69 Woodson Tri-hull with 68 Johnson 55hp

[chevymaher]

He said Hab-Assed. That is funny I don't care who you are. Carry on Marine it is looking good. Use huge tabbing like I did. That will strengthen that old dry stuff in the hull. If be fine.

 

[Hab]

Sphelps: Im going to use a Poly resin that i can get from a local manufacturere, hes says its isophthalic and easy to work with. cost is comparable to what i can have something shipped in, and i can run over and talk to him.

Thanks GM, thats what i was wanting to do, I dont think its possible to get every problem ground out. I was also thinking maybe a layer of CSM to start with. its hard to tell how much material i have actually removed. Im hoping to keep a similar schedule of material to the original, and beef up the stringer wraps and other places that are either structural or where waterprofeing is needed.

 

[Hab]

Thanks chev, but i was army.

 

[kcassells]

Everything you are removing is typical factory bad installation/technique. That boat lasted how many years like that?
What you are putting back in will well exceed the prior in regards to strength and longevity.

 

[Hab]

Rough evening on the boat. I started sanding down the transom, and at first i wasn't getting very far, but then cracks in the remaining material seemed to grow and grow while i was working. Eventually small pieces of the junk the manufacturer put between the wood and the fiberglass started to break off. I stared in disbelief at the 1/8" to 1/4" of rock hard material that was extremely difficult to sand, and Im not proud to report, i got mad, looking at all the extra sanding ahead of me so i smacked it repeatedly with a claw hammer that was handy. More of the junk broke off so i continued (beating it mercilessly with the hammer) and went and got a chisel. After thoroughly removing the skin from each knuckle on the left hand i had managed to bust off the worst of that hardened material, and could sand the remnants. Several hours of work and Im not even half way done with the transom. I was really hoping to have the hull cleaned by yesterday evening, but some-days it just doesn't work the way i want. I can probably get the transom done on my next work day, and then i can pull the cover and make a full inspection and clean out any remaining problem spots that i may have skimmed over.

 

[gm280]

Personally I think you're doing great. Estimating how long it will take to do anything on a boat is usually wrong. But you are plugging along very well in my opinion. It just takes time sometimes with old boats. Never know what you will run into... Keep plugging!

 

[sphelps]

Yep that’s that zolatone stuff or whatever they call it .. Its the devil ...I had it on my Manatee .. About 3/4 of the way through it I had already went through several mental and physical stages until I had finally reached a moment of acceptance or Zen with it ... The cloud lifted and I was able to move forward ... eaceful:
‘Hang in there you’ll get it !!

 

[kcassells]

Keep at it like they said!

 

[froggy1150]

Like super rock hard concrete?....
I had a bunch of that. Tried several different ways to grind and cut it out. In the end I took an air hammer with a chisel bit to it. The hole I had to patch from punching thru once was easier than trying to grind

 

[Hab]

So now i know the truth, all these years Ive believed that the devil inhabited some cruel and fiery netherworld, when all along he was holding my fathers boat together. Thanks for all the encouragement guys, i appreciate it. I don't have much to show for my weekend. i managed to hand chisel the remaining devil from my transom, merely scratching the surface is more like it before the rain and storms chased me back indoors. Frustrated at both heaven and hell for the day, i started on a tile project for the Admiral. Ill never be a descent florist, but its a start. THis may be all i have for a week or two, a second project and family coming and going for the next few weeks is going to slow down my boat building for a while.

 

[Redtruck12]

I always thought that a florist was the old woman who works at the flower shop.
have to talk to her about the next flooring project I need to do
glad im not the only one that lets “life “get in the way of boat work,
keep up the good work, don’t get discouraged, using your down time to plan ahead works (reading, gathering supplies etc.

 

[gm280]

That is why you never ever set do dates when working on a boat. Life has it's way of changing plans every time. I started my boat project thinking a few months tops. That was years ago now. But I have since changed to being a hobby project boat that will get finished whenever. Seems every time I get close, a new life event crops up... :tape2:

 

[sphelps]

You got the pretty side up on flooring so i would call that a good job any florist would be proud of !

 

[Hab]

Cant seem to help letting life changing the priorities from time to time, but the boat is my fun project something i enjoy frustrating myself over. As far as schedules go, i want to be fishing from it next summer, so i have to at least attempt to make a rough schedule, knowing that im going to have set backs its my first boat rehab and setbacks are expected. I need the boat to be a utilitarian and safe fishing platform nothing more. Im hoping that restoring strength and function in a little more than a year is possible.

 

[Hab]

Short update, I managed to clean the rest of the rock/devil (im not so convinced its zolatone) off the transom, Im getting alot closer. I still have to finish some grinding on the hull and decide how far to grind out the keel cracks. I can probably get the last of it on my next grinding session, What do you guys say about these keel cracks below, do i need to dig out alot of it and replace it with PB, or is there an better solution.

 

[Redtruck12]

Hey Florist
do they show all the way through to the outside?
if not, I'm thinking resin NOT thickened and then a layer of 1707 to hold everything together.
if it’s full thickness then grind out and beveled both sides and build up layers from both sides.

 

[gm280]

I had pretty much the same issues with my tri-hull. The PO drove it into something that was a lot more solid then the boat and really screwed it up. They somebody else tried to patch it up and it was a royal mess. I ground it all out and then rebuilt it up from both sides knowing that being a side keel (for lack of a better name, it was the starboard tri-hull keel) it would take more of a beating then any other section of the hull. So I went over board (pardon that pun) to make sure it was solid again. So I built it up in layer after layer until I thought it was good. But each layer was a little larger then the previous to make sure it was sealed and solid.

I attached my hull patch before during and finally ground down ready for repair.

 

[Hab]

Red, i haven't started on the exterior yet, cant see through the gel, and my trailer is my cradle. the keel as it is seems to be just resin, surely there is some fiber in there somewhere.

GM, i figured you guys would say that (full gind out and repair), im nervous as heck to grind to far into the keel, then again a repair cant be nearly as bad as a clearly broken keel.

 

[Redtruck12]

If you don’t currently have access the exterior, I would dish it out slightly on the inside and give it a couple layers of cloth (1708)
you can deal with the exterior later if needed

 

[Hab]

ERRGH, finally got done with the initial grind down on the hull and transom. Ive got some problem areas that need more attention, but shouldn't be too much more grinding before i can start failing at fiberglass installation. At any rate i can at least begin forming the transom and stringers and putting together a material list.

At this point id welcome some advice on the grind and materials.

For the grind, Im guessing the smart thing would be to grind off all the roving down to the green colored glass that is barely visible in the pics. However, i really dont want to take it down that far. from what i can gather there is the green layer which may be the original mold schedule, ie gel, glass and resin, and then the stringers, devil, and transom were tossed in. after that approximatly 2 layers of roving was haphazardly tossed in near the stringers and shot with a resin cannon. I think im going to clean the remaining cracks and any air pockets bigger than a dime and move on. Let me know if this is too hab-assed of an approach.

Second the materials. Im thinking of doing something sacriligous and using OSB. I may use a better ply for the transom, but for the stringers and deck, i feel like there is no way i can prevent water intrusion 100%. Also i plan to foam everything between the deck and the hull. Now before you go off blasting me on my material selection, ill just say that OSB is an awesome building material, stronger in in some ways than plywood and has a waterproof glue like exterior grade plywoods. It may be more of a beast to glass with than i can anticipate, but im still considering it.

I cant help it, im not an overkill kind of guy, I prefer to kill something just enough to be considered legally dead, whether or not it is in fact dead is irrelevant. I think the main problem with OSB might be glassing, also i probably wont figure out its an epic failure for the 1st 5-15 years.