| Returning home from work the next day
I was shocked to see the T-top and center console in the middle
of the driveway. Dustin, my step son, had decided to work on it
after school. Not only did he have those two items removed he had
cut out most of the floor with a reciprocating saw. What a mess!
Rotted wood and fiberglass lay strewn about everywhere. After examining
the progress we cleaned up the mess and got ready for dinner. We
again discussed what needed to be done and he recommended a local
boat building supply for the items needed to move forward.
The next day I contacted Fiberglass Services in Sarasota, FL.
The salesman was helpful and put a catalog in the mail for me.
A bit more detailed clean up followed a long day at work.
The next day (after work) was spent with a hammer and wood chisel
cutting out the huge amount of 5200 sealant from where the rear
deck attached to the hull. I found this a very tedious and exacting
job. Take too much off and you take out hull material, too little
and you have to do it again. There was enough work in that little
section to make both my hands and back sore for a couple of days.
Friday evening found the catalog from Fiberglass Services sitting
in the mailbox. That night and the next day were spent pouring
through the catalog, making lists of materials, and researching
components on the web.
If you are not using the web to research your projects you are
doing yourself a disservice. I have found it an invaluable tool
for determining what to buy and how to use what you have.
Sunday was “work on the house day” so nothing was
accomplished on the boat. In fact, other than ordering $2,300
worth of materials, the entire week following was spent on other
projects.
The materials ordered arrived two days later. Fortunately Dustin
was there and put them away for me. At about two hundred dollars
per sheet I was glad the structural closed cell foam sheets didn’t
sit in the front yard. I can envision how well they would work
as bicycle jumps for the local kids.
The following weekend was spent removing the flotation foam from
the hull. As a precaution I did a few core drills in the foam
and found that water was actually inside and under the foam. I
know this sounds crazy but the foam that was supposed to keep
water out had soaked it up like a sponge. Very heavy, very nasty
work.
Taking out the foam another very bad situation was uncovered.
All of the bulkheads were rotted. It seems that the foam being
constantly wet had forced water through the fiberglass into the
wood. I could actually push my finger through the bulkheads in
some areas. These were all removed as well. Fortunately the stringers
looked to be solid fiberglass and not affected.
Thinking about the problems we were coming up with I believe
that the boat was allowed to fill with water and sit for extended
periods. I could be wrong but this would explain why the rot was
even with the lowest point of the self bailing system. Obviously
everything made of wood below that point has to be replaced. In
fact everything possible made of wood should be replaced!
Several people advised me to just replace the rotted parts with
new wood. I know that it would have been much cheaper to do it
that way. However, I wanted to do this the best way possible,
not the cheapest. So here I go ordering more of those expensive
sheets of structural foam.
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