starting my 22 ft v5 holiday project....question

[bob johnson]

as I cleaned out the leaves and power washed the boat, getting ready to have it soda blasted. I can see that the ribs down the middle inside the boat have VERY little clearance under them to allow water to work its way back to the bilge. thus any little debris clogs that space and water has to build till it goes over the rib..so you will eventually have 8 little dams of water.

what do you guys do about that?

on the 18 ft ss I had started to refurbish, I drilled a 1/4" dia hole above the lip and through the bottom of the dome of the rib to help water make its way back...theoretically I am weakening that...but not my much I am thinking..

is that something that has bothered any of you ?

bob

 

[Watermann]

That's a big ole gal you got there and with the rare V5 config to boot. :thumb:

So the limber holes question... about all I've seen done is that to make sure they're cleaned out well. I didn't worry about it at all since the SeaNymph resto I did didn't even have any limber holes under the ribs. I certainly wouldn't start drilling any holes, something as small as 1/4" would just plug up in an instant and anything bigger would compromise the materials strength. If there's a large amount of water coming into your boat no matter what it's going to spill over the tops of the ribs. The limber holes give passage to small amounts of water is all. The remaining construction debris should only be saw dust, little spirals of AL from drilling holes and flakes of foam.

I wouldn't give it a second thought and move on to posting more pics for us to see and laying out your plans for that beauty!

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I looked at the same tiny crack between the frame and hull, sprayed water in there to see how it flowed and determined it pretty much does NOT flow if there is a speck of dirt in there

That being said, the frame is only 1 1/4" tall so with the hull V shape, it doesn't take much to go over the top.

Also, I sprayed and sprayed my center gap and the gap on the end with water trying to clean out the water (With the boat horizontal on my boatisserie) and I can tell you for a fact, you will never get all the crap that could clog the crack out of there.

I definitely would not weaken the frames with drilling, and I also wouldn't be concerned about the water passing through them, it will go over if it fills up enough and I think we are talking 2 gallons or less to cross the top, which isn't much.

Sure, it would be great for it to be totally dry, but such is life. it is acceptable to me to leave as is.

Neil

 

[Decker83]

Very nice hull you have.. Wish I could have found one.. Down here in Texas they are hard to come by..
What I have read here on I-boats, a lot of guys use the power washer at the end of the ribs and blow thru.. Also use their air compressor to blow thru..

 

[hayko1971]

yeah, I used my compressor to blow out the ribs with the Admiral on the other side catching all the debris with the shop vac. then i went at them again with the pressure washer and was surprised at how much more junk came out. I just kept flushing and blasting until the water ran clear and free. It was quite satisfying to watch the water flow to the bilge unimpeeded

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Dont forget about under the knee brace too, if yours has one. Everything flows to the back under those and piles up. I would think yours has that brace or two. Cant tell from the picture.

 

[GA_Boater]

yeah, I used my compressor to blow out the ribs with the Admiral on the other side catching all the debris with the shop vac. then i went at them again with the pressure washer and was surprised at how much more junk came out. I just kept flushing and blasting until the water ran clear and free. It was quite satisfying to watch the water flow to the bilge unimpeeded

Hayko pretty much has it. Blow and wash until it runs clear. Then do it one more time.

I couldn't believe how long it took. And I know some of the styrofoam flotation bits are still in there. That stuff is made of bunny DNA.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Lol, bunny DNA..... good reference GA.

 

[bob johnson]

I think I know what you guys are talking about...stuff INSIDE the rib that goes UP the bottom on each side....on my smaller starcrafts there was a much bigger gap in the center under the rib.. and anything that washed down from the sides inside those ribs would eventually wash out in the middle... this boat with no opening...will not let anything that got down inside the rib structure to come out, UNLESS I stand the boat on its side and blast water in to the end of the rib on the verticle side!!!

what I may even do is build up a ramp on the top side of each rib down the center of the hull so water will "flow" over it easier.... I could do it with epoxy and keep it smooth, and then when trailering , every time I went up a steeper hill the water would make it over those ribs!!

BOB

 

[dozerII]

Great looking V5 Bob, I agree drilling any size hole in the bottom curve of the rob will give it a point to start a crack. My SS201 had no limber holes either and I was faced with the same problem, I just left a channel in the flotation foam at the top of the rib for drainage.

 

[home-boy]

They wanted $1500 to soda blast mine, what price did they tell you?

 

[bob johnson]

They wanted $1500 to soda blast mine, what price did they tell you?

they wanted $1050 for the boat if they came to me. but they will take $600 if I bring the boat to them. 2 summers ago I found a guy on craigslist that would do it in my driveway for $500....

there is still one guy that isn't replying or answering his phone that advertises...

I think I am going to can the idea of drilling holes... and just do the ramp of epoxy on the up side of each rib down the middle, to make it easier for water to flow over the rib.

bob

 

[dozerII]

Just my 2 cents but I don't think I would do the epoxy ramps either, if they separate even a little it will trap moisture between the ramp and the rib/hull causing corrosion.

 

[Watermann]

Bob I really wouldn't give it a second thought. It's not worth the expense (would take gallons) or trouble to create the epoxy tail races and like dozer says it could cause trouble down the line.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Its made it this long the way it was designed, only bad thing i think you could do to make it bad or worse is put pour foam in there. keep it stored right and dryed out itll make it another 30 years.

I tend to want to reinvent the wheel myself at times too though.

 

[classiccat]

How about putting a loooong rod locker in there with a removable bottom. Clean that sucka out whenever u take in alot of that brackish huddy water.

 

[laurentide]

I remember reading someone's SC thread (can't remember who or what boat) in which they installed some thick fishing braid, 250# or so, in a loop going through the limber holes and then over all the ribs. Every once in a while you'd just pull the braid from the aft bilge access so it would clear out all the limber holes.

And count me in as someone who was amazed at how much junk was under the ribs. It took me hours to get all the cedar litter out of there.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

I remember reading someone's SC thread (can't remember who or what boat) in which they installed some thick fishing braid, 250# or so, in a loop going through the limber holes and then over all the ribs. Every once in a while you'd just pull the braid from the aft bilge access so it would clear out all the limber holes.

That is a neat idea im going to consider now.

 

[bob johnson]

That is a neat idea im going to consider now.

I am wondering if that would even fit under the ribs in this boat of mine!!

bob

 

[bob johnson]

How about putting a loooong rod locker in there with a removable bottom. Clean that sucka out whenever u take in alot of that brackish huddy water.

I think I am going to try and seal the floor to the sides of the boat and not have any gaps or openings....I want to try and keep the water from getting into the bilge unless it runs the whole length of the floor and fall into the bilge at the stern!!!..then no debris has a chance to get stuck.

bob