26 Marinaut/Venture Foam or Balsa Core?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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I have a printout from the former capecrusierboats.com web site stating the Venture 23' had fiberglass encapsulated balsa core deck and bottom of hull.
sorry that is all I have and didnt save the site to my PC

try the way back site
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
 
I cant speak for the Cape Cruisers but the Venture 23s from Reynold's Dory and Fluid Dory were and are composite cored .Even the roofs.
Marc
 
Composit is foam, correct.

I thought the Cape Cruisers were foam as well, since the foam is thinner than the balsa, and it affects the fit of the components, including the hull liner. But I have been wrong before.... :lol:
 
The old cape cruiser web site said "fibreglass encapsulated balsa coring" for the 26 and "f/g encap. balsa core deck and bottom of hull" for the 23.

Structurally you would think balsa vs foam core would be different boats...

I will have to find out for sure sooner or later cause I don't think I want a balsa core boat after some of the previous posts regarding C-dory building practices with penetrations in the balsa core hull.
 
foggydew,

And of all the C-Dory's that have been produced since the 1980's, how many C-Dory's have experienced balsa core wet rot? Hhhmmm, except for Dr. Bob's boat Frequent Sea that was obviously not taken care of properly, I can't recall any boats built in the 2000's having this problem. Most of the boats which have needed transoms rebuilt are 15 years or older. In fact, Dr. Bob, our resident boat building expert, has commented on this from the link, 23' Venture Questions.

Thataway":2o396yye said:
The major dis-advantage of the Balsa is that if it gets wet, it becomes heavier, and will eventually have some rot. The water intrusion depends on the building process. Generally the C Dories have faired far better than the majorities of balsa cored boats--that is because there are very few intrusions into the core, and there is sufficient glass on both sides of the core. There can be some disadvantages of foam cores--but mostly depending on the amount of glass on each side. There very few failures of the balsa core even in boats 30 years old.
Click to expand...

But thats ok. It's your money and your opinion.
 
Jazzmanic,

Not meant to offend..

In principle I thing balsa wood core is a good idea. Some of the posts I had read said that C-Dory was not properly screwing into the balsa cored hull (in the late 00's I believe). Would sure suck though, to pay big $ for a late model boat that had these issues.

Maybe the problem in my mind is overblown.

Cheers
Stefan
 
The problem in the older C-Dories is that the cabinetry was screwed down to the hull- these screws of course go into the core.

The Cape Cruiser used a fiberglass liner for the interior, so no screws holding things together. That should eliminate the chance for any core problems.

Even amongst the older C-Dories, water intrusion into the core seems to be rare.
 
foggydew":3a2pjrhl said:
Jazzmanic,

Not meant to offend..

In principle I thing balsa wood core is a good idea. Some of the posts I had read said that C-Dory was not properly screwing into the balsa cored hull (in the late 00's I believe). Would sure suck though, to pay big $ for a late model boat that had these issues.

Maybe the problem in my mind is overblown.

Cheers
Stefan
Click to expand...

Sorry Stefan, I guess I came across a little crabby. :( :peace:

I agree, the balsa wood core is a good idea. I agree, there were issues with some boats but I don't think it was a widespread problem and hopefully those issues have been addressed as Matt stated.

If the info on the other thread is true, if SeaSport does away with the balsa core, I worry that the identifiable characteristics of C-Dorys, that being a lighter weight hull capable of being powered by smaller engines, will become obsolete. Already it's being discussed on this site how the Venture series boats are better powered with 135-150 hp engines as opposed to 90-115 hp for the CD-22's.

Oh well, only time will tell. I guess if it does come to pass, then I will be an owner of a true C-Dory Classic. :thup

Peter
 
foggydew":3z0325to said:
Jazzmanic,

Not meant to offend..

In principle I thing balsa wood core is a good idea. Some of the posts I had read said that C-Dory was not properly screwing into the balsa cored hull (in the late 00's I believe). Would sure suck though, to pay big $ for a late model boat that had these issues.

Maybe the problem in my mind is overblown.

Cheers
Stefan
Click to expand...

Stefan,

I see you're using an Arima 21, nice boat! I have a 2005 CD22 Cruiser, and the only area that I worry about is where the cleats that hold the fuel tanks in place screw into the bottom of the hull. I had some work done to replace the fascia boards, and had the cleats checked at that time. They were properly sealed and clean/dry. I would have preferred that they were over-drilled, filled and then drilled for the screws, but what is there seems to be working. I also keep the cockpit covered most of the time.

Steve
 
foggydew":19s1zwlu said:
... Some of the posts I had read said that C-Dory was not properly screwing into the balsa cored hull (in the late 00's I believe). Would sure suck though, to pay big $ for a late model boat that had these issues.
...
Click to expand...

It's true...they don't properly seal core penetrations. I would be willing to bet Marinaut does not either. Though I don't know for sure about Marinaut, I have never found a manufacturer that does this properly. If you have electronics installed at a dealership or boat yard they will not do it right either (unless perhaps specifically instructed to do so with you there to watch).

Foam core will not address the problem you speak of unfortunately. There are Boston Whalers out there, with all foam core, that weigh a level ton more than their original build for the same reason. Water permeating into the foam core is bad.

To properly address the problem, regardless of the core, I suggest following Dr. Bob's advice and overdrill/undercut/fill with epoxy paste/redrill/then as a LAST step slather on some 5200.
 
Keep in mind there are many kinds of foam, and that used by Boston Whaler in the sixties / seventies was open cell, so it would absorb water.

Most boat foam today is closed cell, which will not absorb water.

Another line (amongst many) that had problems with water absorbing foam was Tollycraft, with their PliCore hulls.
 
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