I haven’t posted progress pics in a while because I’ve been bouncing around doing different stuff and haven’t really brought anything to completion. But I have been working on the boat and there is a common thread to what I’m trying to accomplish.
I’ve owned boats in Florida for the past 20 years. Like most recreational boats, they spend most of their time on the trailer. But Florida is wet. All the time. Where I live in North Central Florida, the average annual rainfall is a little over four feet. Average humidity for the year is 77%. So when water gets inside a boat, on a trailer or in the water, it won’t dry out in a hurry. So I’m building in some features that will help control where water can go, and how much of it can accumulate.
For instance, the bilge in the 25 Seafari is deep and has a 25 degree deadrise at the keel. There’s no good way to install a bilge pump that won’t leave a fair amount of water in the bilge. And there’s no way to fit a bilge pump large enough for this boat under the bell housing or transom assembly of the I/O. So I decided to modify it so it won’t hold as much water and will create a flat area where a large bilge pump can be located. First, I tabbed in some 1” PVC from the cabin bulkhead back to the aft end of the engine compartment.
I left one pipe shorter than the other because I wanted to leave a sump at the transom where I can put a small bilge pump. Next, I used a hot wire foam cutter to make some styrofoam filler strips for the keel build up.
I used epoxy resin and 1808 biax to glass them in. Sealed in epoxy, the foam should be protected from any fuel leakage in the bilge, and the built up keel won’t hold as much water. More importantly, any bilge water should be under the buildup inside the PVC pipe and not sloshing around under the engine where it might leave salt deposits on the oil pan and accelerate corrosion. At least that’s my working theory. We’ll see how it works out. The build-up is about 2” deep.
I plan to mount a couple large bilge pumps with automatic float switches forward of the engine, but aft of the engine compartment bulkhead. Unless I spring a substantial leak, they’ll never come on. But I’m not planning to use flotation foam, and I want enough pump capacity to handle a busted through-hull or a hull puncture.
Dave