1977 Hourston 18.2
- Thread starter Oncor
- Start date
Fritz
Active Member
Well, it’s going to have to come off to get the tank out but I would imagine another vent, which seems odd to me that it’s buried in foam?
Lots of issues. The foam just in front of the tank was a disaster. Soaked with water like a bathtub sponge.
I have no idea if it’s from rainwater through the gunnels or bow hatch or if there’s a hole
I’m the hull! There was so much water in there I don’t know what to say other than I’m glad I tore it up.
I have no idea if it’s from rainwater through the gunnels or bow hatch or if there’s a hole
I’m the hull! There was so much water in there I don’t know what to say other than I’m glad I tore it up.
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kingblazer84
Crew Member
She’s becoming rotten… be prepared my friend your opening a can of worms officially
Fritz
Active Member
I don’t have decent pics of when I pulled the seats out of the boat before the nightmare began. I do have a pic from when I tore the original galley out. On the inside of the cabinets and the galley there was 6 Robertson head screws and 200 upholstery staples that were shot through a 7/8” square wooden flange on the inside. I copied the cabinet on the starboard side to match the layout of the later model boats and refurbished/ reupholstered the seats using the original as a template.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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Ah ok. This helps. We were able to get the seats out. The seat bases have a similar set up that has to come out first. I think there is foam in the seat base though like everywhere else in this boat.
Please have a look at my thread. I’ll post some new photos. Thee entire space with the stringers was entombed in foam. Soaking wet foam.
The stringer looks black as night so I know what you said there is a difference between wet and rotten but I’m gonna call mine both. Please have a look and tell me you don’t disagree. If I rebuild it I need to engineer something to open that space up at the end of a trip and dry it out. Just redoing it the same way makes no sense.
Please have a look at my thread. I’ll post some new photos. Thee entire space with the stringers was entombed in foam. Soaking wet foam.
The stringer looks black as night so I know what you said there is a difference between wet and rotten but I’m gonna call mine both. Please have a look and tell me you don’t disagree. If I rebuild it I need to engineer something to open that space up at the end of a trip and dry it out. Just redoing it the same way makes no sense.
Fritz
Active Member
If it’s a 77 it should have a HIN on the starboard side of the transom. The last two digits of the number will be the date of manufacture. I’m perplexed about the foam as well. It does appear from the photos that that floor is original. I didn’t think Hourston started adding foam until the federal buoyancy requirements came into effect sometime in the 80’s. My 77 hull has a HIN. This was not a requirement in Canada until 1981, but in the States it was, so I believe HG originally started doing it for the American market. I mention this because your boat might not be a 77?
My second thought is at some point it’s had a repair and they filled her withbubbles, or someone else did?
The black stuff you are seeing is black mold.
The real question is…… is the wood mush?
The floor looks pooched?
I soaped and scrubbed and bleached the ever living crap out of my hull (mind you it was after the gut) and was surprised afterwards how good it looked.
Obviously, in the pics the inboard stringers have been extracted. If you want after photos they are on the forum somewhere.
Also as I’ve mentioned you can see the two 3” holesaw holes in the forward step down floor board which was full of water from a leaky bow hatch. There never was any drains in the structure and I siphoned out 10 gallons of water with a shop vac.
The other thing that you should keep in mind is that for less than 5k in materials you can have a boat that’ll be good for maybe a couple more decades.
I had some fun building my boat. I also learned a lot.
Also know that you can easily walk away and recoup your cost. It’s a very popular hull even as a project.
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No doubt at this point. The gunnels are high and dry at least….geez
