Boat ownership.......the pitfalls and the pleasures....

[SADS 669]

Closed cell foam bulkheads waiting for fiberglass covering to start firming up the floor

Also the split squared off ready for matting tied into the bulkheads

Anyone wants advice from Francis the expert doing this, please email [email protected]. He really knows his stuff.....

 

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[dieselram94]

Looks great!! Those bulkheads are sweet! That boat will be better than new and have a rock solid floor.

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[dieselram94]

um... food for thought guys... plywood and the others are "out"... nida core is the way to go

I'm going to Google this product right now. I've never heard of it.

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[dieselram94]

That's where I'm at... my 16' tri-hull isn't anything special, but it's paid for and we've had a lot of fun in it, but the floors are going... I either need to sell it cheap to someone who who can do the repair or just stop ***** footing around and do it my self. My fiberglassing knowledge is minimal, so I have been hesitant to take on a big project. Plus I can't make up my mind on what to replace the rotten wood with... Go cheap plywood and sell it soon, Marine plywood, or go all out and pour a composite floor.

I would fix it and fix it right and enjoy it for years to come. A boat with a soft floor usually doesn't fetch much money...

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[SADS 669]

Ram, not sure what the thick foam in my boat is called, I'll ask Francis. The nida core I think is thin stuff that does the same job on smaller boats, I'll photograph both bits and post them.....

 

[Dave44]

So you are going to cover the closed cell with fiberglass for reinforcement and to bind it to the floor? Just trying to keep up, I am so boat illiterate, but I am very good with structural issues. And have used closed cell and open cell in insulating, it seems that even closed cell could use help? Or does it not?


And I am sorry, what is a "split" ?

 

[SADS 669]

A split is a firkin great long crack ( or hole) in the hull......ha ha.

Francis assures me and I believe him that closed cell foam doesn't take on water and the foam you see will be glassed all over and bound to the floor and itself to give lateral stability to already strong forward and back,strength.....

 

[Dave44]

I googled the stuff and it looks like you can get it in a variety of expensive sizes. It looks fantastic, but it is honeycombed? Can water accumulate in it? That doesn't sound good if so, I like floating if I can, I saw jaws once!

 

[Dave44]

Sweet SADDS! I thought you had some new nautical term, lol. Sorry bout that.
Closed cell gets very stiff, but I figured to really strengthen it and bind it glass would do it.

Again, sorry bout all the questions. What kind of foam will you fill the voids with? And will the fuel tank still fit between the bulkheads?

 

[dieselram94]

Ram, not sure what the thick foam in my boat is called, I'll ask Francis. The nida core I think is thin stuff that does the same job on smaller boats, I'll photograph both bits and post them.....

I was just looking at nida core online and it is expensive and looks like an awesome product. They also have a pourable nida core product for repairs to transoms and such. I am still looking at the webpages about it though. Good to know...

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[SADS 669]

All the voids are gonna be storage for goodies, updates will show that like tanks sitting on the hull instead of the deck lowering centre of gravity where possible

Voids don't have to be foam filled if they are really tight.

Most foam filled boats are so the company can Bragg about them being unsinkable.....

 

[dieselram94]

I googled the stuff and it looks like you can get it in a variety of expensive sizes. It looks fantastic, but it is honeycombed? Can water accumulate in it? That doesn't sound good if so, I like floating if I can, I saw jaws once!

Dave, it looks to me that the honeycomb is closed and embedded so water should not pool up in it. But that was the blury picture of it on my cell phone.

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[dieselram94]

All the voids are gonna be storage for goodies, updates will show that like tanks sitting on the hull instead of the deck lowering centre of gravity where possible

Voids don't have to be foam filled if they are really tight

More pics the better! Lol. Is your transom still solid?

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[Dave44]

I didn't know they were foam filled, but I would have thought there would be something more substantial for the sake of"ballast" ? I do like the idea of storage, never enough of that.

 

[AugustMoose87]

Moose,

Łet me know if you want the email address of the expert here who really knows boats.....

Thanks, is it the one you posted already? I would love to hear some thoughts on my two big issues... The floors/stingers and gel coat repair.

Is your transom still solid?

That is the one area I have some experience with.... On my old 14' aluminum jon boat, I replaced the rotting wood with this plastic sheet. I got lucky and caught a guy at the University hydrology lad who was getting rid of some sheets of 1/2"x8'x4' of gray plastic. I wish I would have found out what it was and taken every sheet he was throwing out. It had less flex than plywood, and although it did get a little brittle in the cold, it was still stronger than plywood (flex and impact). The only down side was it was heavier than wood, but not by much. It was especially nice to have when we lived in humid Iowa. I ended up buying the fiberglass tri-hull because the jon boat was too small (me, the wife and the dog plus some hunting/fishing gear was all it could handle). I got the tri-hull knowing what needed work, but not how much work and money that was going to be... Long story short, the transom was the first thing I tackled. I used SeaCast, and while I had some issues, they were my fault (I didn't brace the inside half of my mold enough, so it bowed out and I ended up needing more than I ordered). And I have to say I a quite pleased with how it came out. It was pricey, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone rebuilding the transom on a fiberglass boat. I am 100% convinced that transom will be solid as a rock long after the rest of the hull it toast.

I would fix it and fix it right and enjoy it for years to come. A boat with a soft floor usually doesn't fetch much money...

That is part of my dilemma... Once we moved back to Colorado, I realized I need/want an aluminum boat . My V6 Xterra is near its limit with the fiberglass boat on the plains, but trying to take it up in to the mountains as sketchy. So if we were still in Iowa, and planned to stay there, that is exactly what I would do. But since I need/want to sell the boat, I am hesitant to put a lot of time and money in to the boat, since I know "doing it right" won't translate in to much of price difference from doing it with regular old plywood.

 

[dieselram94]

Thanks, is it the one you posted already? I would love to hear some thoughts on my two big issues... The floors/stingers and gel coat repair.



That is the one area I have some experience with.... On my old 14' aluminum jon boat, I replaced the rotting wood with this plastic sheet. I got lucky and caught a guy at the University hydrology lad who was getting rid of some sheets of 1/2"x8'x4' of gray plastic. I wish I would have found out what it was and taken every sheet he was throwing out. It had less flex than plywood, and although it did get a little brittle in the cold, it was still stronger than plywood (flex and impact). The only down side was it was heavier than wood, but not by much. It was especially nice to have when we lived in humid Iowa. I ended up buying the fiberglass tri-hull because the jon boat was too small (me, the wife and the dog plus some hunting/fishing gear was all it could handle). I got the tri-hull knowing what needed work, but not how much work and money that was going to be... Long story short, the transom was the first thing I tackled. I used SeaCast, and while I had some issues, they were my fault (I didn't brace the inside half of my mold enough, so it bowed out and I ended up needing more than I ordered). And I have to say I a quite pleased with how it came out. It was pricey, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone rebuilding the transom on a fiberglass boat. I am 100% convinced that transom will be solid as a rock long after the rest of the hull it toast.



That is part of my dilemma... Once we moved back to Colorado, I realized I need/want an aluminum boat . My V6 Xterra is near its limit with the fiberglass boat on the plains, but trying to take it up in to the mountains as sketchy. So if we were still in Iowa, and planned to stay there, that is exactly what I would do. But since I need/want to sell the boat, I am hesitant to put a lot of time and money in to the boat, since I know "doing it right" won't translate in to much of price difference from doing it with regular old plywood.

When you did your transom repair did you leave the original skin of the boat in place and remove the rotted wood?

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[SADS 669]

Moose, Francis the guy doing my boat is on the chamcem email address......nice job on the transom... He's expecting your message.

 

[Au_Dreamers]

WOW SADS, treasure hunting and hull rebuilding you truly are a sadomasochist!!

When you get done with that come on over to Florida and you can do some stringers in a Bertram 28, hahaha

Some material I've been looking at is from Prisma composite preforms.

If you put them in a search engine they have some youtube videos. The product core is pre-wrapped in glass.

The structural grid: Prefabrication : CompositesWorld

Interesting stuff in the learning process.

 

[SADS 669]

Today's update. Busy repairing the crack ( hole) and bonding the hull floor to the two light foam ( only to support the glass mat) bulkheads, at the end of play both bulkheads and the hole are covered in fiberglass.

 

[SADS 669]

WOW SADS, treasure hunting and hull rebuilding you truly are a sadomasochist!! When you get done with that come on over to Florida and you can do some stringers in a Bertram 28, hahaha Some material I've been looking at is from Prisma composite preforms. If you put them in a search engine they have some youtube videos. The product core is pre-wrapped in glass. The structural grid: Prefabrication : CompositesWorld Interesting stuff in the learning process.

AU, send the Bertram over We'll do it, you might not get it back though, they are great hulls........