Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

[Marty1]

Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Well guys ... after 21 years of being relatively problem free, Murphy's Law caught up with me during my last trip on the water.  My trolling motor stopped working, my back-up deep cycle battery is cooked, my bilge pump was intermittently working, my slow idle on my engine was being finicky, my boat started taking-on water, and last but not least... my back seat screws all pulled-off the deck because of wood rot.  Anyway, here's what I now have to repair now.

 

[Muley Hunter]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Break out the oars.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

21 years problem free......I think you might have a "horse shoe" hiding in the boat somewhere.  

 

[patocazador]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty,

Sorry to hear about your troubles but that goes with owning boats. (I once went SCUBA diving off a boat called "The Money Funnel".)

I bought a 17' Bass Tracker back when and it worked great for about 6 years. Then the power trim went out, followed by busting the lower unit on a rock because the trim wouldn't work. Then the deck caved in after the carpet rotted away. I found that they didn't use PT plywood anywhere.
When I found out how much it would cost to re-do everything, I traded the whole thing to an 18 year old kid for a Gheenoe with a 10 HP motor plus trolling motor on a galvanized trailer plus five 20-box cases of shotgun shells.
It turned out to be the best deal I ever made. That was 25 years ago and the Gheenoe is still as good as ever. Not an ounce of wood in it and it gets me in all the narrow creeks for hunting and fishing.
In my case bigger was not better.

I wish you luck on your boat project.

 

[Whokalouie]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty,

When Murphy's Law takes a 180 we see what happens, Yikes. Good luck on the repair.

Did someone turn the horseshoe upside down after 21 years?

John

 

[Al-53]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty I had to do the floors over in my bass boat also....I had to look all over for Marine plywood..I was told by many boat people to use marine plywood..  I got the plywood near Worcester..forget the name of the place ..they guy I got the boat off of used PT plywood and it rotted...

both my trolling motor batteries were dead also..had to get 2 new ones....I got 6 years out of them which is good.....

I just replaced the bilge pumps last year...

 

[Marty1]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Al-53, I too had a hard time finding marine plywood close-by!  I ended up finding some in Maynard, MA of all places.  It was $68 a sheet though for 1/2". :cry:

My bass boat lasted as long as it did because it was always stored covered and has a relatively simple design as a backtroller ..i.e., no center console.

I'll keep you all updated on my project.  Next step is to get rid of all that rotted, water-soaked foam and replace it.

 

[patocazador]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

I used Great Stuff to replace or add to my flotation. Use the low-expanding stuff or it may bulge the joints if you guess wrong on the amount.

 

[Al-53]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty...are your ribs welded or rivited...I had some rivets loosen up and took on a little water each trip...my boat is a Sea Nymph...great older boat...when I did the floors over I removed the foam also....and replaced it with closed cell foundation foam insulation..will never absorb water again...

I also while boat was open I got some expoxy type boat sealer paint called glovit and painted all the rivets and no leaks...I had some left over and did the rivet heads on the outside also below the water line...also if you have a wood transom check if good for soft spots...mine was good but I checked it any ways...my transom is 2 pieces of 3/4 marine plywood laminated together with a aluminum plate on top to mount the motor to...

 

[sqezer]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty, it caught up to me to, my flat bottom the transom finally gave out. Just got to find time to replace it now.

 

[Underclocked]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Sorry to hear your boat issues, looks like you are going about the repairs correctly to increase your next run. I had a Ranger Cherokee(actually built by Crestliner) that didn't have wood for the decks. Was nice but always had livewell issues with the boat. Upgraded to a Ranger fiberglass boat and don't have to worry about wood rotting as it doesn't have any!

 

[Marty1]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

AL-53, my boat is a Sea Nymph too.  I plan to replace the foam I removed with pool noodles so no more deterioration problems down the road.  I cut the new deck out and treated the plywood with some water seal. 

My next step is to clean the exposed aluminum bottom and seal up an visible seams.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Looks good Marty.  When you're done it will probably be better than new!

 

[patocazador]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Marty, it caught up to me to, my flat bottom the transom finally gave out. Just got to find time to replace it now.

There is a non-wood replacement for transoms that will never rot. My scull boat has it but I don't know the name. Mike Bankes of Bankes Boats in Port Rowan, Ontario uses it. If you contact him, he can steer you to the right stuff.

http://www.bankesboats.com/contact9.htm

 

[Marty1]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Looks good Marty.  When you're done it will probably be better than new!

At least the back-end will be 

-------------------------------------------------------
p.s. I hope to finish 'er-up this weekend.

 

[sqezer]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

pato, thanks for the info.

 

[exMember]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

good grief, you never know how much trouble they are until you own one and they break down in many areas at once.

Sorry to hear of the trouble. Just got to take your time and fix it one part at a time and then give it another good look over.

 

[Marty1]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Yep...one step at a time.  FINALLY got all that water=soaked foam out.

Next step is gluing the marine rug down.

 

[sqezer]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Looks good buddy.

 

[Jotjackson1]

Re: Murphy Law and my Bassboat...

Looking good!!