A complete rebuild of a 25' 6" Dusky. This thread will cover almost all aspects of a fiberglass boat rebuild.
A job well done!
So I purchased my 1983 25'6 about eight years ago and it was on blocks. The boat was white with layers and layers of blue bottom paint. It also had a double station fold down tower on the boat. The man that I purchased the boat from said that it came from the keys area were it was a charter boat for years. After purchasing the boat I have under taken several projects to restore the boat a little at a time. The first project was to take the tower off and replace it with a new fabricated T-Top. After that I was not happy with the marks that the tower left on the top of the cap so I decided to paint the cap. I also elected to to take the bow rails off because it gave the boat a cleaner look. While painting the cap I decided that i did not like the front cabin because it was never used so I removed it. While I was down their i suspected that I might have some rot in the rear stringers of the boat. But after being beat up by the heat for several weeks in the middle of summer I did not look any further. After I cut the cabin out I glassed a new section of floor up front all the way up to the anchor locker were it was tied in to. It turned out great and it has plenty of room up front for fishing. I did place a huge cooler long ways like a cophin box in front of the seat. The next project was to remove the bottom paint. I paid to have the boat sandblasted because I couldn't find anyone close to soda blast. After a week on lifts I faired the bottom and sprayed it with white gel cote it turned out great. After that I sanded the sides of the boat and added several coats of Alcraft 2000 fighting lady yellow. It turned out beautiful.
I finally noticed recently that I was feeling more vibration from the hull. So I decided to remove the floor on the boat. I found total devastation down there and the scary part was that the was still rock solid. Thats why it has gone this long with out removing it. My stringers are completely rotted out on the port side and broken into pieces. The fuel tank is sitting on the hull bottom and the starboard side is rotted it just has not broken through the glass yet. I tried to post pictures but I couldn't figure it out tonight. I am going to totally rebuild the stringers and the floor from the ground up. I have worked with glass before on project boats but never glassed stringers so if anyone has any ideas i'm up for them. Hopefully I will be traveling to Dusky shortley to purchase a new set of wood stringers to be glassed in. I will use 1.5 oz mat and 24oz roven for the job. Hopefully I can get the pictures to work so you all can see what I am talking about.
So after cutting up the deck this is what I found. The left stringer was a hollow core of fiberglass that was ripped in several places. The right stringer was not broken but the wood was rotted out what was left of it. The side of the deck has no supports or chase tub for wires and fuel lines. I spent the afternoon taking the old foam out of the boat. To my suprise the foam was not wet .
After seeing the holes cut through the stringers that were not sealed it is pretty clear why my stringers disenigrated.
After removing the foam I decided that it was time to remove the fuel tank. I was hoping that it was in good condition so it would not have to be replaced. The top of the tank looked dirty but structurally sound. After removing the layer of glass that held it in place the tank was siphoned of the remaining fifty gallons of good fuel and removed.
A job well done!
So I purchased my 1983 25'6 about eight years ago and it was on blocks. The boat was white with layers and layers of blue bottom paint. It also had a double station fold down tower on the boat. The man that I purchased the boat from said that it came from the keys area were it was a charter boat for years. After purchasing the boat I have under taken several projects to restore the boat a little at a time. The first project was to take the tower off and replace it with a new fabricated T-Top. After that I was not happy with the marks that the tower left on the top of the cap so I decided to paint the cap. I also elected to to take the bow rails off because it gave the boat a cleaner look. While painting the cap I decided that i did not like the front cabin because it was never used so I removed it. While I was down their i suspected that I might have some rot in the rear stringers of the boat. But after being beat up by the heat for several weeks in the middle of summer I did not look any further. After I cut the cabin out I glassed a new section of floor up front all the way up to the anchor locker were it was tied in to. It turned out great and it has plenty of room up front for fishing. I did place a huge cooler long ways like a cophin box in front of the seat. The next project was to remove the bottom paint. I paid to have the boat sandblasted because I couldn't find anyone close to soda blast. After a week on lifts I faired the bottom and sprayed it with white gel cote it turned out great. After that I sanded the sides of the boat and added several coats of Alcraft 2000 fighting lady yellow. It turned out beautiful.
I finally noticed recently that I was feeling more vibration from the hull. So I decided to remove the floor on the boat. I found total devastation down there and the scary part was that the was still rock solid. Thats why it has gone this long with out removing it. My stringers are completely rotted out on the port side and broken into pieces. The fuel tank is sitting on the hull bottom and the starboard side is rotted it just has not broken through the glass yet. I tried to post pictures but I couldn't figure it out tonight. I am going to totally rebuild the stringers and the floor from the ground up. I have worked with glass before on project boats but never glassed stringers so if anyone has any ideas i'm up for them. Hopefully I will be traveling to Dusky shortley to purchase a new set of wood stringers to be glassed in. I will use 1.5 oz mat and 24oz roven for the job. Hopefully I can get the pictures to work so you all can see what I am talking about.
![DSC00401-1.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00401-1.jpg)
![DSC00402-1.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00402-1.jpg)
So after cutting up the deck this is what I found. The left stringer was a hollow core of fiberglass that was ripped in several places. The right stringer was not broken but the wood was rotted out what was left of it. The side of the deck has no supports or chase tub for wires and fuel lines. I spent the afternoon taking the old foam out of the boat. To my suprise the foam was not wet .
![DSC00404-2.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00404-2.jpg)
![DSC00400.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00400.jpg)
After seeing the holes cut through the stringers that were not sealed it is pretty clear why my stringers disenigrated.
After removing the foam I decided that it was time to remove the fuel tank. I was hoping that it was in good condition so it would not have to be replaced. The top of the tank looked dirty but structurally sound. After removing the layer of glass that held it in place the tank was siphoned of the remaining fifty gallons of good fuel and removed.
![DSC00406.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00406.jpg)
![DSC00405-1.jpg](http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/seagenie1/DSC00405-1.jpg)
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