Water in Hull w/ rot

[eodum]

I am the new owner of #351. There were some soft spots in the deck when I purchased, which I was not too worried about. But when we lifted the boat off of the trailer, we noticed water coming out of the thru hulls. When I removed them, there was rot. Now we are trying to figure out the extent of the rot. We drilled holes around and there is about a foot on either side that is rotted. But I am SURE there is more moisture in there. The thru hulls are not the lowest point in the hull. Any advice on on how to deal with it? Other things I should look out for? Dry out? I have read a lot about the decks on this forum but not much about water in the hull below the waterline. I have the boat tarped right now, but living in Florida with the afternoon squalls, its not very practical. Wished I could get it in a warehouse and out of the elements.

[reidmefirst]

I'm not sure who in the class might have a 'hull cored with balsa/hull solid fiberglass' hull diagram but it might help in determining where water got in your boat. I recently had transducers replaced in my boat and mine had some water infiltration because the instruments were mounted too far forward. Under the v-berth, juuuuust forward of where the keel box is located, seems to be solid fiberglass.

How far forward were your instruments mounted? Might help in determining where water might have got to, if we can find anything like a diagram...

[eodum]

I will take a photo, but it is right underneath the V birth...the furthest forward of the 2 openings under the v birth bed

[reidmefirst]

For reference, what I'm talking about. Here is my new transducer placement (installed by a guy who knows these boats really well):



The transducer is placed just a few inches forward of the keel trunk.

Here is a cross-section of the hole that he drilled. To place the transducer he first epoxied a layer of synthetic core foam material down to the inside of the hull, and then drilled a hole through both the hull and foam:



We can see that the cross-section of the hull here is solid fiberglass. I think the area all around the keel trunk is solid fiberglass, which might save your bacon if water gets into the core of the hull forward of this.

My old transducer was quite a ways forward of this, and was bedded in the balsa-cored portion of the hull. No bueno.

[AJ Oliver]

Thanks for this information . .

It will be helpful to many of us in the class . .