I have a question. Is it possible for the foam core on a Sol Cat 18 to be saturated with water? Would they really make the boat with a type of foam that can absorb water?

When I sold my Sol Cat 18 I had a lot of spare parts that I bought from somebody in the past. One spare part that got left behind was a extra hull. It was so heavy at the time we thought it was full of ice. Since then the weather got warmer and I don't think a lot of water came out of it, but some did, and it is still very heavy.

It was sitting in the same spot for many years. The one inspection port hole was fiberglass closed by somebody. Maybe because it had a problem? It feels much heavier than it should be and one possibility I can think of is that somehow someway the foam-core absorbed water. It was stored on its side maybe part of it was exposed at the lip under the deck acted like a wick over the years? It had no drain plug in it and mice could of got in and rain water could have trickled in. I had another hull that was original to my boat that got delaminated. Just last week I cut that one up and it was light is anything and that one was stored upside down.

If saturated how would it sound if banged on with wood? I did not try that yet. Maybe a thud and not a tight drum. I don't have good hulls to compare it with anymore.

I believe the buyer was planning on coming back for this extra hull but now I'm thinking I should tell him not to. What is your opinion?

Thank you, Tim

It's hard to say how bad the hull is without knowing how much more it weighs than a good one.

The fact that the stock port has been closed is a bad sign and means you can't take a look around inside to find out how much garbage is in there.

If the hull is delaminated it will have spongy or crunchy spots on the decks or side hulls, do you feel anything like that?

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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any hull (or foam) can fill with water by condensation

I would think that the hull would be very soft if the core was totally saturated.

Are you sure somebody didn't fill the hull with some sort of expanding foam? Its not uncommon for newbies to come up with the idea of filling the hulls up with great stuff. That stuff could absorb LOTS of water.

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Greenville SC

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if it's a spare to a sold boat ... tell the new owner the details and give him the option to pick it up or not.
if not... cut it up, turn it into a mail box