Poor man delam - git-rot running through-Urethane Pour Foam?

So I recently paid 300 bucks for a 1978 Hobie 16 in Arkansas. The top of the deck is pretty badly delaminated across most of the whole thing especially forward of the front pylon, and on one of the outer port hull there's just a bit of softness which is barely perceptible with the hand although I'm sure standing on it while flipped on the side would be noticeable.

I first tried the Git-Rot method, but rather predictably I put about 12oz into the front deck area on just one side, and every indication shows me that it mostly just flowed directly into the hull (although I do not have a porthole so I cannot see it, there's no mystery, it's going through.

I found some posts by Coral Reefer a while back about using expanding urethane foam, and I've decided to do that ( no reason throwing good git rot after bad). I don't believe the hull is cracked on the inside, I think it's just seeping through due to lack of resin.


Coral Reefer poured 4 pound foam into the front of his boat up to the front pylons, adding 16 LB on each side.

My idea was pouring 2 pound foam throughout the entire boat but with some 4 LB foam in the most delaminated areas, not for structural purposes really, but to fill up the inside so that the git-rot would not be able to flow through the inner skin.

Here's the foam I'm talking about:
http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

Here's a couple posts about Coral Reefer (he hasn't posted in a few years, maybe sunk in the ocean?)
viewtopic.php?t=2051
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6359&p=89237#p89237

Here's a post where talks about epoxy "seeping through the inside layer".. I've seen pictures of this I cannot find at the moment where the git rot is just dripping through the inner fiber layer without any visible cracks, I think this is what's happening with my boat. I don't really feel up to getting a roller into all the areas where my delam is occurring, so I don't think this is feasible for me, but good information.
viewtopic.php?t=8833


My current plan is:
1) 1 16 pound kit of 2 LB foam
2) 1 16 pound kit of 4 LB foam
3) Drill a 5' hole right behind the front pylon (between the two pylons)
4) Pour some 2 LB foam in the very tip where there is no delam.
5) Let that cure
6) Pour some 4 LB foam into the area immediately in front of the pylon and beside the pylon (this is the most delaminated area).
7) Let that cure
Put in a hopefully small amount of git-rot into the deck and side of the hull.
9) If the git-rot sets better between layers and doesn't flow right into the hull, then I'd probably fill the rest with 2 LB foam and put some git rot in the back too where the delam is barely noticeable.


I know this will slow the boat down, and could lead to water retention, but I'm on a fixed budget and there's not a lot of Hobies in the area.. The ones that look in good condition are about $700+ bucks and are still a long drive a way, so far all I know they'd be delaminated also and I'd be halfway across Oklahoma before I'd know for sure. ~140 bucks for foam is a lot, but doable. I'll be sailing in very small inland lakes.

I'm gonna go ahead with this either way and will let you know how it works out. Any suggestions though are appreciated. Coral Reefer took a lot of flack for his approach, but it seemed to work for him. If he hasn't sunk to a watery grave years ago in a tragic maritime disaster it'd be cool for him to chime in =-)


Thanks!

Did you start this project yet, and if you did how is it going so far / how did it turn out?

A friend and I are doing this right now on his H17.

You're probably right - the holes you drilled probably went too deep, allowing the Git Rot to simply run down inside the hull. The foam will fill and seal the hull. You might still be able to feel a bit of softness owing to the hull top itself. If this bothers you then you could add the Git Rot and hope it stays up top and soaks into the dry core.

One thing - the amount of expansion of the foam is dependent on temperature. The 15X expansion is under very very warm temperatures. As the weather turns cooler, you'll get less expansion and therefore have to use more foam which equates to more weight. I would only do this if the temperature where you're working is above 70F.

Thanks for your comments, and for all the great advice on the Hobie forums!

Took the boat out last weekend for the first time and I'm still feeling high about it.

Project went fairly well on the whole. I followed the process I described in my post, with the idea that at the very least if it did not correct the delamination at least it would give some structure to the front of the boat and make it less likely to break.

I did that right around the time that I made the original post. It was slightly cooler than the recommended temperature, so I feel like I may have had a little less than the desired expansion, but I think it was still good. The whole thing was pretty delaminated both on the sides of the hull and the top of the hull, and while there's some delam on the top of the hull, the sides are very sturdy, and the whole thing just "feels sound". One pontoon filled all the way back to the hole I cut between the two pylons near the front, and I had to stop it from oozing out from the hole with a book placed over the pour in opening; this seems to have rendered that waterproof, and I would think that would give some structural strength to the whole area of that pylon as it evens out pressures. The other pontoon didn't expand as much so while it did cover much of the structure inside the pylon but I ended up having to cover the whole with a fiberglass patch.

By the time all that was done it was really too cool to swim where I live in Arkansas, and so I had to cover the boat and wait till this summer. I was a little bummed out about all of it because so many of the comments about delamination were so dire, and it still had a bit of flex to it, so I wasn't so sure it would ever sail.

So I took it out on Sunday, struggled a bit, but got the mast stepped, put the sail up (everything but the hull is in great shape).

It sailed like a beauty!!!!! It jetted through the water even in light wind, it held two full size adults without looking too deep in the water, it wasn't unstable at all compared to some similar sized mono hulled boats I've used. With the mast being so tall and heavy and the sail relatively large for a boat of that weight, I pictured it being a little topheavy, but I felt like I could move whereever I wanted, even sitting on the front with my feet on the pontoon or in the water. Also when I took it out of the water although I only filled the front with foam, when I took the rear plugs out after the sail, no water came out (always a good sign). The wind was only about 10-12mph and my ropes were a little tangled and disorganized being the first sail, so I didn't get it up too fast, but it felt great! I can see why people seem so obsessive about these boats.

Also it felt sturdy. I know lots of people on these forums are pretty hardcore, so anything short of a perfect structural integrity could be dangerous, but I only go out on nice days and I'll often ease off the wind so I can enjoy the wine without all the heeling over. I don't go on the ocean, although I think I could do the Gulf of Mexico on a calm day if I wanted.

I think the repair was a success.

In answer to Tom, I don't think that I drilled too deep, I think the epoxy inside the hull had worn so far down that it simply streamed through like coffee through a filter. By the time I realized this I had already used pretty much all the Git Rot and that stuff is pretty expensive, so I didn't really get to see if the git rot helped the delam. The polyIt for sure made the hull feel sturdy and solid though if it still is a bit flexy on top.

I have babies at home so I will probably not be out for another few weeks, but I'll write back if hull ever busts as has been dramatically fortold by some regarding delamination

I do need to work on stepping and taking down the mast, because putting up was tough for me, and taking it down was more like a semi-controlled fall. It was my first time on a Hobie though so the many many forum posts I read didn't give me the mental context I needed having never seen it myself. Will be reading like 12 dozen posts about this, thanks everyone on the Hobie Forums!!