JEM Watercraft

Hi Everyone

I'm almost finished with the pontoon. Pics and info on the build can be found here: http://minnesotaangler.blogspot.com/

I have run into one problem, I didn't get the seams as waterproof as they should be and after being on the water for about 2 hours (that was as long as I had to be out on it) it weighed a good bit more than when it went in. I got it back home and drilled a hole at the lowest part of each pontoon and tipped it to an angle to watch about 5 gallons of water come pouring out, so...

I've got the boat back in the (much cleaned) garage and am working at sanding through the glass to get to the seams to fill them in with wood flour/resin and then reglass em.

Is there any pitfalls I should watch for as I'm doing this?


Thanks!

did you apply fiberglass to all the seams?

G'day Prof,

Do you have any bolt or screws into your hull? if so, I would check them first.

Are Both Hulls leaking?

If all else fails, before I sanded all your resin & fibreglass off, I would recommend you drill a hole in the deck of the leaking hull and pour a couple of gallons of water in. Try moving the hull around and you should find the leak/s fairly quickly and save yourself a LOT of sanding.

good luck mate. I hope it doesn't turn out to be too serious.

BTW, fine looking boat.

I did fiberglass all the seams but it turns out that I had some air bubbles between the resin and the glass and that is where the leaks are coming from.

I don't have any bolts or screws going into either hull, it's just learning pains from a first ever build.

I did cut out the airbubbled areas and will be reapplying glass tonight, I'm hopping for better results and will be testing it again tomorrow, I'll post an update with the results on Monday.

I would cut at least one hole in the top of each pontoon for a hatch. It would come in handy for storage and it would allow the inside to dry out before you seal it back up with moisture in there.