Deck Soft Spots

[LuvBoating]

Have a 1992 20' V-8 Celebrity 200 Cuddy Cabin. We have three soft spots on our deck. One small one by the gunwale, a small one at the edge of our "couch" type seat (rear of boat) in front of the engine and a larger one under the middle of that seat over the gas tank. When the weather gets better here, wife and I plan on taking the boat to a fiberglass person for an estimate. He redone our floor in our cuddy cabin and it was done good.

What I'm wondering is, if the cost is too expensive for us, and we decide not to have the work done right now, could we still take the boat out on the water? The deck looks safe, just soft. No hole or anything, just soft. Don't know if the stringers will have to be replaced or not, but know that the cost will definitely go up with that. I absolutely can't do the work.......that's for sure.

BTW, had a new long block assembly installed a year and half ago and the only left to do now, that we know of, is the deck. New manifolds and risers, dual-battery hookup w/new batteries and fluid change in outdrive done. Have had the boat since April of 2009 and have had to put some money into it, but that is fine. Want to keep it and wife and I feel that, after repairing the deck, the boat would be worth keeping.

What do you think?

 

[garbageguy]

I'm sure others will chime in, but they tend to rot from the bottom up - soft floor not a good sign. How do the engine mounts and transom look, feel, sound?

 

[LuvBoating]

New mounts put in when engine put back in.
Transom looks fine.
Wonder how many boaters use there boat, even if it has Somme soft spots on the deck. I wouldn't think it would be dangerous, unless the entire deck is bad.

I'm sure others will chime in, but they tend to rot from the bottom up - soft floor not a good sign. How do the engine mounts and transom look, feel, sound?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

This is a hard question to answer. It will require thorough inspection and core sampling of the transom and stringers. Boats tend to rot from the bottom up and from the stern forward. If you can?t do the inspection yourself, hire a marine surveyor with good reputation. He will tell you if the vessel is seaworthy.

 

[jbcurt00]

The motor mounts were replaced 18mo ago?

Why?

If they were soft/rotten then and you have multiple soft spots now, the odds are not in your favor.

IMO, there is more work to be done then you think, possibly much more.

 

[LuvBoating]

The motor mounts were replaced 18mo ago?

Why?

If they were soft/rotten then and you have multiple soft spots now, the odds are not in your favor.

IMO, there is more work to be done then you think, possibly much more.

Mechanic showed me the mounts, after he took the engine out, and they did show age. He recommended new ones, so we had him replace them. The deck that the engine sits on/mounts go on are fine, as well as the bilge areas. The entire engine compartment floor looks fine.

The soft area around the gas tank, under the rear couch seat, has been soft for quite a while. Don't know exactly how long, because the only time we've see it is when I've had to unbolt the rear couch seat and tilt it forward to do something with the batteries. I can't get my body into that small area in front of the batteries/next to the engine, without moving that rear seat.

We have one new cover and two older covers on our boat right now, including a deck cover. So, I doubt if any more moisture has gotten under the deck. When we had our cuddy cabin floor replaced, it cost us $450. It was a small triangle deck. That floor is solid as steel now.

 

[jbcurt00]

So the mounts that were replaced were the motors attachment brackets not the wooden motor mounts that are part of the boat.

Perhaps you are right, but history of soft spots posted in the Resto forum indicates otherwise.

Remotely, via the Internet, w no pix, no way to be wholly accurate.

You asked for opinions. 3 for 3 suggest theres more to this then it appears.

 

[Mr.Stickney]

You sound a lot like me when I bought and scrapped my first boat. You can talk yourself into anything if you try hard enough.

IMHO With safety being the primary concern, you need to assume that everything is rotten and be proven wrong. Its very easy to convince yourself that there is nothing wrong if you want nothing to be wrong, until its too late. You will need to core sample your transom and stringers. I believe the engine mounts that you are referring to being replaced are the actual steel mounts that come off of the motor, where as the community here is referring to the wood "pads" that the engine mounts sit on.

Although I in no way condone going out on a boat with multiple soft spots in the floor....

Drill small shallow holes into the transom, stringers, bulkheads, and WOODEN engine mounts (where the steel mounts attach) if you get dry light coloured saw dust, GREAT! get a tube of thickened epoxy from your local boat store fill the holes and you are on your way. If you get dark wet (damp counts as wet) sawdust, then you will know for sure. Nevertheless.... Water is penetrating... somewhere.

 

[LuvBoating]

Yes, they were the steel mounts that were replaced, not the ones that attach to the deck.
When we first got this boat, the only cover we had for it was the Deck Cover. And, even though we spayed it with water repellent, I could feel some moisture on the bottom of it after a rain. We didn't get a full cover for it until after the first summer we had it. And, that cover was a cheaper one from Walmart.
I have pushed down with my foot on numerous areas of the deck and the only soft spots I found were the three in this Thread.
For a "quick fix", I've read about drilling small holes 1/4" down into the deck and using a syringe w/CPES or some other penetrating epoxy to fill the drilled holes around the soft spots. I even read about using Gorilla Glue. I could actually do this myself if the repair cost was too high for us at the time.
I know it's always better to fully repair something, but.....(finances).

 

[jbcurt00]

It is your boat to 'fix' as you see fit, but no, those are not fixes using epoxy, cpes or gorilla glue.

Once rot starts in a deck (or sole, either rather then floor) it is likely to spread

I again refer you to the bulk of the rebuilds in the resto forum

IMO, these soft spots are likely the result of the root cause of your cuddy's deck needing to be replaced