17' Canada Craft trihull

[jheron]

I picked up a 1973 17' Canada Craft trihull bow rider with a 1977 115 hp 6 cyl. merc with power trim for $850.00 can. with a newer ezloader trailer. The guy I bought it from had it for 20 years and never had a problem with it, says it was a great ski boat and never noticed that it was only rated for a 90hp he bought it from a marina as is.<br /> The transom seems solid when I grab the motor and give it a good shake. But on the port side of the boat tawards the stern the floor seemed kind of mushy so I cut an 18" X 18" hole in the floor to find that the ply under the glass is rotten and then under the ply I can see a 2X4 thwart that is rotten. there is a few inches of foam then the hull of the boat the foam is saturated with water. <br /> My question is should I just screw a new piece of 3/4" treated ply rite over the floor and not worry about it or should I split the boat in half and put a whole new floor and 2X4's in it? Then what about the foam? Are the 2X4's just to support the floor or are they to strengthen the hull? I guess the answer to my last question will answer the first lol The floor in the rest of the boat feels solid as a rock as the boat was stored on an angle that explains wy the port side is rotten.<br /> What are some opinions about the old merc is it a good old motor? What about the boat only being rated for a 90hp is that a big issue? <br /> I know lots of questions eh! I am trying to decide what is the best thing to do I am fairly handy but have no boat experiance.<br /> Thanks for any and all help!<br />Regards Jon

 

[Catchem]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Jon,It's always a bigger job than what you first think.If it feels pretty solid and you can wait until winter use it. Then this winter I would remove as much floor as needed to get a good look under it and replace what you have to.Most times the rot is like the tip of an iceburg.Lots more where you can't see it.Be ready to do some work and good luck.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Click my link below, read through, that is what you have to look forward to. Good luck...

 

[jheron]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Thanks for the replys! JasonJ nice job!! <br />So then are you saying that the wood is more to support the floor and not the hull? Do you think its worth rebuilding the boat when its only rated for a 90hp and I have a 115hp? When going out on lake Huron you better be confident in your boat <br /> What kind of mony are we talking about for the glass and resin to do a job like this?<br />Thanks Jon

 

[Catchem]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Getting mine done this week.Stringers ,transom and floor on a 20'tempest Cuddy cabin.2500.oo can.Price also includes storage and winterization.Yours will depend on the amount of work needed done.Lots of good shops around Kitchener.Get some quotes.

 

[Catchem]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Getting mine done this week.Stringers ,transom and floor on a 20'tempest Cuddy cabin.2500.oo can.Price also includes storage and winterization.Yours will depend on the amount of work needed done.Lots of good shops around Kitchener.Get some quotes.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

The wood and glass for the structure of the boat. It isn't just suporting one aspect, it is maintaining the intergrity of the boat. The boat see a lot of stress from running in rough water, tortional load from the motor, carrying weight, etc. It must all be strong and well glassed or you can end up with wierd flexing and handling traits. I don't see a problem with that Merc 115, they are fairly light motors, you should be prudent with its power usage, but 115 isn't that much more than 90, and a tri-hull is more heavy so it is not a bad idea to have some juice to push it.

 

[jheron]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Thanks guys!<br /> Well I am starting to wunder what I got myself into <br /> I cut a bunch more of the floor out and every thing is all rotted to hell! All the foam is saturated with water to boot! I guess the best way to do this is to rip the whole floor and foam out and rebuild, as for cutting the wood and installing it looks like a piece of cake and I have all the lumber I would need minus the plywood, but I have never done any glassing it looks easy but I am unsure, is it very labour intensive? <br /> Jason I see you seperated your boat but mine is all glassed together and would be a ***** to seperate, I don't think I will need to seperate it to do the floor as it is all accesable. However I am unsure of what do with the transom, when I grab the motor and give it a good shake I see very little flex in it but I would sure like to be sure of whats under all that glass! Would drilling a hole in it seem like a good idea? I dont have a clue how I would replace it even if it is rotten without seperating the boat!? <br /> Well I guess I should start pricing resin and glass... any recomondations??<br />Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

If you can get to the entire floor without taking the top off, then go for it. You should replace the transom while you are at it. You will need to cut the splashwell out to replace the transom, and glass the splashwell back in. If you are going to do it, you may as well do it all at once. You can build it stronger and never worry about engine weight or power again. My transom felt fine and it was actually partially rotted and had carpenter ants living in it.<br /><br />As far as resins and material, if your wallet allows, go with epoxy and cloth intended for epoxy. If the wallet is a bit unforgiving, poly will get it done just fine.

 

[jheron]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Thanks Jason, <br /> Well I cut the whole floor out and riped out most of the wet foam now I have to grind out all the old glass and start measuring up the stringers they are made of 2X4 lumber so they will be easy to make I have some standerd building lumber I plan on using for the stringers, I have had it indoors for quite some time and its very dry. Do you see any problems with just using standard 2X4 lumber, as long as I seal it all up with a few coats of epoxy?<br />Time to start thinking about the transom too..<br />So when I replace the transom should I cut the glass away on the inside or do I just try and pop it out the top? hmmm... time to do a search...<br />Thanks Jon

 

[jheron]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

OK not too sure what to do here, I will try to describe the senerio: There is one 2X8 stringer that goes from stearn to bow with 5 notches in it where the cross piece 2X4's fit in, the 2X4's are 4' long and the ends are tapered down to fit flush with the bottom of the boat. It looks like the 4'X?'X3/4" sheet of ply was layed and nailed on top of these, then glassed over with layers of mat rite to the outer edges of the hull, that leaves about a 7 or 8" gap on either side of the hull where it is curved do to the shape of the hull with no ply so they layed 6" strips of the 3/4" ply along the gap on either side shimed them with wood scraps to be level with the ply down the middle then they foamed under the strips for support. On top of this they foamed again and layed some 3/8" ply about 2" above the bottom strips and then they layed one layer of light mat over this "box" and glassed it to the floor and side of the boat. I hope that painted a picture lol I can see that this would add some strenght to the hull but I wunder how much as the glass over top of the box's is very thin like less than a 16th" and none of the ply was nailed together<br />I think these were mainly to give them something to screw the side shelves to that ran along the side of the boat what do you guys think?<br />I am thinking it would be better to cut the new ply the full width of the boat instead of trying to make the foam box, it looks like they used alot of bondo (cream coloured hard stuff) to try and level the strips out to the floor. My question is do you think they did this in this way for the strenghth of the full length sheet of ply or just because they would waste less wood this way? <br />If I do it my way there will be 3 pieces of ply wood (4' by about 6' wide) and at the factory they probably used 2 pieces. I am anxously awaiting a reply from some one with some more experiance than me <br />sincerely Jon<br />PS I am trying to get some pics up!!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

I say cut it to fit, ply isn't that expensive. I can't imagine how they could have saved money/time doing it the way they did, but who knows.

 

[MercMark]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

I think in Canada you can get fined for overpowering. I expect the us coast guard has similar policies. you should check with them.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

There's no such fine that I'm aware of.<br />The HP on the capacity plate is what is reccomended by the Coast Guard.<br />Of course, you could be fined for Careless Operation... If you're careless.<br /> Small boat construction regulations

 

[jheron]

Re: 17' Canada Craft trihull

Thanks guys