To all you Ribcraft owners

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by al40

I do have a pressure washer but I'm 95% sure it will be mainly fresh water that will have got down there!

Really useful table at west systems website in terms of what fillers to use for what application. See WEST SYSTEM | Filler Selection Guide

Looks like either Silica or Microfibres (if they are small enough) are ideal!

I've not used the micro fibres, but coilloidal silica works a treat

[al40]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I've not used the micro fibres, but coilloidal silica works a treat

Seems to be much of a muchness between Silica and Microfibres for this purpose. Thanks for the intro on west systems - looks to be really good stuff!!!

[C-NUMB]

How about putting a car interior heater( or another small heater) inside the locker and simultaneously maintaining good ventilation. Think this would make sure it will dry properly. Moister tends to dry much better upwards than in any other direction, thus additional heat would be good. However safety is an issue, you don't want to burn Your boat....

Hell of a job(if even possible?) would be to remove say 10 cm around the hatch opening the plywood(from underside with small circular saw cutting the depth of the plywood ) and then replace with fresh material doing a proper job/finsh.

[al40]

Originally Posted by C-NUMB

How about putting a car interior heater( or another small heater) inside the locker and simultaneously maintaining good ventilation. Think this would make sure it will dry properly. Moister tends to dry much better upwards than in any other direction, thus additional heat would be good. However safety is an issue, you don't want to burn Your boat....

Hell of a job(if even possible?) would be to remove say 10 cm around the hatch opening the plywood(from underside with small circular saw cutting the depth of the plywood ) and then replace with fresh material doing a proper job/finsh.

Yeah that's what I was thinking about in terms of the fan heater. I'd also thought about using a halogen worklight (150w) as most of that 150w will be heat.

In terms of the repair, I had initially planned to remove the wood under the ply with a powerfile (leaving top fibreglass intact) but I recconed that the bond point between the new and old would then be a weak point and I'd need to glass in some struts underneath. There is also not a lot of room in the locker so space for tools is limited! At present the ply doesn't appear to be rotten (just delaminating) so adding the resin should both stabalise it and re-bond it. With the filler compound in the resin mix I would guess that it will then be stronger that the original ply or that's the hope! All credit to Pikey Dave re the repair method!

[al40]

Just had another thought.... I have 2 of those re-chargeable silica gel moisture absorbing thingies. f I removed the anchor & other cr*p from the locker I could then drop them in and hopefully dry out the wood (assuming of course the locker is now sealed which I hope it is)

[spartacus]

Checked my 2010 RIBcraft 4.8m today and seems okay. I didn't take the hatch off, but felt underneath and could feel rubber sealant all the way around. I'll take a couple of digital pictures to confirm.

[al40]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Checked my 2010 RIBcraft 4.8m today and seems okay. I didn't take the hatch off, but felt underneath and could feel rubber sealant all the way around. I'll take a couple of digital pictures to confirm.

Sounds like they have used the correct amount of sealant on yours. Would be interesting to see some pics if you did manage to get them!

[ribraff]

Cuprinol make a product called wet rot
Hardener, you could syringe this in and it works really well. You can then screed resin/microfibres in to the gaps.

Chulmleigh Hardware

[al40]

Thanks for that. Cuprinol stuff looks good. Am working with Ribcraft and will post the final solution once we've worked it out!

[DGS]

My Ribcraft 4.8m (yr 05) anchor locker always has about an 1 inch of water in it & the seat console about 1/8 inch . I presumed this was normal! Should I be worried?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by DGS

My Ribcraft 4.8m (yr 05) anchor locker always has about an 1 inch of water in it & the seat console about 1/8 inch . I presumed this was normal! Should I be worried?

I'd certainly be tempted to have a look

[free]

Originally Posted by DGS

My Ribcraft 4.8m (yr 05) anchor locker always has about an 1 inch of water in it & the seat console about 1/8 inch . I presumed this was normal! Should I be worried?

No, that appears perfectly normal for a Ribcraft.
free

[BumbleAbout]

I solved my problem with water in the anchor locker by removing the bow ring (which looked like it had run into something) and resealing inside & out.

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by Polwart

presumably x-craft don't. As I recall the founders of Scorpion made a big deal about not having a wooden deck in the mags a year or so ago - so guess they may also now have wood below deck. On my tour of redbay a few weeks ago some of the stringers etc were definitely foam cored not wood - not sure if they are "wood free" though.

Although that said I don't think wooden decks are intrinsically wrong.

Mr Xcraft is almost correct - Scorpions are made with one single piece of wood only. You'll never find it though as it's incredibly well laminated and protected. It's in the transom. Foam stringers in the hull as you guessed. The moulded GRP deck has a non-slip surface that cleans easily and never wears.

I'm sorry but I must contradict you - have always thought that for a RIB, a wooden deck is completely wrong - if you use a RIB for hooning around, stuffing into big seas and getting full of water, like I used mine, then inevitably you're going to risk turning £30k+ worth of plywood into soggy cardboard.

Scorpion aren't the only builder to use moulded decks - look at Valiant and Gemini - I think they may have moulded decks? There's probably more.

As an aside - did I tell you about the brand new Zodiac I put my finger through the hull in the dealer's yard? No?

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by Richard B

Scorpion aren't the only builder to use moulded decks - look at Valiant and Gemini - I think they may have moulded decks? There's probably more.

Yes, let's also not forget Avon Seariders (as early as the 1980s), the Avon Seasports of the 1990s, as well as Shakespeare, Narwhal, Ribeye, Brig, etc.....

[Poly]

Richard, Nothing wrong with not using wood in the deck (my own boat only has wood in the transom and that would be easy to replace if it ever got rotten - due to the construction). I suspect valiant's use of GRP is more to do with production efficiency than longevity. And many of the GRP decks which are increasingly common are about aesthetics or form rather than pure function. If you want a big flat deck that is flexible about where you stick a console or bottle rack etc for a commercial style rib then there seems to be no real benefit in moulding it.

So I've got to dispute your assertion that:

for a RIB, a wooden deck is completely wrong - if you use a RIB for hooning around, stuffing into big seas and getting full of water, like I used mine, then inevitably you're going to risk turning £30k+ worth of plywood into soggy cardboard.

I can see why as a "marketing campaign for the GRP deck" that mantra makes sense. But the reality seems to be quite different. There are very few people on here who report soggy cardboard decks, and those that do almost always are due to poor workmanship (e.g. holes not sealed, or underside untreated) either during the original build or by someone after the event. There's plenty of 30+ yr old ribs with the original ply deck which support my point.

[SPR]

but would they support my weight !

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by SPR

but would they support my weight !

Spot on Mr SPR... a chap who used to post on here - Ian Austin - jumped on to his 30-yr old Halmatic Pacific 22 one day and disappeared into the hull.

QED.

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by al40

Sounds like they have used the correct amount of sealant on yours. Would be interesting to see some pics if you did manage to get them!

Talk about short-term memory deficit! I completely forgot to look into this. Grabbed the camera and took a few shots tonight. This is on a 2010 RIBcraft 4.8m. The anchor locker always feels a little damp, but probably due to wet ropes and the anchor. I usually sponge it out after a day away, so can't really say if it's from water ingress, or just water run-off from what goes into the locker? The staining in the second picture is from a couple of links of chain that's been sitting in the locker.

As discussed - I haven't removed the hatch. Feeling with my fingers, there seems like a bead of rubber sealant inside which runs around the hatch. In the last picture - you can see it's come away. I will investigate further - but thought I'd post these pictures anyway.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Richard B

Spot on Mr SPR... a chap who used to post on here - Ian Austin - jumped on to his 30-yr old Halmatic Pacific 22 one day and disappeared into the hull.

QED.

Oh well if one guy jumps on an old plywood decked boat that actually uses a different design of deck from most and breaks the deck then all plywood decks should be banned immediately.

Still, would have let Ian get access to his underdeck fuel tanks etc. Must have been a relief that the whole lot wasn't one giant piece of fibre glass - because when you do damage that its going to be expensive!