Rickmerrill
Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2014
- Messages
- 686
You know the story; I was checking out the rust on my trim pump when I heard the deck under my knee crunching. I dug out enough of the sole to know the stringers had rot too. I think that was two years ago and I can say for sure that foam will eventually dry out if exposed to air for long enough! I discovered iboats members that were describing how they had successfully restored their transome/stringers/sole about three months ago and decided, very reluctantly, to join in the madness.
I have a problem when people imply that not taking care of your boat is the reason for rot or at least the only reason for rot. I have tried my best to take care of my boat. I bought it new and have built two garages to keep it out of the elements. It's whole life it has been in a garage or under it's cover in a carport (for one of it's 20 years). I have religiously opened up the ski locker, front seats and rear deck to help air it out when stored. I honestly don't know what more I could have done to protect it.
With that said, it did get used a lot and many wet skiers and swimmers have come up soaking wet and dumped many gallons of water on the rear deck and vynal seats. At first I thought there must be small cracks in the decking that let the water in - most of the rot is toward the rear. Now I'm beginning to think that most of the damage was caused from below. The drain holes in the bulkheads were not protected and it looks like most of the damage was caused by water wicking up and across the exposed bulkheads. The boarding ladder, with bolts below the waterline, has no wood left between the fiberglass shell.
Anyway, right or wrong on my forensics, I feel an obligation to this boat for 20 years of faithful service. I couldn't sell it to some unsuspecting buyer the way it was and couldn't see selling it for what it was really worth. The hull is like new, most of the upholstery is in very good shape and the 5l engine and Alpha I gen II is in great shape and only has about 300 hours on it. It also has a nice torque prop and a trailer that has a removable tongue so that it fits in a shorter space.
i retired about a year ago so I have the time - only other duty is to completely remodel the house and the kitchen is finished. I am probably not going to go at this hard as some of you - working outside, nights and weekends in all sorts of weather after work. I have enough space to work on it in the garage and can move it outside for the messy stuff. I've already started, pulled the engine and removed the drive/bell housing and transom plate and removed the wood on the transom and removed most of the deck/sole. Some of the forward section is solid as well as the engine mounts but I need to drill a few more holes to check, so I am considering partially restoring up to those parts. Haven't decided. I thought I'd start this thread to help others with similar boats and I'll have some questions so I better try to give back.
I've decided to fight my desire for perfection and just try to do a good job - at least make it better than it was originally. So, we won't be going with epoxy and the best marine plywood. We will be using poly and decent exterior ply or better and concentrating on doing a good layup job and protecting all wood better than it was from the manufacturer.
I wanted to use this first post to introduce the project and to test a few pictures so here goes!
I have a problem when people imply that not taking care of your boat is the reason for rot or at least the only reason for rot. I have tried my best to take care of my boat. I bought it new and have built two garages to keep it out of the elements. It's whole life it has been in a garage or under it's cover in a carport (for one of it's 20 years). I have religiously opened up the ski locker, front seats and rear deck to help air it out when stored. I honestly don't know what more I could have done to protect it.
With that said, it did get used a lot and many wet skiers and swimmers have come up soaking wet and dumped many gallons of water on the rear deck and vynal seats. At first I thought there must be small cracks in the decking that let the water in - most of the rot is toward the rear. Now I'm beginning to think that most of the damage was caused from below. The drain holes in the bulkheads were not protected and it looks like most of the damage was caused by water wicking up and across the exposed bulkheads. The boarding ladder, with bolts below the waterline, has no wood left between the fiberglass shell.
Anyway, right or wrong on my forensics, I feel an obligation to this boat for 20 years of faithful service. I couldn't sell it to some unsuspecting buyer the way it was and couldn't see selling it for what it was really worth. The hull is like new, most of the upholstery is in very good shape and the 5l engine and Alpha I gen II is in great shape and only has about 300 hours on it. It also has a nice torque prop and a trailer that has a removable tongue so that it fits in a shorter space.
i retired about a year ago so I have the time - only other duty is to completely remodel the house and the kitchen is finished. I am probably not going to go at this hard as some of you - working outside, nights and weekends in all sorts of weather after work. I have enough space to work on it in the garage and can move it outside for the messy stuff. I've already started, pulled the engine and removed the drive/bell housing and transom plate and removed the wood on the transom and removed most of the deck/sole. Some of the forward section is solid as well as the engine mounts but I need to drill a few more holes to check, so I am considering partially restoring up to those parts. Haven't decided. I thought I'd start this thread to help others with similar boats and I'll have some questions so I better try to give back.
I've decided to fight my desire for perfection and just try to do a good job - at least make it better than it was originally. So, we won't be going with epoxy and the best marine plywood. We will be using poly and decent exterior ply or better and concentrating on doing a good layup job and protecting all wood better than it was from the manufacturer.
I wanted to use this first post to introduce the project and to test a few pictures so here goes!
