I have started a small restoration my 1965 Seaswirl 14' runabout. I was removing a few misc screws from the outside of the transom that some previous owner had installed. When I removed one of these screws from the very bottom of the transom a little water leaked out. I got a small screwdriver and poked around in the hole, a steady stream started. This stream lasted several hours and I estimated about 30 gallons of water eventually exited the hull (a 3 gallon bucket would fill up in about a half hour and it drained for about 5 hours). Fearing the worst, I cut open a one square foot section of decking to inspect underneath it. To my surprise, there was not any foam under the deck and the little amount of of the middle stringer that I could see and feel was still completely wrapped in fiberglass and did not appear to have any water penetration. The one foot square piece of deck that cut open was the only place on the deck with any soft feeling so I thought for sure that it would be rotted through but it was not. On the very surface where the fiberglass had worn off was damaged but it was very solid the rest of the way through. The bottom of the deck is damp but very sound. I think I got very lucky and will not need to replace the transom, stringers or the deck.
Now to my questions. Since there was no foam in the boat, should I add it now after I completely dry out the space? Since I do not need to replace the deck or transom, I will not be able to seal the underside of the deck, will this make any difference if I add foam? The space under the deck is very shallow until the bow area and then it raised up significantly. It would take a ton of foam to fill that whole space. If foam is added, does it need to completely fill the void? Lastly, since I am not removing the deck, I cannot add drain channels, should I worry about foam saturation down the road? I know I need to find the area of water penetration and am sealing up all holes now. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Now to my questions. Since there was no foam in the boat, should I add it now after I completely dry out the space? Since I do not need to replace the deck or transom, I will not be able to seal the underside of the deck, will this make any difference if I add foam? The space under the deck is very shallow until the bow area and then it raised up significantly. It would take a ton of foam to fill that whole space. If foam is added, does it need to completely fill the void? Lastly, since I am not removing the deck, I cannot add drain channels, should I worry about foam saturation down the road? I know I need to find the area of water penetration and am sealing up all holes now. Any advice is greatly appreciated.