Rookie move... ;) 75-ish Orrion

[rsrguy3]

I'm new on the forum.
Lots of mundane stuff happening lately at work... small jobs with no end in sight, but.....
The bride of Frankenstein has always wanted a boat, we've been married 35 years and she bought me my first Porsche in 98.... we still dont have a boat. I have a partnership stake in a vintage French aircraft.... we still don't have a boat. Any way, she hasn't ever once nagged me about it, not once. I see them as an expensive nuisance that I have to tow launch, recover, wipe down, store and service. Add to this that cash is tight and a boat loan isn't a option. So I managed to aquire 2 free water holes, one with a strong 302 and volvo penta OD.
Anyway, the initial service revealed rotted stringers.... almost a given on any sub 10k boat. What you see in the pics is a 3/4" ply stringer glassed only on the inner face... and a soaked flotation cell... (seriously one... (1) 3/4" ply stringer with no glass on the outside facing the flotation)
Tore it out, cleaned it up, soaked the new stringers in epoxy and bonded them in. filleted the joints and layed up 1708 biax.... tabbed in propper with German mgs epoxy... it'll cure up tonight, later, ill flow coat it with gray epoxy paint before reinstalling the flotation and new sleeved weep holes to the motor bilge.... I keeled it today!

 

[Drivewayboater2]

What kind of shape is the transom in? You do any core sample tests? If the floor and stringers are that bad most likely the transom is rotted as well.

 

[Scott Danforth]

You need to pull the motor and drive before removing any more structure

 

[roscoe]

Its her turn now.
SELL THE PLANE.
Buy her a modern boat.

PLANES: I see them as an expensive nuisance and ego booster, that you have to have inspected, wiped down, store and serviced, licensed, insured........

Its all about perspective, but it IS her turn now.

 

[rsrguy3]

Transom checks out. No amount of monies made on the sale of anything would get passed her book keeping and into a "modern boat".

 

[Mc Tool]

Transom checks out. No amount of monies made on the sale of anything would get passed her book keeping and into a "modern boat".

Can she swim ?

 

[rsrguy3]

Very funny, quite well. I build and modify aircraft and hot rods as a vocation... im a rookie boat owner, I'm not composite or structures ignorant.... at all. Im one of the few people you'd meet that likes to sand and prep for paint, I also dont mind fiberglass dust from grinding. The lions share of what I do is refinishing. I llove the look on guys faces when they wander into the shop to see their stuff when its finished. A good friend even got emotional. Im happy to have been able to have provided that to him as he passed in March.
Ultimately this job is a no brainer, its just how it has to be, resources are thin. I'm not complaining i'm just getting it done.
What surprised me is the way the stringers were installed, it was a true monocoque structure, when we use wood or foam as structures forms we bond and cover all of it... this wasn't done like that, as a result everything ended up soaked and rotten. There was also no way for the moisture to escape.
it just wasn't protected well, it did last 50 years though. Anyway from what we've seen on other boats even 15 year old boats, this is very common.
These are pictures of one of my "day job" builds.