1987 Sea ray Sorrento 19' w/4.3 Mercruiser V6

[ggundersen3]

So i'm looking for a used bowrider and came across this '87 Sea Ray Sorrento 19' with a 4.3 Mercruiser V6. ORIGINAL OWNER! Hull and gelcoat decent, seats and upoulstry normal condition for that age boat, not too bad actually, engine starts right up, seller says the alpha one lower unit was replaced 3 years ago, a few switches dont work (blower, bilge pump, horn) but I can fix all that. It's priced right too! Here's the catch. One soft spot in the floor. Passenger side right next to the ski locker. Do I pass on this boat because of that? Or is that fixable? The rest of the floor seemed ok.The removable section on top of the gas tank seemed spongy and even a little loose but I think that's repairable. So its the one soft spot in the floor next to the ski locker that's got me scratching my head. Your advice here is appreciated! What should I do?????

 

[Chris1956]

I had that boat, although it was a '88 model. The cover over the fuel tank is plywood, with carpet stapled to it. Easy fix, just cut the plywood and coat it with poly resin.

The floor near the ski well is another issue. They likely trimmed out the ski well and never treated the edges of the plywood. Water likely migrated into the plywood deck, making the floor rot. Also check the floor of the ski well for delamination. On mine, water got to the keel, under the ski well and rotted it out. It was fixable, but I had to cut the ski well floor and side out to do it.

To be honest, my boat had quality issues. Parts of it were high quality, parts were low quality. For example, the rear of the floor deck had zero glass over the plywood. It looked like the chop gun ran out of glass, so that part received only resin. The rest of the floor was fine, except for the floor next to the ski well (sound familiar). The hull under the passenger seat also cracked one day along the strake. Normally strakes are real strong. I suspect the hull was not foamed properly. I repaired it, but it was a drag to fix, as I had to fix it from the inside.

 

[Chris1956]

Of course on the other hand, I liked the power and hull shape on that boat. It beats the crap out of my 2100 SeaSwirl.....

 

[ggundersen3]

Thanks, I'm being real careful. This is a boat I'm looking at, I haven't bought it yet. I was super interested until I found the soft spot in the floor. It's got the 4.3L 190HP V6 that started right up and ran well, seller says it has a new alpha one lower unit 3 years ago. , interior is average for its age but really not too bad, a few electrical simple things like the horn , bilge pump and blower switches, but that's fairly easy , I've done all that before. It's the gamble of buying a boat with a soft spot in the floor. The boat seems mechanically good but sure don't want to have the soft spot turn into a major, major project, and according to what I'm reading, when the soft spot appears it's a sign that rot has been going on underneath for a long time.