I may have screwed up - Listing to starboard

No. I don't think a hull of that size would be cored. You will probably have core in the cockpit deck structure as well as compartments under neath which could be filled with foam. IF the foam is compromised, it can soak up a lot of water. Check the deck and stringers with a hammer. Search for friscoboater on youtube. He did a 220 bow rider restoration. Took the entire structure out, so you'll get a good look at what is under there.
Thanks, Golfman25, found the vlog from friscoboater and I am now watching in horror lol. I am in a cold-weather climate and would have to rent space to do anything that is that extensive.
 
Double check, but I don't think there are any limber holes? Just solid stringers. But, it's easy enough to drill some exploratory holes and check the condition of the wood and whether water drains out, or not.

The hull bottom and sides are not cored. The only wood that would be in the hull bottom would be small squares glassed in place as reinforcement for various items. Yes, there would be flotation foam outboard of the stringers.

Water will not get in the cavity that is outboard of the stringers unless there is physical damage somewhere. Or a previous owner drilling holes to install something and not sealing it properly... a battery hold down installed on the bilge "shelf", for example.

Thanks for this. I am going to continue to poke. There is a second battery in the boat so maybe when that was installed on the starboard side bilge pump it was not done properly.
 
I thought someone might have pointed you to friscoboaters channel. I thought his work was pretty top notch, but the time and cost of doing what he did was probably not worth it financially. I don’t know how much he lost on it when he sold it, but if you factor in his time, it was a major loss. Keep in mind he was trying make some income from a YouTube channel, so he was in a different place related to cost tolerance.

In your case, if you do some testing and find that the boat is wet, you may want to think about just leaving it and just using it, as long as it is safe. Its a 26 year old boat. Throwing a lot of money at rebuilding a 26 year old boat will not make sense.
 
I thought someone might have pointed you to friscoboaters channel. I thought his work was pretty top notch, but the time and cost of doing what he did was probably not worth it financially. I don’t know how much he lost on it when he sold it, but if you factor in his time, it was a major loss. Keep in mind he was trying make some income from a YouTube channel, so he was in a different place related to cost tolerance.

In your case, if you do some testing and find that the boat is wet, you may want to think about just leaving it and just using it, as long as it is safe. Its a 26 year old boat. Throwing a lot of money at rebuilding a 26 year old boat will not make sense.
Yeah, I hear that Creekwood, first step is getting to the bottom of it. By the looks of that repair, it would surpass what I paid for the boat.
 
an 'easy' fix would be installing smaller , lighter batteries and store heavy equipment like anchors to the port and not in the anchor locker . you need to free weight from stbd and locate some to port , without much increasing overall weight with e.g sand bags .
 
an 'easy' fix would be installing smaller , lighter batteries and store heavy equipment like anchors to the port and not in the anchor locker . you need to free weight from stbd and locate some to port , without much increasing overall weight with e.g sand bags .
If a surveyor deems it sound I will move the batteries to the port side. That should effectively shift 200lbs without adding weight.
 
Update, so I reluctantly cored some holes in the deck within the engine compartment and found saturated foam in the farthest compartment and second farthest compartment. Interior compartment closest to the main stringers and engine is dry as a bone. I have been able to secure heated indoor storage for the winter. Any opinions tips or tricks to dry the flotation foam and possibly surrounding core? With the age of the vessel I don't see it being worth any kind of major repairs but an just hoping to get ride of the water weight and enjoy it for a few years. Thoughts, tips, tricks and I am sure some comments to scrap it are coming lol.
 
Double check, but I don't think there are any limber holes? Just solid stringers. But, it's easy enough to drill some exploratory holes and check the condition of the wood and whether water drains out, or not.

The hull bottom and sides are not cored. The only wood that would be in the hull bottom would be small squares glassed in place as reinforcement for various items. Yes, there would be flotation foam outboard of the stringers.

Water will not get in the cavity that is outboard of the stringers unless there is physical damage somewhere. Or a previous owner drilling holes to install something and not sealing it properly... a battery hold down installed on the bilge "shelf", for example.
For instance replacing the battery trays and not sealingt theprevious holes. This is what I found under the trays. Wtf is wrong with people. Smh. Under those holes was water logged foam. Go figure
 
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Update, so I reluctantly cored some holes in the deck within the engine compartment and found saturated foam in the farthest compartment and second farthest compartment. Interior compartment closest to the main stringers and engine is dry as a bone. I have been able to secure heated indoor storage for the winter. Any opinions tips or tricks to dry the flotation foam and possibly surrounding core? With the age of the vessel I don't see it being worth any kind of major repairs but an just hoping to get ride of the water weight and enjoy it for a few years. Thoughts, tips, tricks and I am sure some comments to scrap it are coming lol.

call or email sea ray for the original plans. They had mine from 98, I had a wet flat piece of subfloor that I replaced last year and having those plans was super valuable. It helped understand where I could drill and where the damage might have extended to, which fortunately was not very far
 
Well, at least you found the possible cause.

As mentioned above, see if you can't get a hold of the original plans - primarily where the hidden bulkheads are under the "shelf". Then, I'd drill some 1-1/2" or 2" holes in the bottom of the stringer - right where the stringer meets the bilge floor. Get as close to the bilge floor as possible. Drill one as far back towards the transom as you can. Drill a few more = say every 2' or 3' (depending on bulkheads). With a few holes in the "shelf", you should get a decent amount of drying out over the winter. If you want, you can force some air in through the top hole.

You can fix the holes later - there's easy ways to do that, especially if you're not too worried about aesthetics.

Get the bow nice and high.
 
One other incredibly useful tool I used in the process was a cheapo wifi boroscope. They’re like $20 on amazon and I drilled a few exploratory holes to make sure the damage didn't get into anything else. It’s also pretty cool for getting eyes in hidden places. I know every inch of our boat now!
 
Thanks to all, I will reach out to searay tomorrow. I do have a pretty good idea of the structure using friscoboaters YouTube post but having exact measurements would be awesome. I really lucked out with the indoor storage in our companies warehouse right beside my office (our owners rock). I will continue to post updates. Because it's the outside cavity what do you think about holes bored down to the edge of the middle stringer? So far the inner foam cavity seems dry using core samples
 
You might find you’ll have to go through both layers of laminate to get into the outside cavity. See the attachment for what Searay was able to send for our 290 as an example of what you might get. Not exact measurements, but really good insight. they got them to me in 2 days, great service!
 

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Justin,
That is a great boat with a great drive package. I have an ‘89 220 with the same engine and drive. Try to fix it - you won’t find a better handling boat and more solid engine.
When I rebuilt my transom and engine box, the water entered via the screw holes in the transom from the dealer installed speedometer tube. The starboard side of my transom and engine compartment were rotted.
I pulled the engine and a couple of weeks later, I now have a bulletproof transom, rock solid motor mounts, and made some design improvements where the stringers tie into the transom.
I just spent two days running the boat in coastal Destin bouncing over moderate November chop without a creak. I am very happy I decided to fix and keep rather than roll the dice again. If you like the boat, if it fits your needs, I would try to fix it because then you know what you have.
I have dual batteries but they are port and starboard. For such a light boat, it seems two batteries one one side will always be a problem unless the potable water tank was intended by design to balance. Is the weight of a full tank about the same as two batteries?
 
Justin,
That is a great boat with a great drive package. I have an ‘89 220 with the same engine and drive. Try to fix it - you won’t find a better handling boat and more solid engine.
When I rebuilt my transom and engine box, the water entered via the screw holes in the transom from the dealer installed speedometer tube. The starboard side of my transom and engine compartment were rotted.
I pulled the engine and a couple of weeks later, I now have a bulletproof transom, rock solid motor mounts, and made some design improvements where the stringers tie into the transom.
I just spent two days running the boat in coastal Destin bouncing over moderate November chop without a creak. I am very happy I decided to fix and keep rather than roll the dice again. If you like the boat, if it fits your needs, I would try to fix it because then you know what you have.
I have dual batteries but they are port and starboard. For such a light boat, it seems two batteries one one side will always be a problem unless the potable water tank was intended by design to balance. Is the weight of a full tank about the same as two batteries?
Thanks for that and you have a good point about knowing what you have after. I am still in investigation mode at this point so I don't know how far things go. As for the full water tank vs batteries. Full tank = 70lbs two batteries = 93lbs
 
I am curious about my 268having saturated flotation foam in the boxes in areas of the bilge where my freshwater tank water heater and a battery are located. Looking at different ways to access that spot and remove the old foam and replace it.
I have a crazy idea on that which is to drill a couple of holes with a 1 inch bit as close to the hull as possible to drain what I can then drill a few one inch holes in the top surface .
Now the crazy part ,...
Thinking since foam dissolves with acetone to pour acetone in through the top and shop vac the residual components of foam out the bottom.i could then spray foam the interior and seal it all up,
Please say I'm crazy or it's dangerous or another way that would.be better to remove that foam. My stern is sitting deeper than I feel it should , my transom and stringers are rock solid
 
I am curious about my 268having saturated flotation foam in the boxes in areas of the bilge where my freshwater tank water heater and a battery are located. Looking at different ways to access that spot and remove the old foam and replace it.
I have a crazy idea on that which is to drill a couple of holes with a 1 inch bit as close to the hull as possible to drain what I can then drill a few one inch holes in the top surface .
Why is that crazy? It's exactly what I mentioned above.

Acetone is an idea, but... most likely what will happen is it will only make a small channel through the foam and collect on the inside, lower edge of the stringer. Meaning, it won't come close to dissolving anywhere near all the foam. However, IF it eats away all the foam on that lower, inside edge (tilt the boat up and down), it COULD help with any possible drainage of water.
 
I had thought about some 6" holes and then manually scraping out the foam. Labor intensive but minimally destructive to the structure. What would the impact of the acetone be on the fiberglass. I know wiping with it would be fine but would soaking and having it pool on the glass soften the resin?
 

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