23 CC SeaCraft 1979 Rebuild questions

[shine]

My fiberglass guy said to leave it unfilled because foam absorbs water and that's not what he would like, basically just clean it and leave it unfilled. What do you guys think? Would this decrease the boats buoyancy, would it affect the ride or integrity. Should I re-foam and glass?

Without foam your boat will no longer have upright flotation, a huge loss in safety. The newer USCG spec foam does not absorb water unless its exposed to gas/chemicals, then the foam cells can be busted and it can soak up a small amount of water. So that the safety reason, another reason is vibration/sound dampening, the boat will "feel" hollow, more vibration when hitting waves.

On my 23, I even filled the spaces between the outside of the stringers and the hull side with foam, no just for added flotation, but for dampening.

My store happens to sell 2 lb buoyancy foam, cheapest place on the net to buy it too.

Should I re-foam and glass?

Best to glass the stringer back to the hull "re-tab", then fill them back with foam. If you can post some pictures of the stringer damage, i can be of better help.

Boat has an enclosed transom with bracket and the goal is to mount a single 250hp engine in the back.

that is my set up as well, I love it


Joel

[TunaMeltdown]

Originally Posted by shine

On my 23, I even filled the spaces between the outside of the stringers and the hull side with foam, no just for added flotation, but for dampening.

My store happens to sell 2 lb buoyancy foam, cheapest place on the net to buy it too.

Joel

Do you remember how many gallons you used on your boat?