[Public-list] Saturated Hull, Bilge Damage

[C.B. Currier]

Bill,
I believe you boat is a little early for a hull liner thus you would have
a configuration somewhat similar to my boat #57.

I somthing similar to what matthew did except I used a shop vac!
Much better results pulled water, sand, tools everything ... shirts out
from under the motor. Then I found a hole in the bottom of the bilge that
went down father & I sucked the sand out of there too. There was also I
believe a piece of wood but I cannot remember exactly as there were many
pieces of wood some for engine spacers some just debris.I sucked it all
out.

I wouldn't worry too much about the details of what you get there like the
fiberglass & the wood. Due to the makeup of that keel nothing is going too
far.


On another level I suspect that Matthew is also right about the water
numbers you are reading. Suck the bilge dry & give it a few days & I
believe your moisture levels may come down. I am just completing a gelcoat
blister job on my hull much like the photos you took of yours. I found
that most of the problems were surface area & did not find any deep
blisters or extensive saturation. However I am sensitive to your readings
& am waiting to know how the job goes. I have completed the barriercoat
after filling the blisters with epoxy & microballons. The fairing is
endless but I hope I am almost done. 2 bottom coats of anti-fowling and
I'm in the water.

The reality is I may have to redo sooner than expected. I am told 10 years
is the average life span of a barriercoat.

Good luck & keep us posted.

-- 
C.B. Currier
Infinity #57
Daybrake #458


Bill Blevins said:
> If what you say is correct, then there was a false floor poured at some
> point over the black sand/silica mixture on Sabrina. The fiberglass floor
> of
> what was my "old" bilge was about 3 inches above the wood and was poured
> over the sand mixture with a thickness of about a quarter-inch. I did
> consider removing the engine.
>
> So, you used a bilge coat over the wooden beam and that was it? How far
> forward of the engine compartment does the bilge go? Under the floor in
> the
> main cabin? The battery boxes in the floor drain below to some space. Did
> you deal with that in any way?
>
> Bill Blevins
> "Sabrina" #158
>
> --
>
> On 4/20/04 10:39 AM, "Matthew Hay" <haymatthew_ at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Bill their is a lot of debris under your engine.  The sand is most
>> likely
>> from the cockpit drains.  The piece of wood is in the bottom of your
>> bilge
>> was to act as an anchor to screw bilge pumps too etc.  My hypothesis is
>> that
>> so much sand ends up in the bottom of your bilge from the cockpit
>> drains,
>> that over the years that wood piece is covered, and new anchoring
>> devices
>> are used to mount pumps on top all of the sand.  I recommend removing
>> your
>> engine in order to remove the sand, clean, and degrease, and paint, your
>> bilge.  I did the same thing to my bilge last month.  I had the engine
>> out
>> and went down to the boat to paint the bilge.  After taking a closer
>> examination I realized that what I thought was the bottom of the bilge
>> was
>> in fact about a foot of sand/grease/oil/water in the bottom of the
>> bilge.  I
>> used a large spoon and slowly scooped out all of the sand mixture as
>> well as
>> a few 1960's style tools, numerous washers, some strange home made
>> device
>> made out of copper tubing.  It is not easy to see the bottom of your
>> bilge.
>> If I did not have the engine out I would not have been able to see the
>> bottom.  I essentially had to crawl down into the bilge with my spoon
>> acting
>> as an auger to see the bottom.  I felt like Clint Eastwood in escape
>> from
>> Alcatraz.  How would you be able to notice a crack in your bilge with
>> the
>> engine in place and sand filling the bottom of it?
>> Furthermore, all of that sand mixture holds a lot of moisture.  That
>> could
>> effect your moisture readings.  I have a drain hole in the bottom of my
>> keel
>> that made this project much easier.  After I had  scooped out the bulk
>> of
>> the the sand and engine parts etc. I used a hose with nozzle to flush
>> the
>> remaining sand out the drain.  It also makes it easier to get the water
>> out
>> in the fall and I just leave the plug out all winter.  I would really be
>> more concerned with water in my deck core.  Which you said is not very
>> bad.
>> Good Lock,
>> Matthew #314
>>
>
>
>
> I'm in a situation... My hull is saturated! 30% plus over most of the
> underwater area on a marine grade moisture meter. The topsides are in the
> dry range at 8%. Sabrina will be drying out for a while. Do any of you
> have
> experience with how long this might take? I'll take new reading next week
> and compare with my pencil marks all over the hull. Very sad. :(
>
> I've removed all of the gelcoat and finished sanding the hull this
> weekend.
> I found about 20 areas of blistering and delaminating, each about 3-5
> inches
> wide, through the first layer of matt, actually found more but they seem
> to
> be dry inside so I'm leaving them alone.
>
> Anyway...THE BIG PROBLEM I found Saturday was that the floor of the bilge
> had a big crack. When I was vacuuming out the little water that the pump
> wouldn't get, I sucked up a piece of the fiberglass. Then it started! The
> sandy material below was soaked and I sucked out a 5 x 12" area down to
> the
> wooden plank below.
>
> What is the fix for that after it's dry? How do you ever know if you have
> cracks forward of the area under the engine? Do people ever cut out the
> floor and battery boxes to repair? Do you think that's necessary?
>
> Bill Blevins
> A30 Sabrina #158
>
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