when to seal a hull

my friend and i bought a 14ft shakespeare clubman for day fishing around the coast.

its a vee shaped hull design and when we bought it the deck was rotten.
the deck was not sealed into the hull and water would drain into the hull space.

the questions we have now are for the ability of this boat to withstand some rough sea's.

we are now considering sealing the hull when we glass the deck to make this water tight and also sealing and making water tight, the space in front of the bulkhead.

this would make two water tight compartments, one in the hull and another at the bow. would this make the boat too unstable though and if the water sat on the deck, instead of the draining to the hull, would it cause to much unstabilty and risk the boat capsizing.
would the weight of the water on the deck space compromise the stabilty of the boat too much or is this a better option than having more stablitity with the water draining in the hull which would sink the boat eventually anyway.

thanks for any info on this subject as ive looked hard but am stuggling to find the answers to this.

ive also edited this to make it a little clearer. i hope it is now.

 

I thought this was about STEALING a hull... damn!

 

When it leaks !!


It is a golden rule on any boat to keep centre of gravity as low as possible. That is everything goes in the middle and below the waterline. If you're after boyancy a better call would be to use a closed cell foam and glass it in - again as low and as central in the hull as possible.

 

You must have had a bad experience in your youth, in regard to V hulls, Fanie. They, by a very large margin out number all other power hull types, are safe stable and generally well mannered. Blanket statements like yours, should be qualified with a logical explanation of some sort, or left at bed side with your medication and glass of milk.

To answer the original poster's questions, it would be helpful to have a photo of the hull so we can get an idea what your concerns are about and the general hull shape.

I'll assume it's like most older small boats and a modified V with moderate to low deadrise. These shapes are best suited to protected waters and relatively mild sea states. They'll pound a bit if driven too hard or into steep chop. Most will "calm down" if the throttle is backed off. No boat will be comfortable, if the skipper isn't willing to ease off the gas a touch to meet the current condisions.

Yes, seal up the deck to hull joint. No sense inviting a leak underway. I'm assuming (again) that you have a cockpit liner, was permits water to collect under it. You should leave this space open and provide weep holes for it to drain aft when on the trailer, so it can exit the boat through a drain hole in the transom. Many designs will not permit this, draining the cockpit only, but not the cavity below the cockpit sole. This rots out many cockpit soles, not to mention stringers and other supports.

Floatation should be under the side decks and in the ends of the boat, where it'll be out of the way, for the most past. Placing floatation under the sole, can cause the boat to be more stable inverted then floating right side up. This is why it should be placed under side decks and in the bow and stern.

Generally, you want boarding water to drain to the lowest point in the bilge, where it can be pumped over board. Trust your bilge pump, not floatation. A wise and skilled skipper is the best defense. All the gadgets, sealant and flotation be damned, a good skipper is what saves lives and makes life aboard comfortable.

In short, take your boat into areas it can handle, not areas it can become overwhelmed by the sea. A foolish skipper takes to sea in an ill prepared and capable vessel. These are more often lost, then a skipper that is unwilling to venture past a breaking inlet (for example), knowing the limitations of his craft and crew. The hallmark of a good captain is one who knows both the limitations of boat and crew.

 

Yes, I apologise - I did a google for the boat hull and it isn' the one I initially thought it was. Your's would be a lot better.

The bad experience wasn't in my youth Par. I've been on a few boats and the worst was a deep vee.

Michael, up some photo's. See if I can add something constructive for a change.

 

In your defense Fanie, the deep V craze, that has dwindled down in recent years (fortunately favoring more moderate deadrise forms), produced some very tender craft. Some so much so they were useless as a stable platform for anything other then sunbathing on the boat's centerline.

 

iv'e been rock fishing mainly and dont intend to take the boat out too far but mainly the best fishing ive found has been in fairly choppy waters.

my concerns come from a long ago fishing trip when i was fishing in Orkney from the rocks. i fished the same spot many times and the tides were extremely predicable.
one day out of the blue, one huge wave came from nowhere and took most of my fishing gear while i scrambled to higher ground..

i dont think it would take long to sink a 14ft open speed boat if one of these swamped the boat.

thanks for the replies and i'll definately upload some photos soon.

 

He he Par, the one I was on didn't justify the term 'very tender craft'
I had a small cathedral hull boat at the time called a dorey here, and it was more of a sea going boat than that big deep vee skiboat. It was a nightmare to say the least.
But thanks for letting me off the hook (pun ?) so lightly there

Michael,
There was someone in our angling circles who had a boat similar to the picture I gooled for. If you want to take it out on rougher water it may be an idea to give it a wet deck and with proper drain holes. This is a deck that sits above the waterline and when water does spill in it will drain out directly. The biggest mistake the guys make with dry decks is the drain holes are far too small to allow enough water out fast enough, which should be before the next wave splashes in.

Ideally all heavy items should be below the floor, ie batteries, fuel tanks etc. It also means they are out of the way and doesn't clutter the deck area any more that the fishing rods would already contribute to quite a bit.

If you do have a choice, you should rather consider a bigger boat for sea going affairs and one with two motors. You will always be tempted to explore more and futher spots to go fishing at (ask me !)

Also keep in mind that (motor sailing) catamarans are equally suited to fish from, and has quite a few advantages over power boats.