First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

First off, this is my first post but I have been reading the iboats forums for some time and it has truelly been great! A few weeks ago I picked up my first cabin cruiser. It is a 1987 regal ambassador 233 xl. For an old boat it was in seemingly good shape at what i thought was a fair price and my dad knows the guy I got it from and he thinks he is trustworthy so I whent for it. The eng runs great (5.7) and it has a brand new outdive and prop (sterndrive enginering se106 I believe). Brand new batteries, and nice looking upohlstry. Now for the bad... the second time I took it to the lake someone in the cabin noticed that while we was under way and going over some rough watter, the entryway into the cabin had a pretty good amount of flex. Noting that i gave it another good look over and their is a couple cracks in the bulkhead in the eng compartment as well ( wher the fire wall meets the stringers). Is this a known problem with the ambassadors? I am still, over all, satisfied with the boat but if this could possibly crack the hull or what not putting my kids or passengers at risk I will have to do something about it. Any comments or oppinions would be truelly appreciated! Again, IM LOVIN THE FORUMS!

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

I would get a professional to take a look and see what they think as there is another post here that I was reading just today about a guy with bad stringers in a Scarab I think that when he was out, the stringers and transom separated causing the boat to partially sink and them abandon ship. Not that yours will do that but with a family on-board, get it checked.

Found it:
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-topic...e-topics/rotten-stringers-concern-627433.html

Mark

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

I seen that post earlier as well and that really got me thinking. I tend to be hard headed with my D.I.Y. mind set, but yes a pro is not out of the question. Thanks for the fast reply!

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

The problem with giving an opinion to a question like this is that we can't see the boat, and if we say it's ok we could be wrong, with terrible consequences
I agree that you should have it checked by a marine surveyor. You shouldn't be seeing flex

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Flex in the cabin way??? Should be more than enough support there to have no or very little movement. Agree with above- time to have it checked by a pro if nothing jumps out at you,,, or even if a potential cause does show itself. A 20+ year old boat and her new owner deserve a pro checking her out.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

have a professional look at it. money well spent. if there is a rotten stringer and the previous owner may offer some compensation.good luck

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Thank you everyone for your replies. I understand it is a tough thing to give an opinion on when you have not seen the boat, and with the age it does leave alot of questions. Time to hit the yellow pages. lol. thanks again!

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Ok, I got bored the other day and said what the heck lets just dig into this. Where i noticed the flex was at the base of the steps. I removed the stairs to the cabin and the flooring over the bottom step that extended aft to the fire wall. what i found was that the brace that extends from the starboard to port side underneth the stairs( i believe it gives the entryway all its suport) has busted through the portside stringer. Now i see no sign of rot or even dampness that has caused this, but i believe it is of just bad design. the stringer aft of the step is about 8 inches tall but at the step it is sized down a few inches and the suport for the steps sits on it at that point. the problem i see is that at that exact spot it is also notched out from the bottom for the plumbing and elec to pass through. this leaves the step suport sitting on roughly 1 1/2in to 2" of the remaining stringer and it has fell through it. Is it possible that i could stick a new stringer rite on the existing one to patch it up, and even possibly redirect the plumbing and elect to make space to bulk up the new stringer?
the other thing is that it looks like the aft section of the stringer may be becoming detatched from the hull from the steps back to the fuel tank. could i just cut out the fillet and re attatch using poly and mat? I would love any sugestions I really see no other problems but believe me i understand the name of the boat now, it simply says B.O.A.T. across the back. lol.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Is that a nail I see in pic 2? That just cannot be right. Has somebody been doing a cheapo fix it?

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

B.O.A.T. - Yep, break out another thousand..........

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

More pictures would be good and of both bulkheads that you mentioned. This boat may have some structural issues, and a 26 year old boat certainly could need some structural attention.

Maybe have a marine surveyor look at it.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Yes that is a nail in pic 2. the carpet was loose next to that nail so i believe someone has tryed to pull a fast one and toe nail that brace at some point. And yes I do believe it certainly has structural issues. I will try to get more pics of it later and i will pull more carpet an so on to dig a little deeper. it is odd to me that it all seems like good solid wood tho yet it is just broken appart in that area. it all looks to be original too, outside of that not so well placed nail... lol.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Hi Cik,

Just a couple of comments.

The first is 'that don't look right.'

The ends of the boards (the one with the nail in it), look like they have been cut away at some point - and that doesn't make much sense.

The board underneath it looks like one of two things has happened: either someone has gone in there and cut away the board to accomodate the 'stringer', or the stringer has been moving freely and has worn away that board.

Ditto on the marine surveyer.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

O/P where are you located?

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Here is a couple more pics. first is of the stringer, the pic makes it hard to tell what is going on but if you look to the rite of the "notch" that board is not actually part of the stringer, only the lower 1/2 of what you can see is actually a part of it, the 1 on top is more like a step riser. the second pic is of the port side fire wall wher it is cracked. that is the only seperation i can find in the eng area... At this point I feel that a survey would just tell me what I am already seeing, that it needs structural work and likely alot of it. Im not in love with this boat but heck i have nothing to loose and though im fairly new to fiberglass i dont mind to get my hands dirty and learn. So i think i will just keep tearing crap out untill i find good solid structure.. I have replaced the stringers and decking on a old bayliner capri in the past so i kind of know what to expect, its just that this is much biger and not as simply build as the capri was. Cant learn by doing nothing or letting someone else do it for me though. the tabing on the cabin floor is also cracked so that is next to go.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

smokeonthewater said:

O/P where are you located?

Click to expand...

I live in Bedford Indiana, just south of bloomington and the monre lake.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Wooow . . .

Looks like the bulkhead has separated from the stringers. It would be interesting to see what is inside the stringers. Probably a few test holes are in order. That boat looks like it was made with 'chopper guns' rather than hand laid fiberglass. Probably not very strong to begin with, and considering the separations at the joints, probably even worse now.

Keep investigating and taking pictures, etc.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

Yeah tpen, she is weak to say the least. lol. I will drill a couple spots to check, im crossing my fingers that it is only the thin glass tabs letting everything come loose and not rot. the tabing in the cabin looks like a crap job, but at the same time it looks original to me. on the 1 side of the floor its not even cracked, its more like the choped glass didnt stick to the hull. just a little pull and all the tabing comes rite off the hull. like you said, it looks to be done by a chopper gun, im no pro but this stuff is not hand laid.

Its weird how looking at the pic of the bulkhead makes it look even worse. i really didnt even notice the dark color lurking in behind that crack untell i took a pic of it. its in a poorly lit barn at the moment so that makes it even better. Well, back to work.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

I'm no expert but that looks BAD ! it would interesting to hear what the trusted friend has to say about it. Would you drive your family in a car with a broken frame? No one plans to have an accident but they do happen every day. I doubt that boat has any flotaion foam in it and if the hull develops a crack ???? if you go out please have everyone wear a life jacket.

Re: First time posting! Got a cabin cruser but should I be worried?

It looks worse and worse. After diging a little more last night I think everything for the most part needs to come out of the cabin. Not what I was wanting to get into, but i really see no choice at this point.. So i think i will just hang it up for now while we still have good weather left. this looks like another project to add to the winter project colection. haha! Thanks a load for all the replies guys, i will pick up work on it in a month or 2 and post back. Its gonna be a hard lesson learned im afraid. lol.