strakes can't drain...filling with poly?

[salty87]

my hull has strakes at the exterior most point of the hull sides. from the inside of the hull, they are depressions that cant drain. i don't expect that they'll gather much water after the new deck but i'd still like to fill them in.

the lowest point of my bilge is also not the lowest point of the hull. my boat (inboard ski) has a very pronounced v that flattens out pretty quickly. the manufacturer (no longer in business) had created a partition in the bilge which didn't allow the lowest point of the hull to drain into the bilge.

i'd like to fill these low points before i replace the deck. can i fill them with poly resin?...mixed with what?

pics, exterior view

interior, pardon the exhaust pipe laying in the indention

hull- the partition has been cut away (this is looking from bow to stern), the foam seemed to weigh 3 times what the rest of the old foam weighed

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: strakes can't drain...filling with poly?

put some cinder blocks in the stern til its the lowest part of the boat. If you dont like the cinderblocks then just get some sand bags and glass that to the transom. Wet the sand so it weighs more then glass that to the transom.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: strakes can't drain...filling with poly?

I can just see his boat on the water... with the gas tank in the stern sitting on a short cinder block wall


I think what he meant is to ask how to fill those parts of the hull. I'd use a mixture of milled fibers and cabosil/aerosil to fill those areas.

You can buy both online. Alternatively you could use something like glass microbubbles to save some weight, and to preserve some floatation.

If you pour the entire thickness at once, you'll want to provide some way for heat to escape the center of the pour... an additive like alumina trihydrate would maybe work, or else work in layers.

I'm not sure about poly, but if I did the entire thickness in epoxy in one pour, there's a chance the mixture would boil and foam unless the heat could get out.

Do a test batch of poly with the fillers to find the right amounts... I'm guessing about half fibers and half cabosil would work.

Once it's done you'll basically be able to forget about those areas, they'll be solid blocks of plastic.


Erik

 

[ondarvr]

Re: strakes can't drain...filling with poly?

Use a light weight filler like the micro balloons with milled fibers, the more balloons the less resin, so it will be lighter. It would be best to put a light layup over the top to help reduce cracking. Do it in layers, if you fill it in one shot you may be able to send smoke signals as it cures.

 

[Bondo]

Re: strakes can't drain...filling with poly?

Do it in layers, if you fill it in one shot you may be able to send smoke signals as it cures.

Ayuh,......

Any 1 of those cavities will be a Huge Mass when the resin cooks off.....
And, a Huge Mass will create Huge Heat.......