New to the Flatback Family

[Da Butcha]

Just got a 69' Flatback 22.2 and plan on doing a "as needed restore". I'll be picking it up Tuesday and should have pics by Wednesday. The plan for now is:
1. Tear out the deck and inspect the stringers and hull.
2. Close the transom
3. Stringer work if needed, expecting to replace but we'll see. Plan to raise them 2-3 inches.
4. Cast a fiberglass deck, also thinking of going with carbon fiber instead of fiberglass. Rumors say it's lighter?

I biggest fear in this project is to overconstruct and have a HEAVY boat. Any suggestions?

[RickK]

Welcome aboard Da Butcha  :!:  :!:
Plenty of members with rebuilt FBs here that will pipe up shortly.

[dbiscayne]

carbon fiber is a lot stiffer than regular fiberglass so you could use less material & end up saving weight but it's not going to be all that much & will be a lot more $$$, usually at least $40 a yard vs. $10 a yard for the same width fiberglass.
for example-
Most wood core decks end up with 2 layers of glass on top??, at 17 oz per square yard each layer, vs maybe 1 layer of carbon at about 10 oz per sy, so you could save about 26 lbs on a 22 by 7 foot deck for twice the cost, or somewhere close to $250 more.
Personally I wouldn't really feel too good about having only 1 layer of anything on the deck, just seems like sooner or later somethings gonna hit it hard enough to get through to the core.

[Da Butcha]

dbiscayne: Thanks for the info, probably going with fiberglass now. I don't like the one layer deal either. What about going with a prodcuct I think is called "Dyvinecel" instead of wood. I saw a deck a guy who casted a fiberglass deck using this stuff it was for a 20' seacraft and his whole deck ended up weighing 185lbs. I'm unfamiliar with the stuff but it seemed pretty simple. His post is on "classicseacraft.com" and the user is "billythekid" check it out if want. Any idea how much a comparable wood core deck would weigh?

Thanks again for the help.

[fitz73222]

Hey Da Butcha,

I`ve got a whole boat made from Dyvinecel foam at 10 years old; no signs of wear and tear. 2000 17.5' Baycraft flats boat, 700 # hull built hear in Florida. Seems very light and very strong. I thought about using it to restore the 73`222. This may be typical of all foam composite materials but everything that is screwed through it must be toggle bolted or use well nuts. Standard screws will pull through.

[Da Butcha]

Fitz:   The plan is to lay everything out first; console, leaning post, etc. and lay wood where ever I would need to fasten anything down.

[Circle Hooked]

Divinycell is great,much lighter than wood and holds up great,to screw something in, make a hole or bore out a hole thats bigger than the screw your going to use,just don't go all the way through the material,fill the hole with resin,let harden then drill the hole you need for the screw,it won't pull out.