1989 Ebbtibe rebuild

[SweeperForce]

Gunwale question

When I noticed soft stops on my deck I knew it was all rotton. So I removed it and found all the foam was waterlogged. I cut as much as I was comfortable without going through the hull. Removed the old deck and foam.
I thought the manufactor just tabbed the deck to the gunwale but they didn't. Attached is a picture of what I found: two inches of foam and a thin sheet is fiberglass covering it. I toyed with the idea of just leaving it but at certain spots i could tell that the fg had pulled away plus the foam was wet too. My question is how in the world do I replace it. I got 80 pound of pouring foam for the bottom but not sure if I can use it on the gunwale. Is this foam at all structural? Does it need replaced?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[DeepBlue2010]

I did not see any thing like this before. Strange!! I am only guessing that they did this for - maybe - two reasons..

1- Increase the buoyancy of the boat, it could be that the under deck foam by itself was not enough to keep the entire boat from submersing
2- Sound damping

Foam - in general is not intended to be structural element. However, sometime it plays an important role of keeping the hull intact - or at least reducing the chances for an impact to puncture a huge gap in the hull which reduces the amount of water that the boat would take in case of such impact. In other words, it acts like a packing plate. There are some solutions if you don't want to re foam this area.

1- You can use higher buoyancy foam under deck to make up for the difference
2- You can use some sort of heavy marine carpet on the sides for sound damping

I would try to get in touch with the factory's customer service department and see why they did that. If the assumptions I made above were right, I would use the two solutions above to avoid re foaming this area. Best of luck to you and keep us posted

 

[MTboatguy]

What brand of boat is this? The reason I ask, is there was a guy here locally that built his boats in this manner, he has gone out of business, but his boats were quite popular for a while.

 

[SweeperForce]

It is a 1989 Ebbtide campione 18 footer. I listed it in my signature along with my motor. I can tell this boat was made well considering most boat made it this era were junk. My only gripe is the drainage issue. Once water got in it could not get out ie. heavy rain, forgetting the plug, etc. this is why I'm replacing the stringers and transom.

Tom

 

[Woodonglass]

Got any pics of the stringers?

 

[SweeperForce]

No Title

I tried to take pictures last night with the lights on but they didn't turn out. So I took these this morning. I got shots of the stringers, knee braces, and ski locker.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[Woodonglass]

Based on the pics, I don't believe your boats hull is dependent on the foam for structural support. It's main purpose is for flotation, deck support, and sound dampening. You're free to replace it in the fashion you deem appropriate. If the glass seems flimsy and thin you can use the foam to reinforce it or apply additional layers of glass when you get the hull cleaned. Your boat...your choice.

 

[SweeperForce]

Fiber choose for glassing

My project is a total restorationAnd I plan on using 1708 biaxial for tabbing the new transom, stringing, and deck. Then I'd like to use 1.5oz chopped strand mat to cover both sides of the deck. Where would be a good place to use roving woven? I was going to cover the inside of the hull with CSM just for some extra support, but during the deconstruction, I was pulling up RW that was delaminated from the bottom. Should I replace it or just stick with my original plan with the CSM? I was pricing RW, not too bad but I was looking at 18 oz. a lot heavier verses the 1.5 oz CSM. Which one is preferred, strength/weight/workability.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[ahmincha]

As I have been told csm has no real strength. 1708 is what you use for strength csm for water proofing.
Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms follow this for your layups 1708 and csm only with polyester or vinyl ester.
Also as you tab in the stringers you will be adding layer to the hull not really necessary to pre cover hull Pictures also help

 

[henleyhale]

One thing to remember is that woven roving will us 1/2 the resin that chop strand will, but woven roving doesn't conform near as well as chop strand. That being said i like to cover my stringers in cross stitch mat and the underside of my floor as well, your 1708 is proper on the transom, but as far as tabbing in the stringers I've always used 2 oz chop strand and to cover the top of the floor, cuz i like the way it looks and feels after a gel coat. Woven roving is generally what you find on the bottom layer of the hull though, nand is a strong stiff fabric that doesnt take a heck of alot of resin to wet in. I disagree with the idea that chop strand has no strength, but it certainly isnt a biaxial or woven fabric, its stregth relies mostly on the resin so vinyl ester is my resin of choice. Just the fact that you want to laminate your stringers first makes your boat a notch above most factories

 

[JASinIL2006]

If it were my boat and I had pulled a layer of delaminated woven roving, I'd be looking to put an equivalent weight of woven cloth back in the before I moved on the tabbing in the stringers, etc. it doesn't seem that many boat builders put any material into a boat that isn't needed, so I'd assume that WR is essential.

 

[tpenfield]

I would use woven roving on the hull buildup and not CSM.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Woven Roving was all we had before the knitted fabrics came out. The typical weight used by manufacturers was 24oz/sq yard. !708 has 17oz/sq yd of rovings plus Csm at 1oz/sq FOOT. SO, if you use 1708 your just as good or better than the WR was. No need to buy more stuff if you got 1708.

 

[Woodonglass]

I think any newb will gain a lot of knowledge about "Glassin" from reading this...http://www.wavetrain.net/boats-a-gear/131-fiberglass-boatbuilding-creating-a-laminate

 

[SweeperForce]

I just replaced my transom, but the area beside it is only 1/4 inch of fiberglass. I would like to strengthen it due to help support my 150hp outboard. To problem is that it's curved. During deconstruction the rotton wood I pulled out looked like a bossa type wood. What can I use?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Woodonglass]

Got Pics?? It could very well be Balsa Core and if so it will need to be replaced to strengthen the outer skin.

 

[jbcurt00]

Sweeper,
Hope this was the merge you were asking for.

Thanks
John
sorry it took so long today...........

 

[SweeperForce]

No Title

Here is the curved section beside the transom I mentioned earlier. As you can see I installed new stringers, transom and new knee braces. I used peanut butter (thickened resin) to bind everything together. I'm not done, I'm adding two more inner knee braces and a cross member to link it all up for add strength. Then tab it all in with 1708 with vinyl ester. Plus this is the way the manufacturer did it. Upon searching around I found that balsa wood was layed in the bilge and followed each stringer up to the bow. However on the curved section beside the transom it looked like divinycell ( a grid scored PVC foam core designed for curves). Could I just build it up fiberglass or do I need the foam core then glass over that?
Thanks a lot,
Tom