Water in the bow compartment!! Help

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

I imagine this is under the cabin cushions somewhere. Can you use a holesaw and access the compartment inside?

I had water coming into the cabin and flooding the storage compartment under the cushions (my Bayliner allows for that but I've seen others that are closed with nothing usable under the cushions). Come to find out water was leaking up through the rub rail so I'd get a cupfull every time I hit a wave. Caulked it inside and out before I installed carpet.

Accessing it from the inside will be a lot easier to fix later than messing with the outside of the hull

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

F14 I looked in the Cuddy last night it too has a few cushions and one over a dry storage compartment that i use to store life jackets etc... The whole cuddy is carpeted but I think your right by finding a way to open up the cuddy floor and examining situation is the correct way to go. First i will drill a small hole to release water from underneath. That way it gives me a little time as the "situation" dries out

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

F14 I looked in the Cuddy last night it too has a few cushions and one over a dry storage compartment that i use to store life jackets etc... The whole cuddy is carpeted but I think your right by finding a way to open up the cuddy floor and examining situation is the correct way to go. First i will drill a small hole to release water from underneath. That way it gives me a little time as the "situation" dries out

That's ^^^ a good start, but as mentioned before, you will likely be working on the hull from both sides. So it will definitely need to be opened from the interior.

But, yep, 1st get as much water to drain out as you can. The gel blister & delaminated fiberglass will need to be repaired, so a small hole won't be significant, just don't drill to deep.....

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Thanks JB I'll post some pics tonight

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help



I drained the water out of the bow as you can see it is pretty soft the rest of the keel looks in good condition I have a fiberglass boat guy coming over tonight to assess the situation, he has done lots of this work before so hopefully ill get her up and running soon and back on the lake of course minus a few dollars

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Ugh, how long did the water drain at that rate? Any chance you collected it in a bucket, instead of letting it flow down the driveway?

This:

Looks like you did let it collect in a bucket, and it's an awfully strong flowing stream. What's a rough estimate of the amount of water that leaked out?

That strong of a stream, for very long, could indicate A LOT of water pressure, from quite a bit of water, not just a couple gallons...

Hope the guy gives you good vibes while he's assessing the damage, that he's thorough, & he isn't too pricey.

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Exactly 13 Liters approx 3.5 imp gallons, however on the lake Sunday I took out more than that from the "hold" aft of the cuddy so I am thinking five gallons total..
This fellow who is checking it out did a similar project for a friend of mine and he was recommended so we will see.....

 

[Bondo]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Exactly 13 Liters approx 3.5 imp gallons, however on the lake Sunday I took out more than that from the "hold" aft of the cuddy so I am thinking five gallons total..
This fellow who is checking it out did a similar project for a friend of mine and he was recommended so we will see.....

Ayuh,.... That's a pretty Nasty scar,...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Holy Keel Rash Batman

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

From what you've said it sounds like it's coming through the keel and not some other weird place. In that case I'd be worried that its been a long time problem and has allowed wood in there to rot.

But once you cut a hole under the carpet in the cuddy big enough to make a decent inspection you can drill some core samples in whatever wooden structural members are in there. Hopefully your stringers and the wood above this area are ok. Though I haven't seen the inside, you could probably cut a hole with rounded edges with a jigsaw in one piece. If all is good, let it dry and you can glass the piece back. There's also inspection hole/hatch covers if you'd prefer it to be accessible (I'd at least add a small one) after fixing the exterior of the keel.

Any floation foam will make all my ideas above more difficult. I sometimes forget that I did not put foam back when I restored my Bayliner and my Chris Craft certainly doesn't have any

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

View attachment 168907View attachment 168908

I drained the water out of the bow as you can see it is pretty soft the rest of the keel looks in good condition I have a fiberglass boat guy coming over tonight to assess the situation, he has done lots of this work before so hopefully ill get her up and running soon and back on the lake of course minus a few dollars

Just wondering .. where in your second pic does it show that the keel looks good ?

Looks cracked at the spine of the keel ( the very edge ). This is normally not a good sign.

I dont like being the bearer of bad news .. but thats not just beach rash.

Your going to need to rip out the carpet, cut away the sole/floor as needed to access ALL of the repair from the inside.

You might as well invest in a good 4.5" grinder and plenty of 24 grit disks to grind away on the outside until All of that delam is Gone. I mean GONE ! Your not going to want to do any of the Heavy grinding Inside because it will dust the inside Fast ( more outside fairing .. but hey ).

After the Outside has been Glassed then you proceed to the Inside for the " grind till you expose raw glass and layup " stage.

I hope your glass guy is good at what he does and how he does it.

Its a serious repair Don.

YD.

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

JD I was wondering if I was going to have to do that to me there is no sense just doing half the job and then having to redo it later....would the whole floor have to come out? And if only a portion of flooring would have to be removed wont there be an unlevelness when I fill the hole in? You think like a 3 - 4 foot long by 2 foot wide would do it? Ok so this is now my winter project frigg well I will take my time and get it right the first time
Ball park figure if I got pro to do the work?
And to kick it all I figure this is a result of a missing roller in the trailer that I didn't see and the boat was scraping on metal!!! A flipping 25 dollar part! I'm wondering if it would be easier to take the whole floor out instead? How much of a pain would that be you think?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

R U absolutely certain this leak is only 2-3 weeks old? I sure looks to be older than that. How long is this breach in the keel? The repair will need to extend about a foot longer on each end of the damage and 6-8" to either side. That will tell you how much deck will need to be removed so you can get to it from above. A pic of the overall boat with details of exactly where the damage is located would also help us to be more specific with helping you with details on how to do the repair.

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Well pretty depressed now, figure this job is better left to expert hands, will be getting pro to assess all damage to keel tmrw. Talked to him this morning and got the sobering truth. Oh well, had a great run with it this summer and will be back at it in the spring time! Will update when I get some quotes etc and some pics of the new improved keel
Thanks guys learned a lot, feel a good sense of a boating family from everyone out there

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Talked to him this morning and got the sobering truth.

So what was his assessment ?

Im thinking the carpet comes off in that area .. then cut the floor out ( about 2" from any vertical surfaces ). Inspect from there.

Do you have a tank under the floor that you know of ?

YD.

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Taking the boat there tmrw morn.... There is a tank in the stern just below the floor and in front of bilge compartment

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Taking the boat there tmrw morn.... There is a tank in the stern just below the floor and in front of bilge compartment

If its in the repair zone the its gonna cost ya extra ...

Might have to cut out more then you think just to get the tank out.

I would love to see this repair on hand .. I can tell you if you take pics if its done correctly though .

YD.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

If its in the repair zone the its gonna cost ya extra ...

Might have to cut out more then you think just to get the tank out.

YD.

Spoken like a true salesman!

... what happened to the fiberglass tech advice?

 

[Don Macleod]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

Well I'm taking my boat in this wed a six hundred dollar bill to fix main damage area and another 350 to fix the bullet holes in the front bow and any delamination spots on the keel. They verified that there is a guarantee on the work they do as far as it not delaminating on those areas of repair. In the back of my mind though there is a small voice that says what about further damage inside the hull further down the boat aft of the cuddy

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Water in the bow compartment!! Help

It would be cool if they took pics of it every step of the way for ya .

Seems kinda low to me.

YD.