My HouseBoat Is Collapsing Under Me - Need Help Bad

[ltgibson]

I have a 1973 Gibson 36' houseboat and I was removing the rear wall and window before the engine deck ( to close in and make another room.
Well, the stringers are all rotted and they came out of V formation across the 10' section of the beam. Now they are flat...and going inward upside down V from the weight of the roof pushing the walls down and it's in the water so buckling.
it appears that if I lay 4X4 across the stringers and secure the 4X to the wall I can keep the stringers from bowing inward....they are so rotten that the other methods like once ting epoxy or running bolts won't work...a beam is going to be the quick and dirty way to go. I'm a liveaboard and boat never leaves the slip so I just need it to float.

My concern and question here is....is it OK for the bottom to now be flat when it was initially slightly V and if I reinforce the stringers flat will be OK? The front few stringers are really short and still V.
I can imagine a tupperware tub being OK bulged or flat....but fiberglass....how's that going to play out?

A guy that runs a boat salvage yard says should be OK being flat just reinforce the stringers. Others are saying no fiberglass isn't supposed to move much but I know on rvs the must flex alot.

Also to be considered is that I'm only going to keep downward force on them to keep them from buckling....so that means that if theres wind or wake they can still move downward and flex back to hit the 4X...

I know most are thinking...fix it correct but in this case just imagine your poor and just need to float and need to come up with the best and least complicated solution....

 

[ltgibson]

V bottom is now flat bottom

On my 70s Gibson 36 the stringers rotted and when I took the floor out the stringers slowly rose up and are now straight! Is this going to be ok if I brace them like this? It never moves from the slip.
I'm just wondering how much buoyancy the glass must have to have been able to do this. There was alot of stress noise initially but it's settled now.

 

[Scott Danforth]

NO.....

my guess is that you did not make a cradle

hope to christ your not trying to re-do the structure with the boat in the water

 

[gm280]

Post some pictures. I get the feeling something is not quite right with this one...

 

[JASinIL2006]

NO.....

my guess is that you did not make a cradle

hope to christ your not trying to re-do the structure with the boat in the water

Actually, I think that is exactly the case... here is his other thread where he explains: https://forums.iboats.com/forum/boa...700102-stringers-went-straight-need-expertise

Itgibson, you'll do better if you keep all these restoration questions together under one thread. Some other forums ask users to start new threads for every question, but here it helps everyone understand the scope of your project if you keep it all together.

 

[poconojoe]

Yeah, he's saying the buoyancy of the glass caused this to happen. Sounds like its being worked on while still in the water! Hope not...
Maybe it's just the way he worded it.
Can't wait of the pictures...

 

[poconojoe]

OP, Whoa! I read your other post. I'm wishing you luck. You have a real dilemma there.
Your intentions were good. But while attempting to make some cosmetic improvements, you unintentionally opened up a can of worms.
Hoping you can reinforce everything before it all collapses inward.

 

[ltgibson]

Well I've got straps under it and reinforcing it as a flat bottom. I'll remove the motors and looks like I'll be good.
Just wondering if anyone has seen this happen. Aftwrall the boats name is Live And Learn and I got it dirt cheap....it'll come out ok with hard work..

 

[Scott Danforth]

STOP

before you do any more work - pull the boat and get the boat on the hard

you will need to make a cradle and properly support the hull while you re-build the structure

the rotten stringers need to be replaced. think of the floor, stringers and bulkhead as your spin, ribs, femurs and other bones. without them you would be a pile of goo that soon dies from the weight of your own organs collapsing on themselves.

your boat is collapsing under its own weight because there is no structure left.

the rotten floor that was above, is what was holding your hull together in somewhat of a shape

you got the boat dirt cheap because it would cost too much for the prior owner to scrap it. now it is your problem

your hull is now structurally compromised. and yes, with more hard work than anyone should need to put in, as well as a large pile of cash, you can potentially save the boat

however stop working on it until the boat is out on the hard and properly braced up. continuing as you are, and your next of kin will be having a funeral for you. the fact that your hull is now inverted means your not to far from having the boat sink.

 

[racerone]

Any video for u-tube ??--------Just don't sleep onboard in deep and cold water !!

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have a 1973 Gibson 36' houseboat and I was removing the rear wall and window before the engine deck ( to close in and make another room.
Well, the stringers are all rotted and they came out of V formation across the 10' section of the beam. Now they are flat...and going inward upside down V from the weight of the roof pushing the walls down and it's in the water so buckling.
it appears that if I lay 4X4 across the stringers and secure the 4X to the wall I can keep the stringers from bowing inward....they are so rotten that the other methods like once ting epoxy or running bolts won't work...a beam is going to be the quick and dirty way to go. I'm a liveaboard and boat never leaves the slip so I just need it to float.

My concern and question here is....is it OK for the bottom to now be flat when it was initially slightly V and if I reinforce the stringers flat will be OK? The front few stringers are really short and still V.
I can imagine a tupperware tub being OK bulged or flat....but fiberglass....how's that going to play out?

A guy that runs a boat salvage yard says should be OK being flat just reinforce the stringers. Others are saying no fiberglass isn't supposed to move much but I know on rvs the must flex alot.

Also to be considered is that I'm only going to keep downward force on them to keep them from buckling....so that means that if theres wind or wake they can still move downward and flex back to hit the 4X...

I know most are thinking...fix it correct but in this case just imagine your poor and just need to float and need to come up with the best and least complicated solution....

No, its not OK.

See your other thread

pull the boat, fix it correctly. its not worth your life

 

[tpenfield]

I'm on board for this one. Pictures would definitely help us understand what is going on.

Maybe the Mods can merge the 2 threads

 

[GA_Boater]

Merged the newer thread with the original thread and re-titled the thread. OP - Please don't start more than one thread on the same subject. Thanks.

Get that thing out of the water before the hull implodes. RVs don't have tons of water pressing on the sides and trying to fill the hull! The boat is living on borrowed time after removing the only thing holding it together - The deck.

Better make alternate living arrangements or sleep on an air mattress.

 

[GA_Boater]

Well I tried to re-title. :facepalm:

 

[ltgibson]

OK thanks for the words of death and destruction rather than encouragement.....so I decided to go ahead and put safety first and and do as correct as possible.

I went ahead and made some new stringers and I don't have a trailer or truck or cradle so I repositioned my straps around the walkway and got a couple more and we lifted the boat up and let the bottom reposition. I made incisions in the stringers and vacuumed out all the wood pudding and put the new stringers and lowered it down to correct position and put glass back on the incisions. Might have been a little more precise with a cradle for stability but did pretty good with the crane and dock roof support. I'm sure glad it's over, it's been a long day!
Nothing sank and no one died....you guys probably saved my life....thanks....

 

[chevymaher]

OK thanks for the words of death and destruction rather than encouragement.....

Hey what are friends for.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the boat still has to come out onto the hard. when the bottom flexed, it cracked the hull. it may not be leaking now, however it will be leaking.

the cradle is required to hold the boat shape as you spend days grinding the old fiberglass to properly tab in the new stringers.

 

[gm280]

I would really like to see pictures of what everybody is talking about. I clicked on the link, but it took me directly to the same post here. Pictures?

 

[Scott Danforth]

GM,

OP took one of these https://www.google.com/search?q=197...KHZ2UDQgQ9QEwAHoECAUQBA#imgrc=-86NC2m5BvcYiM:

and started removing the deck and stringers with the boat in the water

then the V-hull collapsed and the keel raised upward to an inverted V

 

[Mad Props]

GM,

OP took one of these

and started removing the deck and stringers with the boat in the water

then the V-hull collapsed and the keel raised upward to an inverted V

Something tells me that if he did this in a day, as in the way he makes it sound... Theres no way it was done correctly... There shoulda been many days worth of work grinding/fitting/bedding/tabbing stringers and a deck... Plus as was alluded to, theres no way his hull isn't cracked in a bunch of places.