14ft fishing boat project. In over my head?

[sportwin4thewin]

Here's the deal, I got this 14ft fibreglass boat that will likely need to be mostly gutted and definitely transom done.

Question is where to start, the boat is very heavy and I suspect is holding a good amount of water logged material underneath floor. I found a particularly large hole in the drain well after getting it home.

I think I will start by pulling rear floor and back seats to assess the damage, have a look at stringer integrity, fibreglass and work my way up from there.

On the transom...is it recommended to be re worked from inside of boat, or the outside? Thanks, this'll be my first time working with fibreglass. Fact is I am stuck with it now and would at least like to attempt a rebuild. I will be posting some update pics after I get started

 

[oldrem]

I think you may want to start with removing that aluminum edging. If that's a model with foam sandwiched in the side walls it's going to be an even bigger task and may not be worth doing at all. Sound like you already have soaked foam which will mean any wood below deck such as stringers will be rotted.

 

[sportwin4thewin]

I think you may want to start with removing that aluminum edging. If that's a model with foam sandwiched in the side walls it's going to be an even bigger task and may not be worth doing at all. Sound like you already have soaked foam which will mean any wood below deck such as stringers will be rotted.

I would assume the worst in thinking that if there is foam, it is also an essential part of the boats structure and would need to somehow be removed and replaced.

 

[Behemoth]

If you see foam and it is the least bit damp just stop and consider a new project. The cost to fix in the end will be more than the amount to get a comparable aluminum hull