paranoia subsides

[commanderpete]

Some good stuff there from Mike and Liz.

It looks like your boat might have had a bunch of water standing in it for a period of time.

[Tony G]

Yeah, thanks Mike and Liz.  I'll check into it more thouroughly.  by the way C-Pete, she couldn't have had water standing in her for a while because the p.o. told me himself that he never had a DROP of water in the bilge!  I gotta go, I'm laughing so hard I think I've wet myself!

[Mike Goodwin]

Liz,
Dave Carnell is a friend and a great guy , his system works . I have used it to arrest rot until full repairs could be made which in some cases were years later .
BTW , he says you are throwing your money with Smith's or CPES .

Mike

[Tony G]

It doesn't look good.  Comander Pete, we may have to lower our standards because I think I could kick a hole in it (the bulkhead) if I kick low enough.  After I took this pic I decided to do a little policing and square away the area before I jump in. (read I still don't know exactly what I'm going to do with this mess!)

[commanderpete]

First thing, buy more beer.

[Tony G]

Pete
bought much beer-I've decided its all gotta come out-exorcise!

[Theis]

Tony:

Your bulkhead may be too far gone, but I used Git Rot (one lot of it) to fill in the forward bulkhead on the starboard side, where it was badly rotted.  Fortunately the outer vaneers were largely intact, so as the Git Rot penetrated (it is very liquid) it was held between the two vaneers.  Where it was not solid, I used masking tape to cover up the bad stuff.  It seems to have done the job to the best of my knowledge.

[Mike Goodwin]

You guys should save your money from Git -Rot .
Ever figure out how much a gallon costs ?
Makes WEST Sys. look cheap .
Any epoxy can be made to penetrate ;
1st wash the wood with white vinegar , it kills rot and mildew spores , is cheap, non-toxic and smells good .
2nd , wash or inject antifreeze to infected areas , not as cheap ,is toxic & no real odor .
3rd , set up fans to dry treated areas .
4th, now take WEST , SYS-3 , FGCI or any good epoxy that has a choice of hardners , and choose a slow cure hardner regardless of temperature .
Penetration is a factor of viscosity and the delay of cure .
There are thinners made for deluting epoxy ( how do you think Git-Rot and Smiths  are made ), I like T-12 from fgci.com , but success can be had with denatured alcohol .
It doesn't take much either ,2 to 3 oz. per qt. mix works for me .
I have had great success with fgci.com , their 1:1 penetrating epoxy is only $65 for 2 gallons and needs no further thinning , it is about like Git-Rot.
Smith's on the other hand is very thin and very expensive .
One of my ex-partners ,in a boatshop , likes it , but then he likes to sniff glue too .
Only good use for Smiths that I found , was to seal ply surfaces before cutting , but fgci.com's did the same much cheaper .

[ebb]

Great bunch of tips, Mike.

I've used Smith's CPES nearly since it was first made to seal ferro-concrete hulls.  It may soak in deeper than other stuff including DIY formulations but I doubt it.  It does soak in to actual rot very well but it doesn't get hard.  I had it blush on me at times as well.  For a sealer, make yer own.

  They now make a kit for this-ole-house rot repair that includes a lightweight epoxy goop filler  The one secret ingredient it has is alcohol which is in there to chase water/moisture.  And I never got GITROT to work either - repair as hard as a screwdriver handle they used to claim, never happened for me. Works good in a cup.

The white vinegar trick is real choice because if you want to kill the rot only water has any chance of getting to the spores deep in the infected wood,  no epoxy no matter how thin.   Of course if you can completely encapsulate the repair in epoxy you'll probably arrest any further rot.

IMCO thinned epoxy repair of rot is a last resort.  Digging the stuff out totally and filling with epoxy mishmsh or wood - or replacing the piece - is the best way to go.  Capt. Tony's conundrum should be sawsalled and replaced.  Yup!

[Theis]

That answers my question about Git Rot.  I used a lot of it and hated it every time.  Makes one hell of a mess and as commented, never did seem to dry hard.  It is good to know I wasn't the only one - and the stuff is outrageously expensive.  However, regardless, the concept of the repair I suggested, with another epoxy, should work, if the stuff can be contained, such as by the outer vaneer or a piece of tape.

[Tony G]

Git rot-no
Git rid-yes

[Tony G]

Thanks for all of the input.  It seems the bulkhead should go.  My new question is how rigid are these hulls?  Has anyone removed the main bulkhead without supporting the hull form/shape from th outside?  I really don't think it will be a problem but a couple of the books I've beem reading talk about tabbing in the structural bulkheads before removing the hull from the mold.  I don't think the mold we got here is exactly what they're talking about!  These are strong little boats but I thought I should seek the knowledge and experience of you all.  After how many rednecks have died after saying, "Hey, watch this!"

[Theis]

Don't know, but my thoughts are "don't take a chance", "Why take a chance?", What do you do if you take a chance and are wrong?""What am I saving by taking a chance?".  In other words the thoughts all lead to a common conclusion.  Then there is also the axiom "If it can't go wrong it will".  I wonder if Murphy will step into this discussion with his thoughts or maybe he will sit on the sidelines and laugh.

[Bill]

Take a look at Ebb's Photo Gallery . . .He's removed and replaced all the internal bulkheads.  Nothing bad has happened . . You might also go to his profile and send him an E-mail with you question.