Sad that they put all this foam (sponge) in boats these days.

[Slab]

I watched this video, and I cringed about all the foam they seal into the hulls and stringers of boats these days. It's great when new, but if water does get into this foam, it's not going anywhere. My recent project has shown me that.



Here's where I break into a sealed compartment in my 1996 Sprint Fiberglass boat and "find a lake".



My stringers were rotten too, and they are supposably sealed as well, but nothing is really sealed. Water gets everywhere, and that foam just acts like a sponge, once it enters into that foam, it is there forever! The absolutely terrible thing is, to inject the foam on my boat, they drill a hole. And they did not even attempt to seal that hole up. So every drop of water that sank into it, was still there.

I'm still watching this guys series of videos about his bass boat getting built. I wanna see if they seal up those foam injection points in that boat. I will see.

I just seen where they cut the foam where they sprayed it on the bottom of the cap compartments, before seating the cap. All I see is that they unsealed that foam by cutting into it, and made it more sponge like!

Yes I'm ranting again, but foam holds water. They need to come up with a better solution.

I know this is an aluminum boat, but it's shows how bad foam is once it gets wet:



And yeah, you can seal fiberglass, but can you guarantee it's sealed, cause water gets everywhere on a boat, after all, it's a boat.

[rnvinc]

When I added the floor to my 1860 Landau in 1998 I used the blue board foam sheeting like used in residential housing ... but I stacked the pieces vertically between the ribs so that water could still get to the boat hull strakes and make its way toward the transom drain hole ...

That blue board sheeting is still in as good a shape as when I installed it in 1998 ...

Plus ... it’s easy to remove for working certain tasks ...



Rickie


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[Slab]

When I added the floor to my 1860 Landau in 1998 I used the blue board foam sheeting like used in residential housing ... but I stacked the pieces vertically between the ribs so that water could still get to the boat hull strakes and make its way toward the transom drain hole ...

That blue board sheeting is still in as good a shape as when I installed it in 1998 ...

Plus ... it’s easy to remove for working certain tasks ...



Rickie


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

That’s awesome Rickie. That’s what ima gonna do too. Gotta have drainage.




Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[Rojo]

That compartment is for positive flotation too. Should be sealed. All cookie cutter boats in a mid price range are built the same. Pull the cap & play guess who's boat it is. You don't see any gelcoat on that raw fiberglass work do you?

[Slab]

That compartment is for positive flotation too. Should be sealed. All cookie cutter boats in a mid price range are built the same. Pull the cap & play guess who's boat it is. You don't see any gelcoat on that raw fiberglass work do you?

Yep, no gelcoat means water can make it's way though if it sits on it long enough, right?

And yeah, positive flotation only if sealed to keep the water out. Mine had negative floatation, full of water, could fish in it, or at least keep your minners in it! lol

[BuckeyeCrappie]

, I was thinking about a project boat but ……hmmmm….uhhhhhhhh…….wifey……….mowing……….painting…… …….doctors…………brain meltdown ……….. maybe…

[Ketchn]

yeppers ,everyone copied the ole whaler builds from back when , and sadly when they leak a bit , they stay WET forever ....

[Slab]

yeppers ,everyone copied the ole whaler builds from back when , and sadly when they leak a bit , they stay WET forever ....

Those Whalers were pretty tightly built and a lot less complex. Plus they had scupper holes so water did not necessarily collect in the bilge. Kinda like my Key West 1720. Water never sloshes around in a bilge after a rain storm, just runs off the floor. Bass boats have a drain in the floor to the bilge area, so there's almost always water there sloshing around the bottom of the boat. IMHO

[Ketchn]

Those Whalers were pretty tightly built and a lot less complex. Plus they had scupper holes so water did not necessarily collect in the bilge. Kinda like my Key West 1720. Water never sloshes around in a bilge after a rain storm, just runs off the floor. Bass boats have a drain in the floor to the bilge area, so there's almost always water there sloshing around the bottom of the boat. IMHO

once them whalers get old the leak a bit though and NEVER dry out , my lil puddle hopper was just divine until she developed a few hull isuues , once she started to leak a bit ,she went from an empty Styrofoam cup to a porcelain cup full of coffee quickly

[DockShootinJack]

Thought I read somewhere where the new stuff is closed cell stuff. Not supposed to absorb water