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I would very much appreciate any advise on the rebuild that I will be attempting as I have very little experience with fiberglassing and boats in general. I've been looking at this forum for years now and was getting ready to start building an ob15 when I found what I thought was a good deal on a 1990 key west 1500 cc so I decided to purchase it and rebuild. There was an old repair near where the hull side meets the bottom (chine I think it's called). It had a small crack in the repair and when driving the boat home south, the water in the hull melted and I noticed water coming out of the crack . I ground into the crack and the closed cell foam is soaked. I then take off the rod holders in the gunnels and the foam is soaked, it was kept uncovered outside and there was no cap on the rod holders so all the rain water went directly into the foam, more . So here's my game plan....I know I should cut out the deck/sole and rip out foam but that seems like more work than I want. I don't know if the cap would come off with the gunnel/deck/sole attached as long as cc was removed and then would make an easy reassembly? So back to the game plan, repair the hole from the outside first by shoving epoxy soaked fiberglass strands into the hole therefore making a backer to laminate mat, 1708 and more mat to bring flush, then fair. After repair is done time to paint the hull. The blue stuff that you see in the pics, is that paint? If so I'll sand that off and then prep and paint everything with a 2 part polyurethane? Suggestions on paint? And I read something about epoxy/graphite on the bottom only? idk if that can be applied without the hull being upside down? This is meant to be a cheap fishing boat for me and my son and I'm hoping that with a cover on, the foam will dry out or the extra weight won't be a big deal or I could possible rip open sole in the future (~year or two) and remove foam and replace fuel tank while I'm at it. Once again all the help and tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, justin

Sell it and build the OB15. That wet foam has to come out...
I'm in the middle of a rebuild on a Gheenoe. I got it for a hundred but I have spent way more than I thought on it and am now in the territory where I could have built the SC16 that I have the plans for or bought a new Gheenoe...

I agree with Noles,
Anything can be fixed but you have to decied if it is worth it. The hull has taken some serious abuse. You will need to get to both sides to have any hope of fixing it right. You can see what it will take to be able to expose the problem and then have enough working room to make it happen.
Fuzz

Same here: not worth the investment.
I know that as the designed of the OB15 I push my boats but repairs are not always worth it.
If you know the boat, know the exact extent of the repairs, you can make an informed decision. In some cases, for good hulls, a complete rebuild is worth it but if you just bought the boat, you may discover one problem after the other. In this case, somebody may have done a couple of quick repairs with polyester.
Building an OB15, you know exactly where you, you will trust the boat, no surprises.

Ok guys first thanks for all the quick advise. Btw noles I checked out some tricked out gheenoes and they look like sweet little boats, kinda like the flats stalker. I would love to build the ob15 but that would take countless hours and at least 4 grand but your right Jacques at least I would know it was done right. I want to build a panga 25 in the future regardless. Everything seems strong on the boat other than the repair. The transom seems strong, no soft spots in floor although maybe waterlogged foam is supporting the floor and I really have rotten stringers. With all my poking and prodding it seems like the only water is located under the fwd rod holders and nearby areas. There's only one way to find out and I've spent today accepting the fact that I'll have to remove the foam. What's the best way to get access? Can I take out the rub rail screws and pry up the caps/gunnels/deck/floor all together to allow an easy reassembly? Should I cut the cockpit floor all around by the gunnels and remove, repair everything, and refiberglass it back down? I read somewhere that most small boats over 10 years old have waterlogged foam and Id hate to look at my boat as a lost cause. I'm on my phone and can't upload pics of the topside right now to give an idea of what I'm working with.
Thanks again for all the help

I would love to build the ob15 but that would take countless hours and at least 4 grand but your right Jacques at least I would know it was done right.

It will take countless hours and 4K to repair that piece of junk too, and you'll still have a 26 year old Key West. Throw it away, cut your losses, move on. Listen to the experts. Been there, done that, it's not worth repairing

I built the FL14 from here and then bought a 16' Johnsen to rebuild. I spent more on materials on the 16' Johnsen then building the 14' from scratch, about triple the amount of time too. That's not because the 16' is larger, it's the un-doing of all the things that have been done poorly, figuring out what exactly is wrong and then what you want to build it to. There is way more work in rebuilding than building new, at least in most cases. I just sold my Johnsen yesterday and after 1.5 years of work and money I think I made $100 on it, although I wasn't re-building it to flip it. Bottom line is it's easier to build what you want from scratch, you'll save money and time in the long run plus have EXACTLY what you want. It's tough to sell a boat you rebuild unless you have receipts, documents and can do a really seemless job as well.

One of my neighbors has an OB15 that he built 25 years ago! He repainted her last year and she looks like a new boat. 25 years later, he it still ecstatic about her performance.
If he ever sells her, I may buy her: she is built from epoxy and directional glass, much better than a production boat.