saturated hull

[dohcdelsol93]

as some of you know i'm restoring an old boat that appears to be a pre 70's luger boat (westwind or windward 21)

it's on a trailer but she's been holding water for years.


I can vac out the water that gathers around the keel tunnel but in a few min it appears again. I will collect until it's about a half inch or less deep over about 24 hours. I vac it out again and process repeats.

I can tell there are a few cracks around the forward part of the keel tunnel on the hull, infront of where the tunnel meets the hull. Maybe few inches long tops.

I noticed when i was pressure washing the inside of the boat i was getting some drops of water there leaking through.

I can find no soft spots anywhere in the hull. I did find a few spots in the hull that i need to fiberglass over, looks like some dock/beaching damage. I drilled a hold about the size of a dime through the hull to examine for wood core but she's solid fiber glass.

any suggestions on getting the moisture out of the boat other than keeping hatch open on a hot sunny day?

I need her dry for painting

 

[Ted]

Close the boat up tight and place a dehumidifier or two inside the cabin. If you can get the ones with a built in pump, run the pump hose to the exterior. If your hull is as wet as you describe, this process can take a very very long time. A super saturated hull may be beyond help.

 

[higgs]

If you are out of the water and you keep getting water in your bilge, absent rain, something is saturated and I would bet it is made of wood and has something to do with your keel to hull joint.

 

[caguy]

I pump about 50 gallons out of the Luger 30 that had been sitting with water just above the sole for years. Ater pumping out and letting it dry for about 2 weeks I pressure washed the inside and wiped it dry. There was no weeping the bilge stayed dry all summer. I haven't seen the boat since all the rain we got and I imagine its full again. I will get up there this spring and redo it. This time I will put the ports back in before next winther.

 

[Ed A]

A boat of that vintage may not even have a core. how is it built?

 

[rgranger]

I'm with Ed

A boat of that vintage may not even have a core. how is it built?

Older boats (especially an old Mac) were fiberglass w/o a core for the hull. The only wood was the interior bulkheads, & births. That is why they are so great for restoring. I've restored 4 old sailboats and for two of them I started with a complete stripping out of all of the old wood. Use the old wood as a template and gig out new pieces.

You either have some rotten wood that has sponged up some water or you have a pocket of water trapped inside a birth etc. Do you have weep holes?

I like the dehumidifier idea also but if you have a pocket of water someplace that... that has to be found first.

Good luck.

r

 

[Ross]

It is an old song but one that I sing often. If it is wet and you want it to be dry ventilate, ventilate, ventilate, use fans inside to circulate the air, tent the boat to keep rain out. The relative humidity is rarely at 100% for more than a few hours. Water evaporates naturally all by its self and water vapor is lighter than air so if you leave the hatch open it will leave the boat. Women have been drying laundry for centuries with nothing more than a place to spread the wet cloth and some rain free time.

 

[rgranger]

dohcdelsol93

I saw on your other thread that you were waiting for the rain to let up. If your boat is outside, then I'm guessing the water in the boat is from rain getting in. Most likely at the chain plates. ???

 

[dohcdelsol93]

the boat is covered by a heavy duty new tarp with no leaks.

Thanks for the suggestions, and this does not have a wood core, only fiberglass in her hull but i do have wood supporting the V birth that is rotten and will be cut out and used as a stensil and replaced with marine plywood if avaliable (if not treated plywood will be used)

 

[kloudie1]

Water trapped between hull and floor/liner??.. Tilt the trailer up as high as it will go for a few hours.. then level and pump .. then tilt down as far as you can get it.. for some more hours.. listen for sloshing.. level and pump.. do that some more..

 

[SchwarckT]

Had a similar problem with my O'Day Mariner. Foam under the v-berth was saturated with rain water and would slowly leak out into bilge.

 

[dohcdelsol93]

tilted with no sloshing.

seems most/if not all the water is gone.

fiberglassed over a hole in the hull at the stern as well as as some fiberglass dock damage at the top of the stern. This should help greatly with any future water intake.

Still have one hole the size of a dime to repair toward the center of the hull as well as about a 3" crack at where the tunnel of the keel and hull meet.

I'm assuming i treat this as any other fiber glass crack. Drill holes at both ends of the crack to prevent spreading. Grind it out to remove paint/wax and get a clean surface. Lay my new sheets of fiber glass. Sand down to desired level, seal and paint.

 

[kenn]

Our boat type is notorious for water saturating the "flotation" foam, which then rots out the bulkhead. We were no exception (but it didn't keep us from sailing 2 seasons like that). I did get around to digging out that wet foam,replacing rotted bulkheads with fully glassed ones, and replacing foam with Styrofoam SM, on plastic spacers so it's not right against the hull bottom or bilge,

Consult with other Luger owners; they may have a process developed for drying and updating the boat.