Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Delamination of B31 bottom????

Posted By: JJ
Date: Tuesday, 22 March 2005, at 6:59 p.m.

He's one for all you Bertram Gurus!
I have bought a B31 fbc which was going to be scrapped by the owner can you believe? They were in the middle of restoring it and had even bought the engines etc when someone's foot made a "crunch" noise when they stepped onto the bottom (cockpit floor was out). Panic! They got a "fibreglass expert" to give an opinion. He said the bottom was totally trashed and gave it some name ending in "-hydrosis" or something. He said that this process had ocurred because the boat's bottom had been sand blasted in the past and no barrier coat had been put on afterwards causing this "delamination" to occur.

I initially bought the boat just for Bertram parts and fixtures etc but after thinking about it wondered if things were all that bad and how nice it would be to save a 31 from the scrap heap!
I wondered if the "expert" really knew what he was talking about. On examining the bottom myself things look a bit weak around where the shaft logs sit but then again someone has ground this area down very thin; I guess to investigate. The rest of the bottom looks bullet proof to me and I've even banged away with hammer and blunt object and cannot see anything suspicious. I had another fibreglass guy look at it too and he didn't think it was unsound and said that if I were in doubt I could always reinforce from the inside by laminating fibre glass board (or some better product at your suggestion) between the stringers for the length of the boat. This would probably be overkill.

I don't know maybe these guys just wanted out of the project because of time and money etc and were too easily put off.
The problem is the boat is here in Bermuda so I have to rely on the knowledge here which is often questionable.

My questions are as follows:
1. Ever heard of such? ie a b31 bottom delaminating for the above reasons? I've been watching this board for a few years and I've never seen anybody complain of this problem.

2. Assuming I wanted to play it safe an reinforce everything what method would you guys suggest that would be adequate?

3. I'm really hoping to save this boat. Am I foolish?

Would appreciate real expert knowledge from the faithful before I invest the love!!!!

Sincerely,
JJ

Messages In This Thread

Delamination of B31 bottom????
JJ -- Tuesday, 22 March 2005, at 6:59 p.m.

Re: Delamination of B31 bottom????
Vic Roy -- Tuesday, 22 March 2005, at 7:24 p.m.

Re: Delamination of B31 bottom????
JJ -- Tuesday, 22 March 2005, at 7:52 p.m.

Re: Delamination of B31 bottom????
Dan -- Wednesday, 23 March 2005, at 7:01 a.m.

Re: Delamination of B31 bottom????
JJ -- Wednesday, 23 March 2005, at 6:24 p.m.

Re:Delamination? Capt Pat input??
JJ -- Thursday, 24 March 2005, at 5:31 p.m.