Noobie Boat Owner

Hi all.

Well... after too many years (36yrs old) I finally got my mitts on a boat. My grandfather passed this year and left me a fairly old what I am pretty certain is a fiberglass Runabout which I am guessing is 70's era.

From what I can tell... the hull is in good shape. There has been some patchwork that I can see on the exterior, however applying pressure to all the areas of the exterior hull show no signs at all of any weak spots. I just washed it down front to back inside and out with a soft hand brush and could not feel any spots on the exterior that gave even the slightest to the pressure.

The interior however is a little different story. There are are no seats in it (the interior is completely empty and all fiberglass, not even any carpeting). About a foot and a half to two feet from the steering wheel smack dab in the middle the floor is giving way. The good news is... it wasn't giving way before... it happened to crack and give when i got in it and stood on it... so there should be no water inside *crosses his fingers*. From what i can tell... the floor was completely made from plywood covered in a thin layer of fiberglass (I can peal it away in some spots exposing the plywood and it looks paper thin).

I will post some pictures very soon... but I was just wondering if any of you could give some suggestions on steps to take to start the floor repair.

Much appreciated in advance.

Ian "Midnightar" Dalcourt.

Re: Noobie Boat Owner

There is a great restoration section here with probibly most or all of the answers to your questions, give it a look.

Red

Re: Noobie Boat Owner

Welcome to iboats Dry Dock, Midnightar,

The first thing I would ask is what about it's power? A boat without a engine isn't much good and I haven't heard mention of it in your post? Do you have an outboard in good working order for it?

Re: Noobie Boat Owner

Hi Cadwelder... and thanks for the welcome

As for the motor... there was a 7.5hp Evenrude on it (WAY underpowered for the boat). I think my grandfather would go out and putt putt around the local bay with it the last few years he was alive but that's it.

That being said... It needs a new pump and even though i may have duel hitched it for trolling purposes, it wont be seeing action on this boat.

I have been keepin my eye on a few 30 and 40hp outboards as well as a 15 to tandem with it for trolling (which will be the majority of use for this boat... im an avid lake trout fisherman.... just usually with a friends 12' aluminum and 15hp up till now.