Transporting boat with no floor

[f4igrad]

I have ripped up my floor to patch up the hull in a few places where it had weakened and had a few small cracks. I want to tow the boat about 2 miles to a ramp and put it in the water to check to see if ther e are any other places that water is intruding. I figure that the floor is a support structure for the boat, and since it is missing, would it hurt the boat to tow it the 2 miles to the ramp, and then tow it back?

 

[sdunt]

Re: Transporting boat with no floor

I town at 30 MPH is a lot different than on the freeway at 55 MPH. I know with the floor out of my fiberglass hull it rocked and wobbled about a lot.<br /><br />If you have it all stripped and want to check for leaks, why not fill the hull with a couple of inches of water and see if it leaks out?<br /><br />Or a friend gave me this idea. Tape a paper towel over the area where you suspect a leak and watch it closely the 1st spot that gets wet is the source of the leak. So you could take paper towel on the outside of the hull and run a garden hose on the inside and see if there is a leak..

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Transporting boat with no floor

well, i want to be very thorough and there might be some areas that I don't suspect that might leak. I just want to make extra certain before I fix the stringers and then put in a new floor. I figure by floating the boat I can stand in it and look all over for any leaks, since the inside of the boat is completely dry right now.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Transporting boat with no floor

If it is just the shell without the motor on, and it is secured to the trailer, you should be fine, especially if you are driving at city speeds...

 

[f4igrad]

Re: Transporting boat with no floor

well, just in case someone else comes across this thread, I did take the boat down and put it in the water (engine was still on). Seems to have been fine, I went about 20 mph the whole time. The boat floated great and didn't leak a drop of water, so now it is on to the stringers.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[bigbad 4cyl x2]

Re: Transporting boat with no floor

im glad you diddnt fill it up with water as from what i remember it takes weeks if not months to air dry fiberglass completly once wet. before you started to lock in moisture with the epoxy . im probobly wrong though.