Well I bought the boat a couple years ago, and had a couple good summers with it, but then the engine gave out. I don't think it's dead, I actually think it is just out of tune, but that's for a different thread. Right now, I have torn into the floor. When I bought it, there was a soft spot in the floor. Totally disclosed. I threw a piece of plywood over it knowing it was there and popped a couple nails into the deck to hold it in place. (don't cringe, it was a temp fix because I knew the floor was going to come up sooner or later). Well, since the engine is no bueno, I decided that now is as good of a time as any to rip up the floor and check out the damage underneath.
I'll say there is good news and bad new and the occasional, why the heck did I decide to do this.
So I stripped the easily removable stuff out of the boat, captains chairs, back seats, etc. Then I started ripping up the deck. The good news is the stringers appear to be in perfect condition. The bad news is the whole deck is rotted. The stringers were well capped and even where they were penetrated with the original staples, they are in perfect condition. I am happy about this.
So the front of the boat is a bowlder and the deck is molded in with the cap. However, there is wood under the molded deck. This is a 21' boat so I can imagine the cap it heavy, and I have an HOA in my neighborhood, so a full restoration where I remove the cap and set it aside is probably not going to fly. I am getting away with it backed into my driveway. I am looking for input on whether I should cut the floor and support structure out of the front of the boat and rebuild it with plywood and glass or should I try to uncap the boat to get under it. How difficult is is going to be to uncap? Do I have to take it all the way off or would I be able to just prop up the front while I work under it? What challenges am I going to face if I uncap. Also the deck portion is not in the best shape because there was a piece of plywood/carpet drilled through the molded gel coated fiberglass deck. So I would have to do significant repair to it anyway to fill the holes. My initial though is to cut it off about 4 inches from the top of the seat boxes and support it temporarily and build a complete floor under it, then build plywood boxes to support the front seats and glass it all together, then gel coat over it. I don't think it will compromise the structure of the boat because this portion is part of the cap, sitting on the deck. I plan to leave the seats and helm in place, just cut the bottoms out.
So, like I said, stringers and bulkheads are in great condition, need to clean out the ski locker, going to pull the gas tank and replace some of the sacrificial support for that that is rotted and reglass all of the remaining structure so that I am starting off fresh. Been watching Jay (FriscoBoater's Garage) on Youtube, with his 95 Sea Ray project. Anyone have problems with what he says? Planning to follow his lead pretty much. Ultimately new deck with glass then gel coat. I'm looking to put walnut shells in the first coat of gel, then go over with two more coats for a final. Removing all the carpet with MEK, which eats carpet glue amazingly. Then I plan to gel up the sides of the gunnels. I ripped out the pads on the gunnels as well, planning to pretty much leave that out, and just patch the holes left behind. Full disclosure, although I just started this project and did a lot of demo, I just put the cover on the boat and am putting it away for a couple months. I am going on vacation and then on a small deployment (Navy guy). I'll really dig into this in September, but want to get some insight before I do something stupid, like cut out part of the cap.
I also noticed that there is no foam in the compartments on either side of the gas tank. There is forward and aft of them, but not the two directly outboard of the gas tank. It is a void. Is that legit, or should I plan to foam those compartments? I was thinking about foaming all empty compartments. Looks like there has never been foam in these two spots.
Cheers
Dave
I'll say there is good news and bad new and the occasional, why the heck did I decide to do this.
So I stripped the easily removable stuff out of the boat, captains chairs, back seats, etc. Then I started ripping up the deck. The good news is the stringers appear to be in perfect condition. The bad news is the whole deck is rotted. The stringers were well capped and even where they were penetrated with the original staples, they are in perfect condition. I am happy about this.
So the front of the boat is a bowlder and the deck is molded in with the cap. However, there is wood under the molded deck. This is a 21' boat so I can imagine the cap it heavy, and I have an HOA in my neighborhood, so a full restoration where I remove the cap and set it aside is probably not going to fly. I am getting away with it backed into my driveway. I am looking for input on whether I should cut the floor and support structure out of the front of the boat and rebuild it with plywood and glass or should I try to uncap the boat to get under it. How difficult is is going to be to uncap? Do I have to take it all the way off or would I be able to just prop up the front while I work under it? What challenges am I going to face if I uncap. Also the deck portion is not in the best shape because there was a piece of plywood/carpet drilled through the molded gel coated fiberglass deck. So I would have to do significant repair to it anyway to fill the holes. My initial though is to cut it off about 4 inches from the top of the seat boxes and support it temporarily and build a complete floor under it, then build plywood boxes to support the front seats and glass it all together, then gel coat over it. I don't think it will compromise the structure of the boat because this portion is part of the cap, sitting on the deck. I plan to leave the seats and helm in place, just cut the bottoms out.
So, like I said, stringers and bulkheads are in great condition, need to clean out the ski locker, going to pull the gas tank and replace some of the sacrificial support for that that is rotted and reglass all of the remaining structure so that I am starting off fresh. Been watching Jay (FriscoBoater's Garage) on Youtube, with his 95 Sea Ray project. Anyone have problems with what he says? Planning to follow his lead pretty much. Ultimately new deck with glass then gel coat. I'm looking to put walnut shells in the first coat of gel, then go over with two more coats for a final. Removing all the carpet with MEK, which eats carpet glue amazingly. Then I plan to gel up the sides of the gunnels. I ripped out the pads on the gunnels as well, planning to pretty much leave that out, and just patch the holes left behind. Full disclosure, although I just started this project and did a lot of demo, I just put the cover on the boat and am putting it away for a couple months. I am going on vacation and then on a small deployment (Navy guy). I'll really dig into this in September, but want to get some insight before I do something stupid, like cut out part of the cap.
I also noticed that there is no foam in the compartments on either side of the gas tank. There is forward and aft of them, but not the two directly outboard of the gas tank. It is a void. Is that legit, or should I plan to foam those compartments? I was thinking about foaming all empty compartments. Looks like there has never been foam in these two spots.
Cheers
Dave
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