Re: boat rot...wet foam prevention.
So, I have pulled up my floor and found 4' long by 6" wide rectangular lenghts of foam just resting under there. I think it might be the foam that the boat was built with. (1965 16' Aluminum Starcraft). The hull and ALL of the rivets are solid. The foam was not rotted or breaking down even, but it was definitely waterlogged. I have decided my methood of rebuilding now. I will be posting pictures soon. Here's what I am going to do:
1. Use 3/4" Exterior Plywood, coated on the bottom and sides with Gluvitz, and the top with Tuff coat. That's all, no glassing. (I will also be coating all of the rivet lines and seams with gluvitz).
2. Install 4 recessed flip up handles into each of the four sections of the deck.
3. Cut Pink Foamular Home Insualtion Foam sheets to fit under the deck. Leaving about 1" of air space clearance between the foam and the deck. Then use an adhesive to attach the foam sections to the bottom side of the deck sections. This will allow drainage, air circulation, and won't leave any foam sitting in any trapped water, as the trapped water will be shallow enough to flow over the ribs and not touch the foam. (in case the rib drainage holes get plugged)
4. To figure the bouyancy of te foamular I cut a 12"x12"x2" section of foamular and put some centered home weight bench weights on it in my kitchen sink. It held about 11.5 lbs. It will take 6 of these to make a square foot of foam. So, 6 x 11.5 = 69. The foam weighs about 2lbs. So the bouyancy per square foot is 67 lbs. Better than most marine foam! I will be able to get about 850-1000 lbs of bouyancy out of it in the end.
5. Then I will screw the deck in using stainless steel hex head screw bolts along the edges. This way they wont ever strip at the heads. 1 screw every foot. Regular stainless finishing screws will be used along the middle sections.
6. The deck will be fully removable and about 62lbs. per floor section including foam, finish, seats, and wood. Total floor weight is about 164lbs
7. I will just remove and store the deck in my basement each off season. And, refinnish the surface as necessary. Also, if any foam sections do begin to rot, I will see it at the end of each season, and be able to replace the sections of foam at about $15 per section.
I will let you all know how it goes.
But, I do have one question. Does the foam actually effect how my boat floats or rides when I am not sinking?
Thanks,
Jon
