water logged dory

[mad4pike]

further to my earlier post ive been told some of the earlier dell quay dories had open cell foam and this soaked up water i cant get my 11ft dory to plane either with 15hp or 25 hp and i think its because of the weight of water in the foam can anyone please give any advice how to dry it out it does not have a drain plugg between skins, and thanks to the people that answered my last post

 

[Gin]

Our dinghy club used to run several of these as rescue boats but I'm afraid the problem you are experiencing is one which tested us repeatedly. So much so that we ended up selling them to people who thought they could sort them out- never found out if they did but we certainly couldn't face the ongoing problems.

Good luck with yours but be prepared to move on

 

[Blueboatman]

I suppose it would be too difficult,dangerous and expensive to introduce a solvent such as 5 litres of acetone into the waterlogged foam areas to dissolve the foam chemically?

 

[Aja]

I thought that you drilled holes in the stern and stood them on end for a while to let the water drain, then sealed the holes?

Donald

 

[duncan]

I am glad that I wasn't going mad last thread - but sorry for your situation.

personally I would (1) put on protective clothing etc
(2) angle grinder...............
(3) rip out the foam anyold how
(4) replace with closed cell foam
(5) glass back in what you cut out

 

[philip_stevens]

I recently had to drain out the space between a double-skinned boat. I drilled a hole in the transom as low down as I could and fitted a screw-in bung to seal the hole and cavity after the boat drained. It took a while to drain.

When I was in the RN, we had a Dell Quay Dory on board as a recreational/ski boat. She got holed and filled with water. The ships' chippies did exactly as I did and drained the water out of the void, but glassed over the hole they had cut - no plugs available to do the job.

So, drill a hole and see how much drains out. You can easily seal it with a dinghy screw-in plug.

 

[boatbuilder]

Gallon of petrol, box of swan vestas, problem solved.

 

[aztec]

I'd go with duncan's suggestion..

split it, rip out the foam, and either replace with the two pack closed cell foam, or leave it as an open void.

i've done a small dory like this and it was fine...

steve

 

[aitchw]

It almost certainly wasn't open celled foam. The problem is all of these foams will take up water over an extended period if in constant contact with water. Once soaked they will not drain themselves dry. Only a certain amount of the 'free' water will come out that way so a transom hole and standing on end will only partially deal with it.

The usual situation between skins is that there will be large blocks strategically placed to to support and stiffen the skins and hence the whole boat. I have successfully treated one hull (not a dory) by selecting two locations fore and aft to install sealing dinghy hatches. I used 4" ones because of restricted space but the larger the better. Having cut them you should be able to leave the boat at an angle that will help any free water to drain and puddle under the hatch so you can sponge it out. If it is bad then this will have to be done repeatedly over a few weeks. If you have a good cover leave the hatches open to allow drying to start by evaporation. Once the weather warms up take every opportunity to leave the boat uncovered in the sun with the hatches off, even tape black bin liners flat to the cockpit sole to increase the heat absorbed and force faster evaporation. If you can rig it easily use a fan to blow into one of the hatches.

Over one season I reduced a 170lb hull to 140lbs but it takes time and patience but with the hatches in place you can use the boat in the meantime.

I'm not a big fan of cutting big holes and glassing over and I certainly would not remove the blocks permanently even in desperation.

BTW, by installing hatches you can easily keep on top of the stuation by mopping out any water ingress after use and so prevent new build up.

 

[mad4pike]

thaks for your reply on my water logged dory ive bought some 6" dinghy hatches and im going to drill 3 of these put the dory on two stands with a large sheet of plastic over it all and place a deumidifier under the boat hopefully drawning the water from the foam,just wondeing how you cut your holes for the hatches cheers dave

 

[philip_stevens]

and don't forget to put a drain plug in the transom between the mouldings.