Boat works

[scubafool]

Now, see, if you were the sneaky type, you could have put one of his bugs in your bag, & he would have thought that one of his got away. :54: 57, man, that is **** COLD. If I am recalling correctly, the coldest I've ever been in is 62 degrees, and that was more than I bargained for.

 

[Genesis]

57 surprised me. By now its usually getting warmer; last year at this time it was in the low-middle 60s.

The first dive, expecting low-mid 60s, I wore only my polypro UW. MISTAKE! Can you say FREEZING?!

Fortunately I had brought my T-100 oversuit, and put that on for the second one. My RMV thanked me for that move - I was nice and toasty on the second one.....

Worst was riding back in with a wet head - since its my boat I have to drive, of course, and although I have a hot shower on board (and DID use it!) I still had to deal with running back in with wet hair - in ~58F air temps. That got a bit nasty, even with my coat and hat on....

Ah well, hopefully the cold will be gone here shortly, and I can start enjoying this part of the state again..... maybe I'll spend more time at Vortex for the next few weeks

Hope it warms up soon - I hate being cold.

 

[scubafool]

Early last year we dove one of the commercial springs. It was around 45-50 degrees air temp. They had a hot water shower, but that only helped for about 5 minutes. But there was this older gentleman with a big old smoker/grill (you know, the kind made out of an old propane tank). After we bought a couple of pulled pork sandwiches from him, he opened up the firebox & let us back up to it. That in itself was worth the 3 dollars for the sandwich. I vote we mount a few guns on your boat & sail down to conquer Key West. If we can get a few more people from the board with boats & a sense of adventure, we could probably take over Cuba. I volunteer to be the ambassador to the U.S.!?

 

[Genesis]

ROTFL!

The only "hardpoint" on my boat is for a fighting chair - that might be a problem

 

[scubafool]

Ther are no such things as problems; only solutions waiting to be found. You seem like a reasonably intelligent guy; I'm a plumber with some knowledge of welding & lots of OJT in fabrication. Seems to me that all we need are the guns! Down with Castro!! Hail your new leaders, Diver's Union.org!!! ROTFLMAO!!!

 

[Genesis]

Uh, welding and fiberglass don't get along all that well

Castro is an old %%%% who's gonna be dead in a few years anyway. It might be easier than getting our azzes shot off to just wait for him to croak

 

[scubafool]

Oh well, just a thought that had some dubious merit. I need to go to bed so I can get up in time to make everybody's life miserable tommorow. Catch you later.

 

[scubafool]

Alright, question for all the boat folks. I was in Lowe's thios evening, checking out plywood for the floor of my boat. I was looking @ some 19/32" plywood that seemed pretty good, very few voids, no knotholes, etc. Right next to it was some 5/8" stuff that for lack of a better word I would have to call pressboard. It was considerably heavier, but what I really liked about it was the stiffness. I would worry, however, that if water ever got to it that it would swell up like a balloon, & make me hate the day I bought it. Also, do I really need 5/8" wood, considering that the longest span on the floor is probably 16"-18", of should I consider using 1/2" for this? At the very least I am going to resin coat the wood after I cut it to fit, if not actually coating it with cloth. Any help would be great, because I'd like to get a good start on the floor this coming weekend.

 

[Groundhog246]

Right next to it was some 5/8" stuff that for lack of a better word I would have to call pressboard. It was considerably heavier, but what I really liked about it was the stiffness.

DO NOT USE MDF. You're right it will swell and get very weak. even a pinhole through the resin anywhere will soak a large area, the stuff is like a sponge. 1/2" ply is probably enough (how big is the boat, how big an area are you replacing?). Use EXTERIOR grade ply, the glue is waterproof. Marine ply is better (no voids allowed, that's why it costs more). My father in law put a new floor in his 22 footer a couple of years ago. Got a material that's thick plywood with a fiberglass skin on each side, that's manufactured for building truck boaxes and semi trailers. He got part of a damaged one. Made a great floor. Another trick to extend the life. Where you have to drill a hole to mount something, drill it oversize, plug one side (duct tape), fill with mixed resin and after it hardens drill though the center at the correct size. That'll keep water from reaching the wood core and rotting it.
I'd recommend you spend the extra and use epoxy resin (West System is one of, if not the, best and have some excellent how to guides) instead of polyester. Polyester will not form a strong bond to the already cured material in your boat (when they lay up a glass hull, each layer has to go on before the previous one is fully cured or it will de-laminate later on).

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally the house on Uncle Pug was built using OSB (oriented strand board) covering with glass. Less likely to absorb water that MDF (medium density fiberboard) it still ended up turning to sponge after a decade where the water got to it. Shane used plywood and soaked it with epoxy resin and cover it with fiberglass and expoy resin.

This is where he purchase his supplies (local to us.)
http://www.fiberlay.com/