Sorry for the lengthy post here, but I'm really in over my head. I recently bought an 1984 Trophy center console to fix up and make into a (somewhat) seaworthy fishing boat. I had it out a few times last weekend and overall I was pretty pleased with how it handled, especially after hearing horror stories about the stability of the older bayliners. One thing that I did notice (besides one of my batteries catching fire) is that the splashwell sits super low in the water and has a tendency to take on water. The boat itself tends to ride pretty heavy towards the transom and I'm not sure whether I will be able to change that. I moved the batteries up into the center console to compensate a little bit, but I'm still left with some water getting into the splashwell and it definitely seeps into the bilge through the access hatches etc. Therefore, I have resigned myself to rebuilding the whole splash well in such a way that it will atleast be sealed. The floor seems to be a single layer of woven glass over 1/2" ply with a sprayed chop backer and its in fairly good shape. I'm thinking that some 4oz. directional and a coat or two of gel would do the trick? I'm also going to have to put in some new access hatches so if anyone has any input on what works really well I would definitely appreciate it. The forward barrier into the deck is what really has me thinking... It had a fiberglass panel that attached on both sides of the splashwell. I know that it wasn't the factory solution because it came down right in the middle of one of the acess hatches. (see exhibit A) Is there a reason that this peice needs to be detachable? Could I just glass in a peice of 3/4" ply and gel coat it? Or would I be better of keeping it removable and maybe going with some breakformed stainless?
