18 Maritime Skiff Rebuild

[backriverfish]

Hey Everyone -

New around here and this will be my first build. I purchased a 1994 18 ft Maritime Skiff last spring and after fishing it for a season I could tell that the foam was saturated. I pulled about 600 lbs of wet foam out of the hull and currently at a point where I'm back an fourth on how to proceed.

I will be raising the deck about 2 inches from where it sat prior to help with water puddling in the boat when its weighed down. Adding a 18 gallon below deck fuel tank and re-foaming the stringers.

Now the next part is where I'm back and fourth. The hull is very thin. I'm sure that the foam was for structural purposes but I'm thinking about just re-foaming the stringers with 4lb closed cell foam and adding glass to the hull. Has anyone done something similar to this? What would be the best type of glass to lay down? I will be using epoxy for the whole project.

Any input or advice would be awesome. I still have a couple weeks before I can begin glassing - I'll post some pictures of what the boat looks like right now as well.

Imgur Album

[Jeff]

backriverfish, welcome to the Builders Forum!! I think you will find good guidance on the best ways to proceed!! Give our members a couple of days and I fully expect Fuzz will give you plenty of help!! He is going through a similar re-build!!
Jeff

[Fuzz]

Hey welcome to the group. There are lots of guys here with good advise and will chime in as needed.
First thing is post lots of pictures especially with questions. When folks can see they will give much better answers.
You say the hull is very thin and the foam was used to give stiffness. If that is the case you are going to need to replace the stiffness one way or another. With straight fibreglass you will have more than enough strength well before you get the stiffness you need. That is why cores work so well. You get stiffness from thickness and it is not liner more squared. Think 1/2 inch plywood compared to 3/4.
If the hull is really thin you are going to need to build up some thickness. 1708 will build quickly but can be a bear to wet out. 12oz or 17 oz biax wets out much easier but takes more layers. It just depends on you and your ability to work the glass. If you are not going to put foam back in the hull except for the stringers I am betting you will need to add stiffeners in the unsupported areas. Think a grid work of small stringers in the unsupported places.
Take it one step at a time, ask questions, post pictures and have fun

[backriverfish]

Thank you, I appreciate the response.

I should of added some more background on the reason for this project. This boat was on the trailer last summer and each time I would haul it after a days fishing I would notice water leaking out from the bottom of the hull after the boat had been sitting for a couple days. Obviously water was leaking out due to cracks and the saturated foam. I didn't realize how beat up the outside of the hull was until I got into the project which really sucks. I'm guessing I should have the bottom sand blasted and repair the bottom as well as adding glass on the inside. Is it possible to sneak away with glassing the inside and then hitting the bottom after the summer?

Also, I have mixed feelings about cutting out those stringers and putting a whole new grid in. I was thinking if I remove those stringers I will be able to add a new grid which I think would be better for what I want to do with the hull. And on top of that easier to add glass to the hull.

On the other hand, what I planned on was to add glass in between those stringers in and on the sides, then add foam to the stringers. For some reason that doesn't sit well with me because of all the nooks and crannies those stringers have. I'm concerned that I might miss an area and end up with waterlogged stringers again.

Still pondering what to do. Just about finished grinding the glass down on the inside.

Regards,
Nick

[Fuzz]

Just wondering how springy is the hull bottom at this point? If you cut all of the stringers out at one time you will need to have the hull well braced from the bottom or it will change shape on you. I have built hulls with a 1/2 inch of solid glass that were shockingly springy before the stringers were put in. I am still wondering how thick the glass is on the bottom at this point.

[Fuzz]

If you get the hull built up and the stringers in you can flip the hull and work on the bottom when ever you want to. Unless you are going to keep the boat in the water all the time I THINK you will be ok to wait until next winter.

[Fuzz]

Well I read your other posts after my other posting so some of my questions are answered. If you really like the hull and want to repair it I would think of it as a mold. I would make some really good support for it to sit on and not change shape. I would then cut out every thing inside so it would be easy to lay glass in it. I am guessing here but I think you will need 3 or more layers of 1708 on the bottom. This part is something you need to post in the power boat section and hope JM gives advice. With all that being said it might be cheaper to scrap the hull and build one of JM's designs. The FS-19 would make a darn nice replacement for what you have.

[Fuzz]

Hey Backriverfish have you thought any more about what to do with this hull? I hope I did not scare you off.

[backriverfish]

Not at all! Just have been quite busy past couple of weeks.

I have everything finally grinded down and stray foam removed. Engine came off last weekend as well. Did some sleeping on what I wanted to do and I've decided that I'm going to lay down 3 layers of 1708 and see what that does as far as thickness. 4lb closed cell foam is going into the stringer grid, and additional supports will be added to stiffen up the areas where foam won't be added back. 18 gal fuel tank is going under the deck as well. The deck will be raised 2 1/2 inches and the deck will be 3/4 marine ply.

A lot of work left but I have a good stretch of time off from work. Hoping to have this project near completion by the end of the month.

Regards,
Nick

[seaslug]

Why the 3/4" for the floor? Seems like massive overkill. If there are enough supports, and the spans aren't that wide you can get by with 1/4" or 3/8" . Just seems like a lot of unnecessary weight.
















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