Rich,

As Calif Bill said, replacing the floor is high in hours and low in
cost. Actually, number of hours is probably more dependent on type
of boat. I had to replace what started as a 1 s.f. area at the stern
of my boat a few years ago. By the time I got all the rotting plywood
out of that area, it grew to a 9 s.f. area. In my case, the folks
that built the boat used 'oasis' which is a type of foam a florist
would use to HOLD water! What moron thought this one up? I got all
I could out of it. Two years later I had another 'soft spot'
midsection. This time I removed all the floor/deck I could get to
and removed ALL of this foam. Overall, I'm sure the boat is several
hundred pounds lighter now.

I really think you *NEED* to do this. At the very least, cut out
a section and see what you're in for. I would be wiling to bet that
your fiberglass deck is over plywood. If this is the case, your
plywood is probably gone and the fiberglass layer is thick enough to
give you a false sense of security. Not to mention that your
stringers are questionable since they've been exposed to water and
moisture for so long.

I understand your distress over this when you feel you may not have
the money to do this, but I don't believe it will be as bad as you
think, if you're willing to do the work yourself. Either way, you
should consider how safe is this boat to even use right now!

PS: If you have a compressor, I suggest a tool like a high speed air
body saw. This does an awesome job of going through glass and plywood.
If you have just glass then a 3" air high speed cutter would work fine.
The following are examples. I'm not recommending this company or brand,
merely pointing out examples of what I'm referring to.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=113
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47077


-JimL


Rich wrote:
Is there any hope that I can pressurize the space the foam occupies with ,
say 10 PSI, air pressure and give the water an escape hole low near the
transom? Will the foam admit the air into the same spaces now occupied by
the water?

The boat and financial situation make the floor out method untenable right
now.

Please give me some hope here guys!!!? {:-0 Optimistic ain't I?