**WARNING: LONG READ**

Lots and lots of pics will also be included.

This is an interior rebuild of my 1994 Bayliner Capri Fish & Ski. It's an 18.5' V-hull with a 125 horsepower 3.0L Alpha One I/O.

This rebuild started exactly 1 week after deer season ended in January 2012. I knew I had some soft spots in the floor from the previous fishing season, and I knew the time was coming for some major work on the boat. (From this point forward, I will refer to the floor as the 'deck', as that is what I was told is the correct boaters terminology for it).

The weekend after deer season ended, I went and uncovered my boat and prepared to get her ready for the lake that same day. It had been just sitting all winter long. Well, about the time I set foot inside, my foot just about went through the deck. I immediately dropped the fishing plans and got my tools and went to work.

Once the carpet was up, this is what I was dealing with.







Quite the mess indeed. The carpet just holds all the moisture in. The area around the ski locker was the worst part, and that's where my foot went through. Notice my high tech rod holders.

A few things to note here. As you can see in the pics above, the seats were originally the back to back seating on each side. My plan here is to remove this setup altogether and replace with a single bucket seat on each side. I do not plan to replace the carpet either, for obvious reasons. I will replace it with a roll-on bedliner instead.

Also, going into this project, I really had no idea what I was doing. I have never tackled a project of this sort. I am not a carpenter, and I knew nothing about fiberglassing. But I do like to think of myself as a handyman. There are a lot of things that I like to think I can do fairly well with my hands. Boat rebuild and fiberglass work was just not one of those things. But it was something I was eager to try. I learned as I went, and got LOTS of guidance from various internet postings of folks doing exactly as I am doing here.

A pic of the area under the passenger side console. The dark area is a bit of rot starting to spread, caused my moisture being held into the wood by the carpet.



Here is when I actually started doing some cutting. I took a skilsaw and cut right on top the stringers to remove the middle section of the deck. I set the blade shallow such that the blade was just deep enough to cut through the deck, but not into the stringer. FYI, the stringers are the two long wood boards that the deck sits on top of that run the full length of the boat, and the fuel tank sits immediately between them.

The first middle section removed, exposing the fuel tank.





The outsides being removed by use of the crowbar, sawzall and skilsaw.

The engine compartment has also been removed by cutting it off as close to the deck as possible with a sawzall. At this point, I had no idea how I was going to reinstall it when that time came.





That forward-most compartment is where the livewell was. It was very poorly designed, and a real PITA to deal with. My plan is to remove it completely and utilize that space as storage. Storage space is very limited on this boat. Also, I will use the livewell pump for something else other than a livewell. More on that later on.

More pics to come. I should note here that I am not far from being finished with this project, much farther along that this opening post. I will post more in the coming days.


[This message has been edited by BurrOak (edited 3/26/2013 10:00p).]

Never understood why they put wood decks in otherwise fiberglass boats.

nothing good to say except good luck

Break
Out
Another
Thousand

In all seriousness, we had a late 80's Bayliner with the I/O Volvo back in the early 90's. Floor rotted out almost exactly like yours.

[This message has been edited by Log (edited 3/26/2013 11:53p).]

To each his own I guess, but there is no way I would put the time, effort or money in to a project like that unless there is some sort of sentimental value to the boat.

No sentimental value really, other than it being my first boat ever. I got a pretty good deal on the boat when I bought it. I'd had it for a couple years, and then decided I wanted to upgrade to a CC. When the deck rot started getting bad and had a hole in it, I knew it would pretty much be impossible to sell. Because like you said, no one is going to go to the trouble that I currently am right now. Rather than consider it a total loss, I made the decision to fix it up and give it a new life. I could afford to do it, and I love to tackle a good project using my hands. And this was something completely new to me that I was eager to give a try. So I figured why the hell not? Once I'm done, It will be in MUCH better condition than when I bought it, and even with a few cool upgrades thrown on it that you otherwise wouldn't get on a boat like this.



[This message has been edited by BurrOak (edited 3/27/2013 10:01a).]

quote:

---

Never understood why they put wood decks in otherwise fiberglass boats.

---

Simple answer: cost.

Boats without wood floors (or stringer) are expensive. When I bought my Mastercraft in 1997 boats without wood hull parts were relatively rare. SeaRay of that era had wood floors. Bayliner, no offense to the OP, is one of the least expensive boats ever made.

And I see why that is now. When I tore it down, I found that the entire thing was very poorly, very half-assed put together.

Moving on now. Once I made some more cuts, I was able to pretty much fully remove the deck (sole?), and expose the completely soaked foam underneath. And once I finally removed the fuel tank, the muck that was underneath it was some basically rotted wood that had turned into a mud-like substance. Pretty nasty stuff.

Here is the moisture that was inside the foam.



And here is what was beneath the fuel tank. Those pieces of wood would literally turn to mush when I picked it up.



Here is the last drainage hole just fore of the bilge.



And a few more pics showing the entire area once I got it cleaned up a little bit.

Here is another issue that I encountered. This is the where the the platform for the double seating was cut off. On the left side is lots of fiberglass reinforcement, on the right side is pretty much just bare hull. Once I cut off this platform, the structural integrity in this area had been compromised. I could stand on it and the hull would flex easily. As where if I put my full weight on the left side, there is no give at all. My plan at this point is to just layer the hell out it with fiberglass.

Here is a pic showing how I cut out the battery platform. I intend to rebuild this the same way it was originally.

As bad as everything else looks, the stringers were actually in pretty decent shape, thankfully. I drilled a few test holes in various spots, and they were still solid. This part of the stringers did have a little rot on the top, but I removed it and added a layer of resin and glass.



One thing I wish I would have done is taken more pictures. I have about 100 so far, but I dont feel like it even comes close to capturing all the work that I have put in. Between grinding, cutting, grinding, cutting....this is a very tedious process. Not to mention that its about at this time that the Texas summertime heat is setting in. And due to the nature of the work, I am wearing long sleeves and a respirator the entire time. Nevertheless, the next pics will show the very beginning of the actual rebuilding process.

Next up is cutting the new deck. I ended up using 1/2" Arauco plywood from Lowes as the new deck, which is basically their AC grade. To get the shape of the new deck correct, I first used two 4x8 sheets of 1/2" styrofoam. I took some rough measurements, then started cutting with a utility knife. It worked VERY well. I'd cut just a little bit at a time until I got the shape perfect. I will then use these as a template to cut the plywood.









[This message has been edited by BurrOak (edited 3/27/2013 8:11p).]

Looking forward to more pics. I have this same exact boat with this same exact problem. I've been putting off working on it for about 2 years now.

Keep up the good work!

Are you going back with polyester resin or are going to use epoxy?

Polyester. This is the exact stuff I used. I got all the fiberglassing supplies from Bryan Marine. Those are some good guys there. They gave me some very helpful advice along the way.

Good stuff. Keep 'em coming!

Looks good. Keep up the hard work.

you are a brave man sir

At first I was like...what? no way in hell he pulls this off

Then I was like... wow, he's really gonna pull this off

haha Great job OP~!

Keep in mind polyester resin is only water resistant, not water proof. It is desinged to be used with a clearcoat that provides the waterproofing. Got this first hand from a nautical engineer that's designed something like 300 boathulls.

It also cooks off FAST in summer heat. I tried to use it on a project once and it was a real pain in the ass.

I note you ripped out the old flotation foam, which is fine. That foam might have been considered structural if it was 2 part pour in closed cell foam, so you'll have to pour in some replacement closed cell foam or otherwise compensate for the loss of the structural rigidity it provides. Some extra frames might work. US composites sells the 2 part foam if you'd rather use that. I used it extensively in the skiff I built. I think it has about 1000lb of positive bouyancy.

Glass all your seams. Don't use matting (it sucks, and it doesn't like to bend) Use woven glass or at minimum glass cloth. I took shortcuts the first time I built my boat, and had to spend most of a winter and spring overhauling the thing to correct all the problem spots that were developing. The second time I took my time and did everything right.


[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 3/28/2013 2:44p).]

Alright, now that I got the styrofoam boards shaped right for my new deck, its now time to start the fun part and start chopping on some wood!

The hardest part of this entire project is now done, which was all the sanding and grinding down of everything. None of it was overly difficult to do, but it is VERY time consuming. Getting ground up fiberglass in your skin really sucks too. No matter how much protection I wore, my arms always ended up very itchy at the end of the day.

Here are the pics of the next step completed. They didn't turn out perfect, but I thought it was pretty damn good for an amateur first-timer.









On the picture below, notice the big gap between the new board and the existing sides. That gap is about 3/4" almost to 1" at the most. That front part also just hangs freely. So if you step on it, there is nothing there to support it. I had an idea in mind on how to tie it all together to give it plenty of strength, although this idea is probably not what a professional would have done. But in the end, it worked pretty well. More on that later.

As far as the gaps themselves, I will use a filler in these areas to smooth it all out. It's a combination of that same poly resin I previously posted, 1/4" chopped fiberglass particles, and cabosil. This mixture I will refer to as Peanut Butter, because thats exactly what the consistently is like when you mix it. The chopped glass is for added strength, and the cabosil is what gives it the thick consistency. The more cabosil you add, the thicker it gets. I will use this PB around all edges of the new deck, creating a fillet. This allows a nice, smooth transition from the new deck as it meets the hull. So anywhere that you see a gap between the new plywood and the hull, I will add PB to every single inch along the perimeter.

Before I placed the new boards in permanently, I went back to the areas where I took out the double seat platform. I had the bright idea that I could apply a couple layers of the Bondo fiberglass sheets from Wally World on the weak area and give it some strenth. Im not real sure why I thought this would help it, but it definitely didnt help it all. You can see the edges of the Bondo sheets I applied. It literally did nothing for it. So I let that be for now, and went back to working on the new deck. I will revisit this area after I get the new deck in.

Back to the deck.

The next step is to screw it down, and then use PB to fillet the edges around the entire perimeter. Here the captains side at the transom. I could not have cut the new deck any more perfectly to fit here at the transom area. I please with how it all fit here. Also here you can now see the PB and the fillets I made with it. This picture was taken before any sanding, shortly after it dried.



Here is the rest of the deck laid. I put the PB on every seam, and also coated every screw I laid with it. It appears I took the pics while I was sanding down the fillets at the seams.





[This message has been edited by BurrOak (edited 3/28/2013 8:41p).]

Remember the issue of the fore-most part of the new deck not having any support or anything to tie to? Well, here was my solution.



I got some 3" steel brackets and just screwed them right into the sides and new deck. I used 6 brackets total. I then applied the PB over the top of them to smooth them out. It took A LOT of PB to make the fillets at the seams in this area. The big hole you see there is where my seat pedestal mounts to the deck. I will have to drill 2 more holes into this board before all is said and done to mount the pedestal.

I also would like to note here that before I permanently put down the new deck, I first applied one layer of fiberglass to the bottom side. That's one of the things I really wish I wouldve got more pics of, was the actual fiberglassing process.

The fiberglass I ended up using was 2.5oz chopped strand mat from Bryan Marine. For application, I would first wet out the board with the poly resin using a 1/4" nap paint roller. As soon as the board was wetted down completely, I would lay the fiberglass mat down (which I had already cut to fit), then immediately coat the top of the mat with more resin until the white mat turns completely clear. Once you apply the hardener to the resin, it cures quickly, so you only have a short time frame to work. Its best to have help to do this. One person to mix, and one person apply it. I had my dad helping me out here. Due to the intense Texas summertime heat, I only had about a 15 minute window to apply the stuff, even if I only applied very little hardener to it. I was doing this while we were having some of those 105+ degree days last summer.

Thinking outside the box, but any reason Hardiplank couldn't be used for decking? The stuff is damn near indestructible, if not a bit heavy. Wouldn't have rotting issues with it.

As interesting as that sounds, I dont think I would want to be the one that experiments with it. It is some good stuff, but I really dont think it has the reinforcement or tensile stength to handle everything being the deck of a boat would give it. It just seems like it might crack fairly easily.

quote:

---

Thinking outside the box, but any reason Hardiplank couldn't be used for decking? The stuff is damn near indestructible, if not a bit heavy. Wouldn't have rotting issues with it.

---

Hardi-plank is great in a static condition, but anything with movement outside of soil shrinking and swelling will crack it in short order.

Coosa board is rumored to be pretty outstanding for boat decks - lighter than plywood, impervious to rot and just as strong. Expensive as hell though - about 2x the cost of marine grade plywood.

Hardi is VERY heavy, and has poor impact resistance. I dare you to throw a baseball at the side of a hardi sided house. Because boat hulls flex constantly, it would break that hardi matrix down fast into concrete dust and fibers.

Interesting idea, but wood or foam cell core is the best material. Light weight, tough, fairly rigid, but not damaged by repeated flexing.

The best way to "support" a sole or decks is with battens. They are 1x1 or other sized lengths of wood, you resin glue to the intersection of planes of wood where they intersect to increase the bonding surface area.

For example, if I had a sole panel I was laying down, and it intersected butt end to a vertical frame, I would apply resin to and temporarily screw a length of 1x1 wood along the face of the vertical frame just barely under the bottom edge of were the front end of the sole panel would lay when it was placed.

Once the resin set, I would remove the screws (they provide load stress points that crack resin work and corrode if water gets to them), and then you have a lip, or surface, to lay the edge of your panel on where there wasn't one before. The resin makes an excellent glue..the wood breaks before the resin does.

Also, glass over all of your fillets. They look strong as fillets, but they WILL crack where they meet the wood and let in water. They are simply a smooth surface to let you glass over. The matrix of fiberglass and resin is what provides all the strength.

Nice work. Are you going to put a layer of fiberglass on top as well?

Mouth, yes I did glass over all the fillets using a 6" tabbing strip of the 2.5oz CSM.

I did add fiberglass to the top as well. I will post all the pics of that process I little later.

Tryign to show an example of a batten. This is my kayak project, and we're looking at the internal frames and stringers before the panels are placed. You see little light colored "bars" of 1/4" by 1/4" square dowel glued with resin in place as a mounting surface for the panels, at contact points and along what otherwise would have been unsupported 90degree butt joints. It seems simple but it works great.

It sounds like you figured it out and once you've got the fillets and glass in place, even from the topside only, that is as strong as a batten would be. It's fun building/rebuilding boats, even though it is miserable work at times. You can customize things to a fairly large degree.

[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 3/29/2013 1:04p).]