# What should a majek redfish line float in?



## 89rfl (Aug 15, 2011)

I have a 1989 18ft majek redfish line and it seems it sits pretty low in the water. i was wondering how shallow it should float in because majeks website says it should draft 7 inches but i know that is imposible in my rig.


----------



## devil1824 (Sep 4, 2010)

Water?


----------



## KEMPOC (Aug 24, 2010)

devil1824 said:


> Water?


Dang! I was too slow on the draw!


----------



## KEMPOC (Aug 24, 2010)

All kidding aside, yours does look to be sitting deep. Have you checked it for water (under deck)?


----------



## Csafisher (Nov 16, 2010)

Something is not right. My 18'RFL drafts about 6.5" - 7.5" with normal load.


----------



## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

I agree. Had a 92' back in the 90's and it would draft around 7-8" and no more but I had a turd on the back (70 Johnson) that had no weight to it.


----------



## ESCB Factory (Apr 30, 2006)

8.25" at best. There are running strakes on the bottom that many fail to concider. 
Most (if not all) seasoned RFL's have water logged foam that make them much heavier.


----------



## ReelWork (May 21, 2004)

It's sitting low and I'd guess it's water logged. Buddy had that exact rig and drilled a couple of exploratory holes and bit came out wet. Great boat, but prone to hold water in the foam.


----------



## 89rfl (Aug 15, 2011)

no i havent looked to see if the hull is waterloged and how would i do that anyway?


----------



## ESCB Factory (Apr 30, 2006)

I would call Majek. They can prob help.


----------



## Kyle 1974 (May 10, 2006)

Is that a 4 stroke on the back? How much does a talon weigh? Where are your cranking and trolling motor batteries mounted?

Just throwing that out there before everyone has you convinced your hull is water logged....I know majeks are junky boats and all, but maybe its just too much weight in the rear end.


----------



## 89rfl (Aug 15, 2011)

Kyle 1974 said:


> Is that a 4 stroke on the back? How much does a talon weigh? Where are your cranking and trolling motor batteries mounted?
> 
> Just throwing that out there before everyone has you convinced your hull is water logged....I know majeks are junky boats and all, but maybe its just too much weight in the rear end.


yes it is a fourstroke but the trolling motor batteries are under the console and i dont think the talon weighs that much. also it was this low before i added the talon and trolling motor.


----------



## gray gost (Jul 8, 2010)

water logged.


----------



## Blue Fury (Nov 5, 2006)

Scb has a valid point. When I got my rfl in 2006 new, honest measurement loaded was 6.75" full tank of fuel with a yamaha 4 stroke / trp LU. Now the boat is nearly 6 years old and it's definitely water logged, it drafts at least 8" loaded the same way.


----------



## Csafisher (Nov 16, 2010)

So how could a RFL get water logged without getting water in the hull? I know my boat would have to take a bunch of water in the back hatch to get water in the hull. Would it come in through the console?


----------



## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

water logged, from what.. the deck screw areas where stuff is drilled into the deck leaking like console or leaning post? I don't like anything screwed into the deck on a boat...


----------



## 89rfl (Aug 15, 2011)

if it is waterloged is there an easy way to get it out or does the old foam need to be replaced? If the foam needs to be replaced i might have to live with it not drafting its shallowest.


----------



## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

I have heard.. not experienced..., of a person drilling holes in the bottom of a hull and putting heat lamps on it and letting it drip out as well as dry up over several days... then having to re-fiberglass the holes back up and all of course... not sure there is any easy out, probably should replace.


----------



## kinja (May 21, 2004)

J, do you even own a boat? You seem to be a master of all but owner of none. 

Living off your wife inside the loop does not make one an expert on all innerweb questions.


----------



## ESCB Factory (Apr 30, 2006)

Water logged foam can destroy a boat from the inside, as it becomes very heavy and may cause the hull to fracture. 

A non intrusive test is to crawl under the boat, and tap all around on the bottom of the hull w the end of your pocket knife. A dry hull has a nice crisp "ping" to it. Waterlogged or delaminated areas will have more of a dull "thud".

Good news is you can drain hull, bad news is you may never get foam dry.

Not bad mouthing Majek. Anyone who has been around the salt for any amount of time knows that I am a huge Majek fan and have great respect for Jimmy & Johnny. After owning & logging thousands of hours in RFL's and Xtreem's , I know the boats very well.


----------



## El Primero (Jun 14, 2008)

Railbird's first RFL (the magic carpet) was water logged as could be floated considerably deeper than the current RFL he is running now. As Eric mentioned above his hull did infact eventually crack too. Boat was old though, and railbird treats his equipment a little rough.


----------



## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

Pattillo said:


> J, do you even own a boat? You seem to be a master of all but owner of none.
> 
> Living off your wife inside the loop does not make one an expert on all innerweb questions.


where do you guys come up with this living off the wife stuff? It's hillarious.. what a sad life you must live gossiping about untruths. See below, even the master says you could possibly drain a hull.  Gosh you're pathetic. Point out what I said wrong. If you want to know, Shoalwater told me several years back exactly what I typed.



scb factory said:


> Good news is you can drain hull, bad news is you may never get foam dry.


----------



## CaptPb (Jan 26, 2005)

I had an 88' and by 98' it had a fair amount of water in it. But there was a soft spot(s) in the deck. When it was cut out, all the old foam was removed, which was dripping wet, dank and moldy. The hull was set out for two weeks to dry, expanding foam was then used to fill the voids. Which I don't think was available in the 80's. 
Wish I still had that boat.


----------



## Kyle 1974 (May 10, 2006)

If you end up cutting a hole in the floor, just take all the foam out of the *** end of the boat where it's saturated and seal the floor back up. No foam in the boat, no foam to get saturated. We had a 15 scooter that ha soaked foam, an we ended up taking it all out, which probably isn't a good idea. Considering we usually fished in 3-4 feet of water, "sinking" wasn't a huge worry. It was pretty nice as it lightened the hull up by a couple hundred pounds. 

You have to remember, the foam doesn't make the boat float better, it just keeps it floating if the hull fills up with water. Sounds like you don't have any gaping holes, just some
Seepage.

Also, I don't know what type of foam was used in that boat when it was built, but there might be better foam types available now that won't absorb water as easily. Maybe....


----------



## baynick (Oct 14, 2009)

If you remove the plywood deck and then the foam, I would highly recommend re foaming the hull to insure you do not sink. I rebuilt a Majek RFL 21'. patched the bottom, regelcoated, reattached all the stringers, refoamed, replaced the deck and re rigged the boat. On the first weekend out, 2nd day on the water, I hit a dredge pipe down towards the Baffin area. Limped back to Marker 37 ramp thru the shallows and the hull was slapped full of water. It drained and dripped for several days. 

Without the foam in the hull, the boat would not have been able to make thru the no wake zones. I cut 6" and 8" holes in the deck, used the access ports I purchased from Acacdemy, and now I can leave the holes opened, dry it with a towel, and let it dry out fairly well during low humidity days. They do tend to leak a bit, may not be the best solution, but the high moisture in the air will condensate in most all enclosed hulls.

I would check your deck, if it is soft this would be a good time to redeck it. You could also drill holes in the back compartments and let the hull drain thru the compartments. Drill them to a 3/4" hole so you can use a typical plug to close them up. 
Good luck with it 

baynick


----------



## Neck-deep (Jun 27, 2007)

I didn't have time to read all the post so I don't know if this has been posted already.

Is your deck starting to warp or warping already? If so, it's probably water logged.

Is there any soft spots on the deck? Then it's probably water logged.

Are there lots of thin stress cracks on the bottom of the hull? It's probably water logged.

I think for an 18fter you should be around 6in in the rear on a calm day.


----------



## railbird (Jan 2, 2009)

The best advice i can give on the rfl is keep an eye on your gelcoat and if it gets scraped have it touched up. The rfl gets used a bit close to the bottom a lot. That puts it close to things that can damage the gel coat. If it gets damaged, water can work into the structure. 

When my boat sold (the one elprimero talked about), the guy pulled the deck and removed all the foam. I had told him i thought the stringers were compromised. He called me a week after buying the boat and said the stringers looked like brand new. I was amazed, because my hull was 1 big scratch from from to back from all the years of abuse. The hull has been completely restored and is haunting the llm as we speak. By all rights, every stringer should have been busted out of it from all the trips in rough water during tournaments. I crossed aransas to copano bays dozens of times in 20mph winds, i still can't believe I did that to my rig.

Majek makes a great boat, they all require maintenance.


----------



## longboat (Apr 14, 2008)

If you replace the foam, be sure to use closed-cell foam. You want to use a two-part pourable foam. Stay away from the "Gr8 Stuff" stuff, it is not for boats! If you find the two-part pourable to be too expensive (it is actually cheaper than the canned stuff when measured by volume), you can fill in voids with pink foam or spyderfoam (surfboard foam), or even plastic bottles, etc., then fill in around them with the two-part pourable foam.


----------



## [email protected] (Jun 25, 2005)

Your rfl will sit lower than most just because you have a heavy 4 stroke on the back, those older RFl's were not made to have heavy engines on the back so they will sit lower in the back due to the extra weight of the engine. I have a buddy with an older 18 rfl and the foam is dry but it still sits back heavy due to the honda 4 stroke 90 on the back.


----------



## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

longboat said:


> or even plastic bottles, etc., then fill in around them with the two-part pourable foam.


LOL.. I kid you not.. an uncle's custom scooter made in POC back in the early 80's was filled with empty milk jugs


----------

