waterlogged foam in bowrider

[boatdude100]

. Discovered water in foam which fills side cavities behind transom (kickouts?) Its about a foot and a half square. Transom wood has absorbed some moisture but still solid. how to remove foam without destroying transom??!?
My plan... cut hole size of my arm, reach in and start cutting.
Below is the upper exploratory hole I cut, wet foam discovered.
I then cut one below and some water came out.

(Not ready to write off the transom- the wood is still "solid" but freezing temps are coming! Issue is in round kickout beside out drive. How water got in I do not know...

What would you do???!
Thanks!
2007 Stingray volvo penta 3L

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, if foam is wet, it needs to come out, and be replaced with dry foam. Of course, that means cutting out enough of the deck to dig out the wet stuff. You may find that more of the foam is wet (likely all of it), so when cutting out the deck, plan to cut it all out, and maybe you will not need to.

 

[airshot]

If your going to cut into it, consider doing everything as that wood will deteriorate fast now that UT has become wet. Why do the job twice ?

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

I think right now I would be more concerned about how the water got in than the transom. Is there any damage or hardware on those pods, especially below the waterline?

Obviously the tie down eyes are there, which in my opinion is a bad spot. You can't get to them without cutting through the transom and foam, so the seal around them could be broken and letting all of that water in.

If there is room in the recessed engine part, I would suggest moving them there as part of this job.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Your going to have to replace the transom.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Get ready for some fun.....If the foam is wet, it's probably all or mostly wet. Pull the deck.....Check the stringers and transom from here. Are they salvageable? Should you just go ahead and replace? No way to know until the deck comes up. Get rid of that foam. Only way I can try to figure out where the water is coming from, is to get all the crap out, wait for it to dry, drop it at a launch and carefully walk around it to submerge different areas under your weight. Is any water trickling in from somewhere? Mark it with a sharpie and figure out how to fix it. Best of luck

 

[airshot]

Look for damage outside the hull, any dings, bangs or scrapes can cause a leak. Fiberglass is not totally water proof, it is the gelcoat that seals it, any damage to the gel coat can cause a leak.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, gel coat is just thickened poly resin. It is as waterproof as any other poly resin, plus it usually has cloth to help with waterproofing. Chips in gelcoat do not usually cause leaks. It takes more than that.

 

[Scott Danforth]

70% of the time, water-logged foam is from having water inside the boat.

other sources are non-sealed trim tab screws, non-sealed deck hardware, chine cracks, leaking transom shield hardware

 

[boatdude100]

Thanks to all for the excellent thoughts. I should mention the water is only on one side. The only obvious hardware- the tie downs aren't loose, not sure how I can tell if they are leaking. Guess I'll silicone around them?

Question: can water "wick" upwards in this foam do you think, or only travel downwards?

 

[Scott Danforth]

if the foam is saturated, its most likely because the closed cell walls of the foam have been compromised or damaged. usually thru a freeze-thaw cycle. flotation foam starts out as closed-cell foam.

water will wick nearly everywhere.

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

Thanks to all for the excellent thoughts. I should mention the water is only on one side. The only obvious hardware- the tie downs aren't loose, not sure how I can tell if they are leaking.

They don't have to be loose to leak. It could've been hit and shifted enough to break the seal. Are there any stress cracks around it or anywhere else on the outside of that pod?