Tja

[tja]

I have a 27ft. Baha Cruiser that i'm replacing two main stringers,two bulk heads, and cutty floor for a customer. When I removed the main stringers they exposed something that i've never seen in twenty years of repairing boats. The fuel tanks are mounted on large boxed areas in the rear of the boat port and starboard. The tanks are about 60 to 80 gal. each. Upon removing the stringers I found three 80 pound bags of cement inside each of the boxes that the fuel tanks are on. I went to the trouble to call Baha Cruiser and asked them why they were there. As I suspected they were in there for ballast. They said if the boat were run light on fuel that the boat may not handle correctly without the extra ballast. Thinking how much people work to reduce the weight of boats to improve performance and fuel economy the extra weight doesn't make much sence to me. Especially when the owner says that the boat is under powered with 350/ 260 hp . He charters on Lake Erie and try's to take out small groups as the boat doesn't perform well with eight persons. The six bags amounts to 480 lbs. Which translates to two good size men. I know there are guys on this forum that have much more knowledge in boat design then I do. What do you think. Thanks. Tom.

[War Whoop]

The necessity adding of the static weight is always a bad sign like someone goofed!!! 60 gallons of water in ballast tanks would be in order in this instance. That would be a good compromise, water pickup with a cable operated gate valve at least that way you have an option.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by tja

I have a 27ft. Baha Cruiser that i'm replacing two main stringers,two bulk heads, and cutty floor for a customer. When I removed the main stringers they exposed something that i've never seen in twenty years of repairing boats. The fuel tanks are mounted on large boxed areas in the rear of the boat port and starboard. The tanks are about 60 to 80 gal. each. Upon removing the stringers I found three 80 pound bags of cement inside each of the boxes that the fuel tanks are on. I went to the trouble to call Baha Cruiser and asked them why they were there. As I suspected they were in there for ballast. They said if the boat were run light on fuel that the boat may not handle correctly without the extra ballast. Thinking how much people work to reduce the weight of boats to improve performance and fuel economy the extra weight doesn't make much sence to me. Especially when the owner says that the boat is under powered with 350/ 260 hp . He charters on Lake Erie and try's to take out small groups as the boat doesn't perform well with eight persons. The six bags amounts to 480 lbs. Which translates to two good size men. I know there are guys on this forum that have much more knowledge in boat design then I do. What do you think. Thanks. Tom.

How a boat handles is sort of a subjective opinion. Maybe the boat handles better than most, without the ballast it would maybe just be 'ordinary'. Underpowered could be other than design. Maybe the motors' worn out or a wrong prop. Maybe it IS a crappy design, that's nothing new in boats or anything else. Aside from that, if you are thinking about taking the cement out you should think about if you would be liable if something like a capsize happened. Sam

[War Whoop]

"They said if the boat were run light on fuel that the boat may not handle correctly without the extra ballast."

There you go Sam has a point on the liability in a capsizing or any accident really even though that lake gets very rough and ships go to the bottom….when the bottle stops spinning in court it will be pointed at you!

[buckknekkid]

if it was under the tanks its obvious that the mfg new from experience that there were stability issues.

[tja]

Thanks for all the coments. I'm not planing to remove the balast. The customer wants to leave it as is which works for me.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by tja

Thanks for all the coments. I'm not planing to remove the balast. The customer wants to leave it as is which works for me.

I've found 'built in' things in boats also, mostly tools. Found an electric drill once and somebodys walking cane in another. Did the cement seem to cause or prevent any rot? Sam

[tja]

The three bags that i took out of the port side were hard as a rock. So they certainly absorbed moisture and they rotted the one by three board under them.I'm going to replace those three as they will be easier to get back in place if there not a solid mas. Mostly i've found pop cans under floors.

[buckknekkid]

in florida its generally square grouper under the floor boards! Happy New Year

[War Whoop]

Same to you Ray Happy New Year!!

[jimslade]

It looks like the boat was designed for twins. If you didnt order with twins they put in a ballast to keep the centre of gravity low. Sounds like the deck was designed after the hull. Best to make a box and pour the concrete in I dont like the bag idea. The paper will absorb water and never fully dry out.

[buckknekkid]

Cement is a caustic substance anyway. You may find a few New Yorkers in it also. there wasnt any ballast in this one I built. It had triples hanging on the back of it.

[mobilemike]

Hi I am looking at a 30 ft Baha 1989 with stringer replacement needed how dificult a job is this the owner say he had an estimate of 3k to replace them does this sound correct or will the repair be more costly he is asking 4k for the boat ?

[PAR]

Mike this thread was started in 2005 and the last comment was very early 2006.