stratos 91 with a sinking felling

[glenn property of pam]

last few weeks ive been trying to find how water is getting in the boat. read lots of posts and check off every one. today i take the boat to the ramp and leave the straps on and dip the tail and the biege is dry so im all pleased that i have it fixed. pull the boat up then unstrap and drop it in and before i get tied to the dock the biege pump is running. my wife goes fishes off the bank and i spend the next 30 mins trying to work out where its coming from then i hear a faint sound of running water. i find that its in the middle coming from the bottom of the string in to the biege drain area. the water is under pressure as its coming about 1/2" out of a 1/8" hole. so i pull the boat and check for a hull penertration and i can not find one. theres places that are questionable but nothing that looks like it could leak that fast (chipped gel coat etc).
got the boat home and removed a drain to get to the hole properly and found the fiberglass there must have had a void as i made a hole about the size of my finger before it was solid fiberglass. i found that the stringer is mounted 1/2 way on and 1/2 way off a pleat (step in the bottom of the boat) and this has left a small channel that goes from the front of the boat to the back under the stringer. the stringer fells solid so my guess is that water is getting the other side of the stringer and then finding its way into the channel under the stringer and showing at the weakest point which counts out a quick fix. has anyone done this sort of boat because im wondering how the fiberglass over the transom is designed. the transom being straight and the rear being curve (whats between the transom and the fiberglass in this section). judging by the rubber rail this wont be the first time the boat has been rebuilt which could be good or real bad.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

So, is this the boat from the "There's One Born Every Minute" thread? The boat that was "popping wheelies" on the take off?

Your problem may be a factory defect, but I'm thinkin' that a jackleg has done a resto on this boat and now you're paying the price. The boat probably leaked before you got it and the PO put some "goop" in it to stop it from leaking for long enough to sell it... not surprising at all for a used glass boat.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

yep thats me......funny thing is last few times out its been a princess.....i put the 70 on and removed the jack plate and it handles well runs good and the biege only on occasion took on a little water. today the biege stayed on 50/50 in the water so what ever was holding the water back gave way i guess. looks like im going to have to uncap the boat and see how bad it realy is then either fix or sell the parts off it. to be honest i wasnt all that surprissed im sure my boat is a female and this is pay back for my youth.
i know if i fix it then im not putting wood in it and i would like to put in a few mods to the inside but until i get the boat open i wont know whats what.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

update: removed the motor and the gas (thats a pain to deal with so im going to have to find someone that could use 10 gallons or just burn it in my generator to get rid of it) the boat has been split in half before as i can see a cut along the top of the transon where they seperated the parts. floor is a little wet in spots but the foam on one side is soaked. only problem i see at the moment is the rear top was connected with some sort of hard material might be pb at the transom so that might be a pain as the transom is still fairly solid. looks like it was put there then the top installed while it was wet to fill the gap. wife is happy that she knows where to find me for the next month.

 

[glenn property of pam]

how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

i removed the motor then the rub rail and the screws under that. i have removed the screws in the top fiberglass that were in the wood floor and i tryed to split the top fiberglass away from the floor and its not spliting. almost looks like the top was applied then additional resin was used to ramp the floor into the top floor lip and the resin got between the 2 layers and wont pop (tryed hammering a paint scrapper in between and some is coming up but its hard to follow the layers). the wood floor is 80% solid so im finding it hard as theres no give. i dont want to cut the top section if i dont have to (seen on most post pics that the lip was trimmed to with in a few inchs). even considered wetting the floor as the fiberglass is easier to get off the wood then to split the fiberglass layers then just tear out the layer that was over the wood and take that with the top. any ideas?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

OK, glenn property of pam...
Let's back it up a little bit...
First of all, I do recall you had started a thread about restoring a boat, but if you start a new thread about the same boat, while asking a question about how to proceed on that same boat, it can get very confusing for those of us trying to help you out...
So, in the interest of simplicity and brevity...try and keep all posts that pertain to this boat in one thread...

I say this, because the question you are posing, is very difficult to answer correctly without having you post some pictures of what you are working on, which you may have already done somewhere else...

And if you haven't posted pictures, then this would be a good time to do so...

Hope this helps and best regards,
GT1M

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

i see your point i was hoping more for a link to a forum or web site rather than a discusion. i found a link on one post about a stratos but the link didnt work. i was hoping by listing this by the boat type i could find someone who had done this type of boat. i will post all my pics on my first thread.

 

[rickryder]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

If the transom is solid why ya poppin the cap? Pics would help a lot

 

[oops!]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

hi glen......it does not really matter what type of boat you have....

it is the assembly process that is of importance.

im kinda at a loss here...

what are you trying to do.......get the fiberglass off the deck or to separate the cap from the hull?

 

[oops!]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

i just merged the threads.....now it will be easier to keep track of where you are in the build.

oh......and pictures really help with your delema....


but what ever stage you are on......dont worry.....we can and will help you through it.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

thanks for the merge some one years ago or so po told me mounted rear trim tabs. well the rear on a strator doesnt touch the transom on the sides so im sure that water has got in this gap and found a way under or through the transom to a sealed section between 2 stringers. so im popping the cap to get into the rear section and fixing what ever other problems i find or create once im in.
you can also see that they trimmed the rear where the cap meets the transom for some reason
finding about 10% rot so far which isnt helping as that means i have 90% good wood to cut out and fight.

last part im kinda stuck on now is some thing that may be pb that was used to glue cap to transom i guess to take up any space from other posts ive seen them break the glass off the transom and pull it with the cap i wanted a less cave man way if possible

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

picture from inside looking up at the cap joint to transom

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

Re: how do i get the top of a strator 16'2 bass boat 91

3 paint scrapper, 5 pack of chisels, the bar that use to the lock for a tool box a small hammer and medium hammer and a not so medium hammer and there you go one cap broke free......rot is now up to 30% im felling better about uncaping now.
what composite/rot proof material is on the market in sheets?. trying to work out the cost verses wood and glass.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

oh one other question. why would someone chamfer the back edge of a transom breaking the fiberglass seal then cover with a thin piece of alluminum. i can not think of a reason other than to install a hydraulic jack plate or something like that and the lip was in the way. kinda intrested in case theres a reason and it should be rebuilt properly with a chamfer this was not factory and it turns out this boat hasnt been apart before the po must have presumed it was leaking at the cap and applied all sorts of goop to seal it.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

well its uncapped and the middle floor is out and im working backwards to the transom. kinda getting a fell for how it was assembled in the first place. the stringers stop before the transom and this whole area is a mess. its got wet wood termites so its being gased and the wood is being burnt as its removed. looking at nida-core as a replacement for the floors and other flat surfaces would like to replace with something that termites can not distroy on a good note they only live in wet wood so the way to get rid of them is to have no wet wood. so far all damage is with in 24" of the transom so if it wasnt for the termites i would be tempted to cut the last 36" of the interior out and then sister in new stringers and transom from that point (figure i need 2-3 foot to remove the transom and be able to work around it for reinstalling. need to know if poly resin will bond to nida-core or if i have to use epoxy if i use nida. i dont plan on buying the pre-covered as that seems a large price diffrence.

 

[rickryder]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

I've dealt with Nida last year....I gave them a call and they were very helpful answering my questions..... I would go directly to the source

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling




good idea i will call them


pic update showing the transom and the foam in the wings where most of the trouble started

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

Just remember...A Properly fabricated wooden transom, that is installed properly and maintained correctly will last 30+ years and cost less than 1/3rd of the cost of a Nida Bond Transom. Life will have many twists and turns in the next 30 years. If you believe you will have this boat that long then a NidaBond Transom might make sense. If not then I'd recommend saving the money and going back with wood and Poly.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

nida-core is a board it is not recommended for a transom. to be honest i havent found anything to use in the transom yet. pourable would be the best option to get a tighter seal to the outside of the boat but then i have hard edge to consider, the stratos transom is real small so pourable may be the cheapest option on paper compaired to marine ply (unless i use 1/2" and make it 3 ply) and theres a lot of advantages to to pouring on this boat im just not sure about hard edges if its poured directly on the outer skin. i dont expect the boat to last 10 years and to be honest the original wood being over 20 years old is still impressive where it hasnt been drilled allowing water in.

 

[Coho Ghost]

Re: stratos 91 with a sinking felling

Glen,

You want the NIDA pourable transom coring material,not the coring material for laminating. I have done a NIDA pourable transom, and while a bit $$, it is very easy to do. Call their tech support and tell them what you want to do. They are very helpful.

FWIW
Coho Ghost