Slight stringer rot at drains - best options for sealing?
 

Hello everyone,

My boat is in great shape and not to the point of needed a full restoration quite yet. That being said there are a couple areas where holes were drilled in the stringers that were left unsealed. The wood has not turned to mush but it's definitely wet and merits some attention. I was wondering what the best practices were to prevent further damage and also have some questions.

My plan was to overdrill the holes, grind as much wet wood as I can, dry as much as I can, and fill with epoxy/fiberglass cloth as best as I can.

Questions:

1. Let's say it's a 1" drain hole through the stringer, would I lose strength if I overdrill this to 2" to try to get to better wood/bigger radius for laying glass?
2. Best practices to use epoxy "peanut butter" and fiberglass cloth to seal?
3. What can I use to dry the wood? dehumidifier and alcohol?
4. Whats the preferred tool to get some of the wood out, a dremel?

SeaCraft boat?

Not exactly, and hopefully I'm not shunned from the site...

I was hoping I would fit in because the hull is a splash off the 23 sea craft and lengthened 3 feet + a bracket. It's a 1987 26 Mid Ocean. I guess I fall into the "often duplicated" category in the site motto "often duplicated never replicated"

I think you're on the right track but may never know just how much rot there is.

If the foam is wet And you Have wood in the stringer system, I can assure you that the wood is jello. With that being said, I would not think that doing anything would make a difference unless you pull out the floor and start a 30k project. 🤑

Enyar let’s see the boat. Welcome to Csc

Ryan,

Ask and you shall receive.

The boat was stored covered, in a covered high & dry, on a fresh water river by a guy that lived in Brazil that was also part owner of the marina. It's in fantastic shape for its age.

https://i.imgur.com/GhCdjbI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gwoxZFa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1HTpkUO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nA78jpl.jpg

There's something odd about the way she sits in the water.
Maybe the hull extension? The bracket? The motors?
why so stern heavy?
Just doesn't look right to me...

Extended fuel tanks/in floor live well/insulated fish box? I really like the cap. Always wondered what a larger Master Angler would look like. Nice boat.

Vezo, Part II

I do agree she seems a bit heavy in the back. That's 1000#'s of motors on the back plus the oil tanks and batteries in the transom. Doesn't help that the fuel tank is so large and extends toward the rear. I'm hoping to move weight forward by moving the oil tanks and batteries under the console.

I'll report back once I start putting hours on her on ride/pros/cons

Enyar,
Looks like you also live in the farms, I think I have seen your truck.
Looks like a nice little boat, but I agree, looks very stern heavy at rest.
Give us a shout if you need anything

You're not wrong. The truck is actually a friends, I'm currently shopping for one myself (the Corolla tow's my Whaler/Hobie fine, I think it's going to struggle with this.)

The boat is currently stored in the farms at my parents, but once everything is sorted it will split time between East coast and West coast.


What kind of boat do you have?

I have a 1972 20SF, with bracket and 140 Suzuki 4 stroke. Hit Jupiter sandbar up most weekends with the kids.
Live on 159th, east of JFR.

Sitting low in stern
 

The situation is two heavy engines on a bracket without any builtin floatation. Of course any bracket floatation would only help at rest. If you examine my post on ESTIMATING CG SHIFT of 9-24-16, you may be able to guesstimate the current cg relative to what it was originally and also how relocation of oil tanks and batteries would help. As Bushwacker mentions you can use this method and temporary positioning of weight to test the effects. Unfortunately don’t think many guys take the time to use a little math and science to reduce their effort and expense.

Took the boat out for a test run and it ran really well. Hit 50 with ease, rode nice and almost 2 mpg @30 mph. It was just a quick test run in the Intracoastal so we will see how she does on a fishing trip.


Nice! The boat was right next to the corner of JFR and Sandy, but I just moved it to my sisters in Juno this weekend. Where do you normally fill up with ethanol free? I went to the Shell on Indiantown/Military where I was bent over for $4.10 a gallon. Should have checked the station in the farms.



Thanks, I will look for that.

I fill up on the way home after every trip, there are only about 2 or 3 gas stations that carry rec90 on Indiantown on the way home from the ramp. I hate to say it, but the cheapest and easiest station to use is the chevron/now Mobil by the Publix in the farms. The rest of the gas and diesel is about $0.30/gal more expensive than in town. They have also been known to have water in their tanks and it is a very popular station for credit card scanners so I always pay cash. Don’t fill up on the water, I saw it over $5/gal once and almost choked

You were behind me. I am on old Indian town rd.