful with pressure. I am sure letting the shop vac on for days it would drain a lot of water out. Not all but probably another 160lbs + with enough time. This boat was a great subject for this technique because there are no compartments the air goes everywhere under the floor.

Now we decided that it wasn't worth it to remove the water by pressure because it will just get wet again...

So the floor were pulled. Just the water in the floor was estimated at around 100lbs. So far we have close to 280lbs of water.

We used an empty garbage bin to weigh the foam, it when it was all out.
The soaked foam weighed in at 450lbs !!
All in all, we have removed 700lbs of water from the boat.

So was it worth it ? it sure was... My guess is the boat weighs around 2000lbs dry. So with fuel we are talking about a reduction of weight in the 25% range...

Can't wait to try it in the water once repaired... I am certain top speed goes up by 6-7 mph and a much much quicker plane time.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Those that remove the waterlogged foam and wood from their boats and put them back together with new dry material are always very pleased with the new found performance over the old waterlogged boat they used to have.

The people that "don't have time" to fix their old rotten waterlogged boats, I don't understand. They have time to run the very heavy and most likely rotten boat around on the water and risk life and limb to themselves and their passengers... but just don't have time to make the boat safe... unbelievable!

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Those that remove the waterlogged foam and wood from their boats and put them back together with new dry material are always very pleased with the new found performance over the old waterlogged boat they used to have.

The people that "don't have time" to fix their old rotten waterlogged boats, I don't understand. They have time to run the very heavy and most likely rotten boat around on the water and risk life and limb to themselves and their passengers... but just don't have time to make the boat safe... unbelievable!

It's going to be huge. Just one more person in the boat with a full tank of fuel slowed it down significantly as too much of the hull was wetted and the spray started at the front of the boat at full speed. With me alone and a low tank of fuel (which is in the bow) the boat ran dryier with only half the hull in the water and 46-47mph GPS. Imagine removing 700lbs all across the boat with weight concentrated in the middle.

But it is a good amount of work. Luckily for me because of the good solid fiberglass construction of this boat (other than the bad type of foam) the stringers and keel are still good, they are still looking strong. The floor were starting to get bad 1st bottom layer had signs of rot, the rest was just wet but still was strong enough to jump on from the windshield height.

I estimate another 2 hard days of work (3 guys) and we are back on the water with the new seats and new vinyl flooring.

We are even contemplating going with a tank under the floor or at least move it to the back to improve top speed and efficient cruise speed.

 

[chconger]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Hey Doral 76

.........the stringers and keel are still good........

How did you determine that?

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

wow thats a lot of weight! hope mine isn't that soggy when i rip it open... =0

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Hey Doral 76
How did you determine that?

There is no way to know for sure how much strength it has lost over the years.
The 1st thing I did was to take it for a structural test. A 200HP motor can't flex the transom at full throttle and can perform high speed 180 deg turns (surprisingly nimble for a water logged older boat). Boat is solid in rough water, not much ratlling, windshield is staying always true even in rough waters. I've been in worn out boats and you can usually tell by how it behaves on the water and how much flex you get.

There is tiny section with no fiberglass where a 1" by 2" piece of wood helped support the floor in two areas. That piece was in bad shape because the floor had many little holes that were not sealed. And that boat had a carpet.
That wood had no protection in it. Once pulled off the keel we could examine it. The keel was wet in that spot but was still very solid, a knife wouldn't go deep only a few mm. We will replace the bad wood and keep the structural pieces there as they look in good shape. The boat is being turbo dried right now.

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

wow thats a lot of weight! hope mine isn't that soggy when i rip it open... =0

The more water I found, the happier I was since I was seeing my top speed go up and my plane time go down. The boat already wasn't that slow at 46mph GPS for an older wide beam 19.5 foot deep V boat.

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

pictures

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

The floors are done we are going to fiberglass them both sides.
Tomorrow, the floor is going to be glassed in the boat.

We are going to move the tank temporarily to the back/middle right before the sump area.
If it make the boat behave better we will build a fishing platform over it and use it as a structural piece at the same time tied into the well area.

 

[chconger]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Hey that sure looks like rot in the stringer;

Here;

Particularly at the bottom.

Black = rot.

You will never have a better, cheaper opportunity to get it then right now...just sayin.

Chris

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

Hey that sure looks like rot in the stringer;

Here;

Particularly at the bottom.

Black = rot.

You will never have a better, cheaper opportunity to get it then right now...just sayin.

Chris

Yes that is true best would be to do it all. It's not in perfect condition but I believe it is strong enough given it does not perforate deep with a sharp object. I'm not going to do a full restoration, just the floors and getting rid of the 700lbs excess weight is enough. If the boat becomes dangerous or the transom shows signs of fatigue we will scrap it and keep the motor seats and other nice accessories on it.

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

We build some drains that were not there and should have there from the upper bilge area to the side section of the hull.
The water can't accumulate there. Just have to avoid getting the bilge full. We can allow cap them if we are worried about safety in case the bilge gets full. We used polysterene high density blue insulation for flotation. We increased the strenght of the stringer supports and tied them in with long strand fiberglass to the original fiberglass. We added a few supports.

The floor is installed and fits very neatly and is so much stronger than before, very well supported all around and well connected to the sides and the keel and stringers with long strand fiberglass and treated screws. We have to complete the tie in with more fiberglass matting and resin but that is almost overkill, the boat feels so strong walking on it, you don't feel any dip when a few guys are walking around.

We have 3 full days in it with 3 guys. We have another full day and it's ready to go. Tomorrow, if my spouse allows it, I will finish adding support with matting and seal the whole deck and install the seat mounts.

 

[Doral76]

Re: water logged 1976 Doral 19.5 foot boat...was it worth it...

RESULTS !!

I am very very pleased with the new found performance...

Here are the new speeds:

Top speed was, with very light load but water logged (700lbs of water): 46 mph in cool weather (60F)

New top speed without the wet foam and new floors: 54 mph @ 85F temps.
A gain of 8 mph GPS, not too shabby !!

My guess is temp for temp, 46 mph was in a lake in cool weather, my new 54mph was in hot weather in rough waters of the river, it is probably at least 10mph difference when comparing in equal conditions.

Plane time, cut in half easily, it's a rocket now for a 19.5 foot fishing boat. It must be very light of a boat (can't find manufacturer specs)

It turns on a dime now... it used to turn tight before, now, I can't even hold on to my seat/steering and I'm not turning at max rate yet. I need the handles you see on jet boats. I owed many smaller sport boats with 140HP engines or so and never have I had a boat that turned on rail like this.

for the best part, the efficient cruise (with very little wake behind the boat) 20mph-40mph.

20mph is 2700rpm, 25mph is 3200rpm 40mph is 4000rpm.

Before minimum cruise without creating a big wake was 28 mph @ 4000rpm. A gain of 12 mph at the same throttle position !!!

The boat is so much better on fuel, we went for a nice long cruise and never could I do this before on this small 20 gallon tank and the 200HP gas guzzler Johnson.

The only two downside which I expected with the reduction of weight. It isn't a cadillac of the waters anymore. It used to cut big waves like nothing, now it rides them so the ride is now average in rough waters. But it has way less chance of taking on water from a big wave as it floats much higher.

Also another disadvantage is we lost some stability. We can't have all four onboard go on the same side without having a strong list anymore. That 700 lbs of water concentrated at the keel made this boat ultra stable and smooth. It was a real low budget ballast lol !