Boat Floor

[97_Manta_Ray_CR]

Hello all,

I have an 18' 97 Manta Ray bow rider that is in great shape and Motor is running good... The only issue I have is behind the Drivers seat there is a soft spot in the floor, I have pulled back the carpet and found out that the floor is fiberglass. My question is can I pull out all the carpet and replace the carpet with gel coat or add a layer of fiberglass and paint my floor?

This is going to be a large project that I will be tackling over the fall and winter just trying to get all my ducks in a row for now

 

[jbcurt00]

This is going to be a large project that I will be tackling over the fall and winter just trying to get all my ducks in a row for now

Those ducks aren't likely to be lining up in a row very well.

It's exceptionally unlikely the soft spot you found is an isolated problem. Typically its the tip of the proverbial iceberg, w more hidden damage lurking below decks.

Dig into some of the other rehabs posted here in the resto forum, The vast majority of the small(ish) soft spot topics are much more involved then expected.

May or may not be enough of a concern to stop using the boat until you determine the full extent of the problem. Pix would help, but only a thorough hands on inspection, along w destructive testing, can it wholly be assessed.

 

[ezmobee]

Often times boats rot from the bottom up so that by the time you have a soft spot in the deck there's saturated foam and rotten stringers below. Some do get lucky but digging in to the soft spot and investigating further is the only way to determine the extent of the damage. You definitely don't want to just sure up the deck without finding out why it got soft.

 

[97_Manta_Ray_CR]

Thank you for the advice... Hope people post more advice, I will put some deep thought into this idea/project

 

[chevymaher]

I had solid decks. I thought the boat was fine. I got advice here. I checked with the drill core samples. My boat now is stripped to the hull. In route to new transom, stringers and deck.

You don't know till you drill the lowest points.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if your boat only has a soft-spot in the floor and no rot anywhere else, buy a lottery ticket as you are the only one.

Boats rot from the keel upward, with the stringers, bulkheads and transom going long before the floor

 

[gm280]

So many iboaters come on here with a little soft spot on the floor issue and looking for a "Oh that is easy to repair/fix" type answer. But sadly I have yet to see even one that actually came out that way. I know that isn't what you want to hear. But with boats, rot is a reality and once a soft spot on the floor shows up, a lot of internal damage has already occurred below deck. Not trying to scare you, but just stating the honest truth. JMHO

 

[sheboyganjohn]

One thing where you may be lucky is the rot may all be from that point back. And depending on how the stern of your boat is set up, you may be able to do the repairs with-out de-capping the boat. Look for Frisco Boater on youtube. He has a lot of good videos on a couple of all our restores he has done.

 

[hvymtl939]

I had a Manta Ray 189 that has "just a soft spot". Everything underneath was horrible. Good luck.