WOO HOO!! Some good wood...

I finally got to the other side of my boat, and discovered that the outer stringer is actually good! <br /><br />Finally, some good wood!<br /><br />The inner stringer is shot however... Too bad I have to rip the floor up to get at it. Oh well I guess. One less stringer to deal with.<br /><br />Any suggestions on improving this good stringer? Do you think I should coat it with resin, or run a few strips of glass over the top for good measure? I hate to put it all back together without doing something to better preserve it.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />H.

Re: WOO HOO!! Some good wood...

Are there any limber/drain holes in the stringer, if there are definitely coat them with resin (but you know that anyway) . I forget if you were using epoxy or polyester. Epoxy would be better for this. It's been a lot of years since I built boats, but I do know there are fiberglass products out there that can cover that stringer and are supposedly strong enough to carry the load even if the wood in the stringer rotted out. Dusky for one uses this material when they install composite stringers. I think it's biaxial or triaxial not sure. On the other hand if that stringer has lasted this long it's probably not worth the extra expense to bother with this stuff.

Re: WOO HOO!! Some good wood...

Yes, there is a drain hole about mid-ship and one at the transom.<br /><br />The new stringers I put in on the other side has multiple drains. I made sure of that.<br /><br />I think the reason it rotted so bad was a PVC tube that came down from the fly bridge for the wires and stuff. It dumped right onto the bare floor and NOT to the bilge.<br /><br />A cheap 45 or 90 degree elbow at the top of the PVC pipe would have prevented the mess!<br /><br />Unbelievable how a cheap fix could have saved so much. And then there's the original owner... He must have left the boat full of water.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />H.

Re: WOO HOO!! Some good wood...

Homerr,<br />You could laminate more glass around the good stringer to give more beef. Use polyester, 1.5oz mat and 24ox woven roving to whatever thickness you feel comfortable with. If you want to keep osmosis at bay just coat the final assy with epoxy res.<br /><br />This could be used on the bad stringer too. Just use it for a form...slab wood on each side and glass the hexx out of it...or just build glass up enough to get the right structure without wood. Bulk is good in these areas. Expensive compared to using wood but a LOT easier. This is basically what they do with foam stringers...all structure is in the laminate, not the foam.