Oh my! Boat flooded

[inair]

My boat is stored outdoors with an elaborate cover system that has worked well in the past. I still go out and check on it every month or so depending on what kind of weather we have had.

I went out yesterday to check on her. I had not been out since Christmas and the cover structure had failed. At first I saw a big swimming pool of water collected in the middle or the tarp/cover and thought it would be ok because the water had been kept out of the boat and just collected in the big low place created by the weight of the water. After getting the water out of the tarp swimming pool I took the covers off and found to my horror that the drain hole had become clogged and that the boat had filled with water up to the floor and in the back (the boat is tipped up) over the floor by several inches!

As I look for a warm dry place to get her dried out I'm trying to think of all the things that will have to be checked out. Everything that was removable was stored in the garage so seat cushions won't be a problem. The tranny was about 2/3 submerged so I'm guessing some water in there needs to be flushed out. The big question is how long was the water in there and how much managed to find its way into what piece of wood that has some small perferation in the glass. I'm trying not to have a cow about it but this is just not the way I wanted to start the new year. Any words of wisdom would be helpful. Wish me luck!

[2500HD]

I would think that just getting her good and dry would be all you really have to worry about. You could put a dehumidifier in for good measure though. Good luck.

[Salty87]

that sucks. is your boat original or has it been rebuilt?

you might try some damp rid buckets to help draw moisture out. you could also open some small access spots under the seats to see if you need to suck any water out. the wood should be able to handle a short dunking but long-term submersion will definitely be bad.

[Supra-in-steamboat]

Bummer to hear about your boat. I had a similar incident indoors with a roof leak, my boat was nosed down. I garaged it with the heat on and did use a dehumidifier. All is fine, that was three years ago. Good luck.

[inair]

Well this morning I drilled some holes in the stringers and found some spots of rot just between engine and exhaust. I have only had the boat for two years and have had so much great family time with it that what ever little problems I had were just small potatoes. Last spring while doing some work on the rudder and flappers I noticed some things like hollow sounding stringers and cracks in the glass around the stringers that made me understand that it was only a matter of time. So this morning after finding black goop in the stringer I was depressed but not suprised. My wife is a great gal. We had a heart to heart talk. The long and short of the matter is that she is making me take the boat to Donny's next week!

I called Bennett boat repair a few minutes ago and he has one spot left to get a stringer job done by early April. Perfect timing I'd say.

P.S. My wife is also insisting on having the interior redone. Life is just so hard some times :)

[wspeedin]

That SUCKS! This is exactly what happenned to mine and thus caused me to start a restoration on it! I ended having to rebuild the engine because water got in it through the oil pan. Also had to flush the transmission and of course the stringers were F ed

[inair]

I had in fact made an appointment this week end to have my back seat cushions done as a test. I havent had good luck with this in the past but this guy came highly recommended. He has done work for some folks on this board and I have seen some very nice things come out of his shop. The only thing that kept nagging at me about it was that If I needed the stringers done than I wanted the interior done after the cap came off. So here we go. First things first.

Here is a question for those of you who have done this. My boat has maroon carpet that looks good with the maroon gel coat. I like the way it looks but don't like how hot it gets. It can be almost too hot to walk on after sitting a while in the sun. Donny says all the new boats come from the factory with tan or grey and that he has a hard time finding maroon. What have you all with maroon boats done with the carpet? I really like the way these boats came from the factory and don't want to change it up too much.

[Salty87]

you've got a keeper for a wife!

mine was dark blue from the factory. i went with grey after rebuild. it's kinda like aluminum foil...hot at first but cools down quickly. anything is going to get hot in 90-100+ heat. i like the grey for the most part although i think it shows dirt more than the dark colors. i got the carpet from these guys in Dalton, GA: http://inglescarpetinc.com/id67.html

edit...my topcap is off white so grey/silver matches

[TitanTn]

i got the carpet from these guys in Dalton, GA: http://inglescarpetinc.com/id67.html


I second this. I bought my red carpet there. I also have the red/maroon color boat.

[wspeedin]

I have a maroon Saltare and I removed the Maroon carpet. I replaced with a type of bedliner that could be color matched. We had it matched to the cream/tan on the outside of the boat. Also, the bedliner material is not heavily gritty. Even though I cant feel my feet, I made sure the wife liked it :)

[Blackntan90]

I like the idea of the bedliner on the floor. My 23 year old carpet is flatter than a pancake- I second that you want to put in a 'heavier' carpet, it should hold up longer. I saw a new Supra at the dealer last season that had an almost shag carpet in it, I thought it would probably feel good under bare feet but it might lay down pretty quickly. As a rule of thumb- the higher the weight(oz.) the nicer it will look in the long run.

[inair]

I went to the Atlanta boat show with my son this afternoon. Wow! There are some really great boats available these days! I was hoping to see some boat interior resource booths there but that part was very limited. I only saw Overboard Designs there and the only carpet samples they had were grey and tan. Ugg. So I came home and called Billy Holt who I had begun to talk with about redoing my interior and he said he has lots of colors and styles available to choose from. I did see one thing at the boat show that seemed like an interesting alternative to carpet. It is the same foam type material that is applied to newer swim platforms. They have quite a large number of finishes available now that seem like they cold be durable enough for an interior floor. I think I'm too traditional for that though and will go with carpet. Thanks Salty87 for the link to Ingles Carpet. I called them this afternoon also and they also have quite a variety to choose form. The biggest thing I got from talking to everyone was that if you want to keep the boat, don't scrimp on the carpet. Better carpet costs more but will last longer and look better longer.

Thanks every one for all the input and have a great week end.