onthewater102
Well-known member
Has anyone seen a setup where the support ribs are run perpendicular to the keel where the pockets between the ribs was filled with poured foam that wasn't water logged? Every restore build I've seen on here has involved pulling water logged foam out of these areas and I've found that my 2yr old build has water logged foam in this region now too.
Do the longitudinal rib setups have the same water logging issues? I drilled through my foam lower deck and everything was water logged despite my best efforts to keep the boat covered all the time. I cleared the channels of foam and installed grille covers over the drilled out areas but I'm thinking ahead to my 16' Tracker III restore and I'd really like to keep the voids filled with foam but not if they're just going to add 100lbs of water down the line and not provide adequate flotation in the event of a catastrophe.
Pulled my seat mounts off just to check the foam under them & that seems dry - so the saturation is only in the lower deck (beneath the side console) but that would be where I'd want foam (if nothing else but for sound deadening reasons) on the 16'. I know I can cover the lateral channels with piping & elevate the floor, add drains into the channels from each forward compartment and seal everything forward of the rear livewell so the water has to shed off the deck via the drains to get to the transom - but any water accumulating in the boat will have to drain to the rear and build up past the foam level before triggering the bilge should I take it fishing in the rain (as I love to do) so unless my sealing job along the aft most rib is perfect the foam will still be exposed to water.
Do the longitudinal rib setups have the same water logging issues? I drilled through my foam lower deck and everything was water logged despite my best efforts to keep the boat covered all the time. I cleared the channels of foam and installed grille covers over the drilled out areas but I'm thinking ahead to my 16' Tracker III restore and I'd really like to keep the voids filled with foam but not if they're just going to add 100lbs of water down the line and not provide adequate flotation in the event of a catastrophe.
Pulled my seat mounts off just to check the foam under them & that seems dry - so the saturation is only in the lower deck (beneath the side console) but that would be where I'd want foam (if nothing else but for sound deadening reasons) on the 16'. I know I can cover the lateral channels with piping & elevate the floor, add drains into the channels from each forward compartment and seal everything forward of the rear livewell so the water has to shed off the deck via the drains to get to the transom - but any water accumulating in the boat will have to drain to the rear and build up past the foam level before triggering the bilge should I take it fishing in the rain (as I love to do) so unless my sealing job along the aft most rib is perfect the foam will still be exposed to water.