Re: Hey, Northern Eclipse ---
Dkwalker I'm not sure about the orginal construction, this was the second time over the years my cousin has rebuild this boat, first time he did stringer floor and transom and all he can remember about the job then was everything was mushey , but when he rebuilt it he used 3/4 inch douglas fir plywood for all the construction, which he tripled up for stringers and transom,he did tell me that when new stringers go in you must set them to the hull, with a bedding layer first, such as a epoxy putty, and not to set the stringers bare wood on the bare hull or stress cracks will appear. once stringers were glued in he glassed them to the hull, when he cut the floor out he was able to leave a couple of inches all the way around the hull, used what he could of the old floor for a template, fitted in the new floor it took 4 seperated pieces to complete the floor, he secured to floor to the stringers using a building adhesive then screwed down with stainless screws, then glassed floor over to the original bit of floor left. Yes he put new foam in. this Searay has now been rebuild for a total of 3 times, The first time was when the boat was first new, it had been involved in some sort of accident and was sunk, My Uncle got the boat from the insurance company, they had already repaired it, so no one is sure of the original construction, and the only reason why the boat has been done twice in 20 some odd years since is just from neglect, I just saw it a couple of weeks ago I must say it looks new again and it is actually being stored indoors, since my cousin told my uncle that this is the last time he restores the boat, if it is going to be left out in the elements, did I mention that my cuz builds custom choppers from frame to paint for a living he knows what he is doing. If you need more answers to questions I would need to get hold of my cuz for answers, he did say that if you tackle this chore, only cut out what looks bad, it will help keeps cost down, thats the cool thing about F/G once new glass and wood is mated to good old glass and wood it becomes one again. So when cutting floor out start at the rot and work outwards in small increments, until you hit good solid structure, then from there you should be able to determine if you need to cut any further of start putting new stuff back in. I rebuild a couple I small boats in the past and it really it not that difficult, just messy. Good luck and keep us tuned as to how you make out.
