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Wave shield - closing the gaps

Tin Diesel

Tin Diesel

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Location
Houston, TX
Our storage compartment on our center 'toon can pick up several inches of water in a couple hours of boating in chop and/or at high speed. I have a bilge pump, but as we all know it does not get out the last inch or so. That means I have a lot of water sitting in there getting moldy in the Texas heat.

I believe that the problem is that the wave sheild is incomplete, and there is a gap allowing water to come off the splash guard (at high pressure) and hit directly where the storage compartment access structure joins the center 'toon. See the first picture.

The first thing I want to do is close that gap. See the second picture. I'll call this the "barrier piece". This would not be a large piece, but it would have to be 3 dimensional so I don't think I can do it (well) myself.

The third picture shows two places where I think the water is getting in. (A) is where the access shaft joins the cross beam. There is some caulking but I don't have confidence that it is water tight. (B) shows where the weld joining the access hatch to the 'toon is incomplete.

My goal is to:
  1. Finish the welds joining the center' toon to the access hatch.
  2. Build and install the barrier piece to close the open section of the wave shield outlined in the second picture.
  3. Complete the under skinning all the way to the bow.
Some questions:
  1. I thought I saw somewhere on this forum that Bennington has the small barrier pieces available for retrofit. Anybody familiar with that?
  2. Any reason not to complete the weld noted above? (I recognize this may be redundant if I install a barrier piece)
  3. Why did they not finish the under skin all the way to the bow? Any reason I shouldn't do it?
There is a great little shop an hour from my house that can do this for me. They specialize in aluminum superstructures for boats and the local Bennington dealer uses them for all hull welding repairs.

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Tin Diesel said:
Our storage compartment on our center 'toon can pick up several inches of water in a couple hours of boating in chop and/or at high speed. I have a bilge pump, but as we all know it does not get out the last inch or so. That means I have a lot of water sitting in there getting moldy in the Texas heat.

I believe that the problem is that the wave sheild is incomplete, and there is a gap allowing water to come off the splash guard (at high pressure) and hit directly where the storage compartment access structure joins the center 'toon. See the first picture.

The first thing I want to do is close that gap. See the second picture. I'll call this the "barrier piece". This would not be a large piece, but it would have to be 3 dimensional so I don't think I can do it (well) myself.

The third picture shows two places where I think the water is getting in. (A) is where the access shaft joins the cross beam. There is some caulking but I don't have confidence that it is water tight. (B) shows where the weld joining the access hatch to the 'toon is incomplete.

My goal is to:
  1. Finish the welds joining the center' toon to the access hatch.
  2. Build and install the barrier piece to close the open section of the wave shield outlined in the second picture.
  3. Complete the under skinning all the way to the bow.
Some questions:
  1. I thought I saw somewhere on this forum that Bennington has the small barrier pieces available for retrofit. Anybody familiar with that?
  2. Any reason not to complete the weld noted above? (I recognize this may be redundant if I install a barrier piece)
  3. Why did they not finish the under skin all the way to the bow? Any reason I shouldn't do it?
There is a great little shop an hour from my house that can do this for me. They specialize in aluminum superstructures for boats and the local Bennington dealer uses them for all hull welding repairs.

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Sounds like a lot of thinking ! Get a sponge or a shop vac and a couple of cold beers remove the water. That's what I do.
 
Why not just create a little shield extension from the front toon to the other piece there with the B on it. I bet that will eliminate 99% of your issue and cost virtually nothing and not require welding. Just bolt it up.
 
lakeliving said:
Why not just create a little shield extension
Click to expand...

I've considered that, but it is actually more difficult than it looks in the two-dimensional picture. There is a three-dimensional aspect to it that would require equipment that I do not have.
 
Adding the wave tamer to bow shield is an option now, but not sure if it has always an option.
Before I'd spent $$ on welding I'd try some 5200 sealer on the underside in the gap and on the inside of the compartment.
 
Tin Diesel said:
I've considered that, but it is actually more difficult than it looks in the two-dimensional picture. There is a three-dimensional aspect to it that would require equipment that I do not have.
Click to expand...

Make the template in “sections”, tape them together, and then create the 3 dimensional piece in aluminum coil stock (easy to bend).
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
Make the template in “sections”, tape them together, and then create the 3 dimensional piece in aluminum coil stock (easy to bend).
Click to expand...

That might work. Could probably have the two barrier pieces built and shaped close enough to fit with minor adjusting bends done myself. Then just get coil stock to complete the underskin. Fun with pop riveter!!!
 
TD, just curious as to what exactly is the purpose of the box structures welded to the pontoon fins (spray shields?)? I've never seen that before.
 
I'd be talking to Bennington. We have the center 'toon storage, and we have zero issues with water in the storage area. And we have Kentucky humidity.
 
Michiman said:
TD, just curious as to what exactly is the purpose of the box structures welded to the pontoon fins (spray shields?)? I've never seen that before.
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I bought this boat from my brother so I didn't choose the options. I read something somewhere that that led me to believe this was part of a "rough water" option package. Others on here who know more than I do might weigh in.
 
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We have no issues with water in our storage and we’re on the rough waters of LOTO. I think our wavesheilds cover fully from bow to stern
 
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