Greetings from Lewes, Delaware! Not sure why you dont have a million subscribers. I'm glad I came across your project, and I am in awe of what you're doing with this fancy old lady :) I have a question. My project is a 79 cruisers inc. 201 beachcomber. I love the boat. And am slowly restoring it. But it gas a saturated balsa core. It's not rotted just wet all through the bottom of the boat. Can I dig it all out, and lay up glass on the bottom? To have a solid bottom? I will never sleep, knowing that wet core is in there ticking away, and weighing my rug down. Anyway, your input/expertise would be greatly appreciated! I am getting ready for the summer now, but next year, plan on digging into her. I want to do it right.
Thanks for the compliments! I'm just trying to document what I'm doing and learning as I work away on my projects... hopefully I can provide some inspiration for others. Wish I could give you the "right" answer, but my expertise in this area is limited to what I have done with my old boats, and what I have read and studied online. My boats are just plain old solid fiberglass hulls, no cores of any kind. That's one of the reasons I went for such an old boat - I've read too many stories of rotted cores. The reason for the cored hull (in my understanding) is to provide rigidity with lower weight. A thin glass bottom will flex too much, a thick glass bottom is heavy. A cored glass hull gives you the strength and rigidity with less weight. I think it might make the hull quieter as well. I'm guessing there is a lower manufacturing cost or something associated with it too - but that's just my guess. Problem with a cored hull is that it will get wet eventually, and wet wood WILL rot eventually. Then your hull is cored with mush - all the benefits of the cored hull are gone. I'm "guessing" that you could replace it all with glass, but it would require a lot of fiberglass to build it up to enough thickness to be just as rigid - lots of heavy glass cloth, laminating resin, doesn't sound like a fun job. Not sure you would save a lot of weight though - the boat might end up heavier than it is now. Solid fiberglass is heavier than even soggy balsa.
Yeah. It is an issue I'm struggling with. I think I'm going to give it a go. Maybe next year. I sure wish I knew before I bought the boat, and put a brand new outboard on it :( it's my first fiberglass boat. All my others were aluminum. How thick is the bottom on yours? Honestly, I'm not concerned with the weight. I just cruise the bays with the wife and kids. Not really concerned with it being super fast. And as heavy as it is now, as wet as it is, it cuts through chop like a Cadillac! Lol. I'm thinking of laying up 6 layers... 1708, and maybe a layer of 20 oz cloth. I really appreciate your advice. And I am looking forward to your new videos! Thank you
I don't actually know how thick the bottom is - I haven't put any holes through it yet! I will be drilling a hole for a thru hull for the water pickup for the toilet at some point - guess I'll find out then!
Greetings from Lewes, Delaware! Not sure why you dont have a million subscribers. I'm glad I came across your project, and I am in awe of what you're doing with this fancy old lady :) I have a question. My project is a 79 cruisers inc. 201 beachcomber. I love the boat. And am slowly restoring it. But it gas a saturated balsa core. It's not rotted just wet all through the bottom of the boat. Can I dig it all out, and lay up glass on the bottom? To have a solid bottom? I will never sleep, knowing that wet core is in there ticking away, and weighing my rug down. Anyway, your input/expertise would be greatly appreciated! I am getting ready for the summer now, but next year, plan on digging into her. I want to do it right.
Thanks for the compliments! I'm just trying to document what I'm doing and learning as I work away on my projects... hopefully I can provide some inspiration for others. Wish I could give you the "right" answer, but my expertise in this area is limited to what I have done with my old boats, and what I have read and studied online. My boats are just plain old solid fiberglass hulls, no cores of any kind. That's one of the reasons I went for such an old boat - I've read too many stories of rotted cores. The reason for the cored hull (in my understanding) is to provide rigidity with lower weight. A thin glass bottom will flex too much, a thick glass bottom is heavy. A cored glass hull gives you the strength and rigidity with less weight. I think it might make the hull quieter as well. I'm guessing there is a lower manufacturing cost or something associated with it too - but that's just my guess. Problem with a cored hull is that it will get wet eventually, and wet wood WILL rot eventually. Then your hull is cored with mush - all the benefits of the cored hull are gone. I'm "guessing" that you could replace it all with glass, but it would require a lot of fiberglass to build it up to enough thickness to be just as rigid - lots of heavy glass cloth, laminating resin, doesn't sound like a fun job. Not sure you would save a lot of weight though - the boat might end up heavier than it is now. Solid fiberglass is heavier than even soggy balsa.
Yeah. It is an issue I'm struggling with. I think I'm going to give it a go. Maybe next year. I sure wish I knew before I bought the boat, and put a brand new outboard on it :( it's my first fiberglass boat. All my others were aluminum. How thick is the bottom on yours? Honestly, I'm not concerned with the weight. I just cruise the bays with the wife and kids. Not really concerned with it being super fast. And as heavy as it is now, as wet as it is, it cuts through chop like a Cadillac! Lol. I'm thinking of laying up 6 layers... 1708, and maybe a layer of 20 oz cloth. I really appreciate your advice. And I am looking forward to your new videos! Thank you
I don't actually know how thick the bottom is - I haven't put any holes through it yet! I will be drilling a hole for a thru hull for the water pickup for the toilet at some point - guess I'll find out then!