Guess boats weight / wet bilge question

[SeanMcl]

I've got a 19 ft. 1974 Gulfstream with an OMC 190 outdrive / Ford 302. It's been in the family since 1984 (I was 14!), came to us with 50 hours on the meter, is bone stock and in great shape. I've lurked here and been reading old threads long enough to know the low regard the electric shift stringers are held in, so any "ugh, run run run!" type replies are unnecessary.

I don't have the manual from Gulfstream with the weight/make/model of the boat, so could someone take a stab at roughly what a 70's 19 ft closed bow (no cabin, just storage) I/O with V8 would weigh? I'm guessing that there is a stamped metal plaque somewhere on the boat with this info listed, but I haven't found it yet. Till then, any rough guesses?

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Guess my boats weight

Re: Guess my boats weight

What do we win if we guess it correctly -- after you go to the truck stop and weight it?

The oldest Gulfstreams I can find on Nada are 1993, and they had 2 open bows then close to your boat's size, one called a fisherman and one called a Bermuda. Both show a net weight of 2400 lbs.

Yours is a little smaller, but with a V8 and possibly some moisture soaked into the wood and hull, I'm guessing 2750.

 

[SeanMcl]

Re: Guess my boats weight

Re: Guess my boats weight

Yours is a little smaller, but with a V8 and possibly some moisture soaked into the wood and hull, I'm guessing 2750.

Thanks Sickwilly. This brings up a semi-generic question: If the bilge fills up with water, does this automatically soak the stringers? And if it does, does it ever really dry out again?

I can remember going out one time, roughly 1992-ish, and the plug didn't get put in. We noticed about the time we couldn't get on plane with a skier. I jumped in the water and put the plug in, turned on the bilge pump and let it run till it wasn't spiting out any more water, and things were fine after that. It seems like when the boat was on the trailer, more water than usual came out when the plug was pulled.

The boat has always been stored indoors, with the plug out and the doghouse pulled out to leave maybe a 6 inch gap around it, but it seems to me that not much air can circulate where the stringers are so once they are wet, that's it.

Should I drill some holes to check for rot? The floor has no soft spots, I tapped all over it with a hammer and it sounded solid everywhere.