2010 boat project

Capt Jeff Kraynik

Capt Jeff Kraynik

Well-known member
Well, after (10) ten years, it's time to rehab the 18x44 GD.

First project is removing the rear inside floatation pods.

Last season I needed to drill for some wiring & tapped a hole into the starboard pod.

Needless to say, water poured out like a burst pipe.

I take part of the blame because during hurricanes, I would drop the boats off the trailers & fill them with water for several days.

But it's just time to remove the excess weight.

First pod is out & the bottom (6) six inches of the floatation was completely saturated.

Jumped on the scale with the garbage bags in hand & it came to a whopping
(75) seventy-five pounds!!!

So if the second pod is just as bad, I'm removing (1) one person from the boat.

Pic's to follow.
 
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We planned on removing the floor even though I had just replaced it (3) three years ago.

It took most of the day & when we pulled up the front cock pit floor, we saw the bow foam was soak also, so we gutted the entire boat.

When all was said & done, we removed about (250) two hundred & fifty pounds of saturated foam & metal.
Still have about a foot to dig out of the bow.

gd3.jpg

gd1.jpg

gd2.jpg


Scary part was we found some electrylosis where the foam was touching the metal.

Once the foam was out, we found a half dozen pin holes above the water line.

Next week it's off to East Coast Sand Blasting.
 
Well gang,

We found the secret to removing foam.

POWER WASHER!!!

powerwasher.jpg


We put the cement tip on & went to town.

It liquified every piece of remaining foam in the boat.

Every nook & cranny!!!

Still had a 3'x2' section in the bow that we played He!! getting to yesterday.

Needless to say, yesterday it got the best of us.

After (10) ten minutes you wouldn't have ever known there was any foam in the boat to start with.

Yea, it was a little wet & messy but it was better than spending hours digging it out with a cane axe, putty knives or a hand shovel.

And no dust!!!
 
I wish I would have know this last year! I spent a two whole afternoons trying to dig out the foam in the noses of a skiff. It was real tight quarters so you couldn't really get at it with anything.
 
Pic's of the rot that the foam caused above the waterline.
gd4.jpg


Capt Jim wire brushing what residual foam was left after the power washing.
gd5.jpg

 
Jeff,

Keep the info coming about your rebuild. I've got a 1648 Lowe mod-vee jon boat that may need some rehab help in a few years and I'm always interested in info on maintaining my hunting stuff. It needs to last a looooong time since I've got 2 little kids and a wife that want's a new pontoon boat, lol. Good luck and thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks for posting Jeff.. we haven't had a rebuild in a long time here...

Re the foam... was it defective or old ? i.e. why did it absorb so much water you think?

Thanks, Andrew
 
We've ripped both aluminum & glass boats out over the years & that after time the foam absorbs water.

It really doesn't look any worse thasn other boats I've seen other than the "rot" where the foam was touching the bare aluminum.
 
In the blasting booth before closing the doors.

gd7.jpg



Like new, almost.

gd8.jpg



Pieces parts.

gd9.jpg



Fill'er up!!!

gd10.jpg


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Bow was the worst. Also alot just behind the center seat, again only where the floatation touched up against the hull.

gd12.jpg



Stopping the leaks in an attempt to fill'er to the gunnels!!!\

gd13.jpg



Next up, welding up the holes in the hull & welding in the logitudinal bracing between the stringers.
 
I think your being watched.There's a police car across the road.Maybe he's waiting to go duck hunting with you.:)
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So you see them to???

There's also a black helicopter flying overhead @ night & ninjas in my trees!!!
 
I'm glad someone else see these things too.I thought I was going crazy.
It does look like you have quite a project going.Looking good though
 
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What a project that you decided to undertake. Well done. I see you carry lucky charms with you when hunting! Enjoyed viewing the nice shots of your boat in the series towards its completion. Well you be applying camo paint?
Al
 
jeff,

i have the same boat but mine is a 16x44, 1997. Are you putting some kind of flotation back in? Do think the aluminum side pods lent to the structural integrity?
 
jeff,

i have the same boat but mine is a 16x44, 1997. Are you putting some kind of flotation back in? Do think the aluminum side pods lent to the structural integrity?
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We're mounting a sealed aluminum box underneath the front deck (24"x14"x12" ?) & building a quasi-hunt deck/pods across the outside of the transom (40"x12"x7").

With the dimensions of both boxes, I will have (503) five hundred & three pounds of floatation.

I'm sure the side pods had some structual integrity.

What we're doing is after the floor is back down, we're fabricating an aluminum brace (u shaped) that will start @ the top of a gunnel, travel down to the floor, run across & back up to the oppisite gunnel. We're placing it just in front of the bilge where the rear cock pit floor angles down to the hull.

Can't show you a pic right now since it will be the last piece frabricated prior to painting.

We've seen this done in other manufactuers boats that have no foam floatation in them.
 
Finished welding up the lateral bracing under the floors tonight.

We used 1x1x1/8 square tubing.

This gives full support to the floor & also leaves a (1") one inch space for water & debris to flow back to the bilge area.

Front Cock Pit
gd15.jpg


Rear Cock Pit
gd16.jpg

 
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