Upgrade to better handling

[Deeman]

A thought just accurred to me (I know that's scary by itself from a newbie to the group) But after reading about every post and articles available Re: Boat rebuilding. there is a item that may reveal hidden problems with a given boat for the used boat buyer. My recently purchased 26 year old 5.7 merc. '22 cuddy has new trim tabs and the whaletail on the outdrive. I believe the P.O. found his bow up way to much and the boat had a hard time coming up to plane. Hence the mods. She was totally water logged! The old foam acted like a big sponge. No water per se in the bilge but, the hidden side compartments were full of water. I'd guestimate (hillbilly science) about 1000 lbs. in water and rotten wood/foam plus 100 gals of fuel, this being the case the vessel would act like a displacement hull.( I estimated needing about 40 cubic feet of new foam for the rebuild.) 1 cubic foot of water weighs 26 +lbs. In an effort to overcome this, the P.O. bought the trim tabs and i/o mods. Discouraged that those mods made little difference he sold the boat to me for a pittance.

So, if you are buying a used boat and it has all the "run better mods" becareful that they are not there to overcome greater issues. A good practice would be to run over a set of scales and compare that reading to the vessels and trailer weight when buying a used boat.

Just a thought, am I wrong?

Too hot to work on the boat but a good week to dry it out...
http://eharder.com/Eric/Boat/

[marshmat]

No, deeman, you're not wrong. A lot of people like to apply quick-fix solutions to big problems, with no real effect other than the loss of money.
A half a tonne of water in the foam, which I don't think would be an excessive guess, would certainly cause performance to suffer. A 22' cuddy shouldn't need a whale tail, although I do think the tabs are a good idea. I second the advice about the weigh scales.

[Deeman]

More discoveries, I have a rope locker up in the bow and never looked in it very deep. In plain view is the anchor and rode, bumper and life jacket. I pulled them all out today...underneath I found 2 50+lbs. sand bags..another reason I believe the P.O. had problems bringing the nose down.. would there be any other reason other than forward ballast, he could have used these? I believe a cuddie would make a horrible submarine.
Eric H

[marshmat]

Egad. I'm kind of worried as to what else you'll find. Are the stringers cored with tungsten, now?

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by Deeman

1 cubic foot of water weighs 26 +lbs. Just a thought, am I wrong?

Yes, 1 cubic foot of water weighs 60+ lbs. Sam

[Deeman]

Thanks SamSam
I was wrong about the weight, must have been thinking Light Beer weight. anyway, I figured I had at least 30 cu. ft of wet foam. Of course that was not all pure water weight. But even 20 cu.ft. at 63lb is 1260lbs.
Pounds Grams Kilo
Cubic foot 62.42796 28316.847 28.316847

[marshmat]

Twelve hundred pounds of wet foam? No wonder the boat's a dog. Cleaned up and restored to her proper weight, I suspect she'll run pretty well again.