Thread: I found the lake...Sprint 277

Water everywhere!

See you got that respirator!

It always amazed me how I never could dry out a saturated hull. After removing a cap, most of the fiberglass skins over voids, even dig out most of the foam, still, till all the foam is out all of the water won't be. I gelcoat the bilges of my projects because I feel the porosity of bare fiberglass allows water to permeate the fiberglass migrating into the foam. A 2# foam does help provided hull spine integrity, torsional strength, and noise dampening IMO.

Originally Posted by Rojo

It always amazed me how I never could dry out a saturated hull. After removing a cap, most of the fiberglass skins over voids, even dig out most of the foam, still, till all the foam is out all of the water won't be. I gelcoat the bilges of my projects because I feel the porosity of bare fiberglass allows water to permeate the fiberglass migrating into the foam. A 2# foam does help provided hull spine integrity, torsional strength, and noise dampening IMO.

Additional fiberglass, and using epoxy resin (instead of a polyester resin), maybe could do the same, no?

At 8 pounds a gallon. Wet foam sure does add up

Originally Posted by Slab

Additional fiberglass, and using epoxy resin (instead of a polyester resin), maybe could do the same, no?

I only use epoxy for hull stringer & transom work but no, epoxy has a 3000 psi adhesion to Polyester's 300 psi, epoxy will take more twisting and abuse, but the lamination design, lay up practices (bagging is best), of course adding Carbon fiber stiffens, but a well foamed in stringer system has no replacement. Several of the better built boats today have a fiberglass waffle stringer system (no lamination over a core like wood or Coosa) that is hollow with a 2# foam injected internally in the stringer system voids. We all Hate Foam, I do too, really hate digging the wet stuff out, just not sound Marine Engineering to skip it IMO. Please don't shoot the messenger.

Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

At 8 pounds a gallon. Wet foam sure does add up

Respectfully speaking the water must have a way in. I see countless boats pick up at any given ramp, the owners walk to the transom, and pull their plugs and gallons of water runs out and not think a thought about how it got there or care. Not a drop is supposed to run out unless you got caught in a rain storm. Sprint grade boats like Blazers of the day, Champions too, none had the waterproofing internally just externally. Now take a Cobalt, their bilges are a pretty as the rest of the hull. Gelcoating your bilge in a build like Slab is doing is critical in preventing moisture migration to the foam. Also if you pick up your boat and have water in the bilge fix the leak. A notorious place for a boat to put water directly on top of the foam, The Rub Rail Seam! More Rub Rails Seams leak that owners could ever imagine and the water goes right on top of the foam. Condensation plays a part too, why I keep all my fiberglass boats inside when not in use.