Soft spot in floor 1987 Sea Ray 19'

ggundersen3

ggundersen3

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
249
Im looking to buy a used bowrider. Im looking at a 1987 Sea Ray 19' Sorrento bowrider. Its in average to above average condition for its age. Interior/seat/cushions average condition for it's age(actually pretty good for being original) Has a good running 4.3L V6. Starts right up. A new alpha one lower unit 3 years ago. A few minor electrical things to be fixed (horn switch, blower switch etc.). But heres the thing....there is a soft spot in the floor. A DEFINITE SOFT SPOT, where if I step on it directly with my 240# weight, its spongy with a wood cracking sound. It's on passenger side right next to the ski locker. The rest of the floor seems ok and pretty solid. so heres the questions...Is that repairable? Can I keep the repair to just that spot? Is some other information I received correct that if the floor is spongy, rot has been going for sometime and its so bad that now its finally showing up in the floor. Meaning all stringers below are rotted too? So advice needed here. Help is greatly appreciated!!!
 
R

Rickmerrill

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
686
The information you received is probably correct. It is very doubtful you can keep the repair to that one area. What's below that deck is wood encased in fiberglass and if any mistakes were made during the manufacturing some of that wood probably got wet. Rot usually starts from the bottom and goes up and the stern and goes forward. Unless the seller is willing to prove otherwise, which he really can't do without some demo, or sells the boat at a price low enough to compensate and you are willing to do the work I'd pass. Not that the next old boat you look at with a solid deck hasn't got rot in the stringers and/or transom and/or bulkheads and/or engine supports. How it was stored and cared for will give you some indication but not always. I am restoring my 20 year boat, purchased new, that was always garage kept with the bow up, drain plug removed and all hatched open, because they didn't properly seal the drainage holes going thru the bulkheads. Water wicked from there throughout 2/3rds of the stringers, both bulkheads, the transom and the engine supports. This story or similar is repeated here over and over and over.
 
Last edited:
jigngrub

jigngrub

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
8,155
There are "jack-leg" repairs that can and have been done to problem areas like this, and there are even some members here that endorse them.

... but if you want a safe and seaworthy boat that will give you decades of worry and trouble free service that boat will more than likely need to be gutted and restored. This will be the case with the vast majority of used fiberglass boats for sale unless you can find one that has been garage kept and properly cared for (extremely rare).

You have 3 options for buying a fiberglass boat:
1. Buy brand new
2. Search for the needle in the haystack.
3.Buy and restore.

Reading the restoration forum here will educate you on what to look for in a used f'glass boat, and what you can expect if you choose to restore.

Restoring a boat will give you a like new boat for a small fraction of the cost of a brand new one.
 
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