Thinking of upgrading to Sea Ray 210BR

[Gino27]

I've been looking at a 1998 210BR Signature with 5.7L Mercruiser and Alpha I outdrive as an upgrade to my Stingray 180LX. Everything looked solid to me, other than two dips in the floor behind the forward/aft seats. I poked around the area a lot and the wood/floor doesn't feel soft at all, plus the dips are symmetrical, so I don't know if they are intentional. Feels like it’s just the space between the stringers having a little sag. I attached pictures outlining the spots in question. Other than these are there any common things to look for with this era of sea ray? Price is reasonable and it’s been stored and maintained by a reputable local shop for a while.
Thanks.

 

[tpenfield]

The common thing is the wood structure and at 24 years old, it is a bit beyond the boat's design life.

So, you should take a deeper look into the structure of the boat to see if there are signs of moisture/rot within the structure. Much of the structure can probably be looked at via the engine compartment and you may get an idea if there are any issues.

If you are not used to evaluating boats, you could get a marine survey.

I believe @Friscoboater did a rebuild of a similar model/similar year boat.

 

[jbcurt00]

@Gino27 Pix didn't load

 

[Lou C]

Carpet over a plywood cored deck is always suspect. After having done one deck replacement I’d never buy another boat built like that. You wouldn’t know for sure without ripping up the carpet.
Unless the boat was used & stored in a dry arid climate even just moisture in the air gets absorbed into the carpet and it never really dries out. Then there’s the holes drilled to mount seats or in some cases the boat builders used staples to staple the deck to the stringers. All of that causes rot. I pulled a bunch of nasty rusted staples out of the deck on our boat. When I did the deck on our boat I threw out all that carpet and had the new deck gel coated in non skid gel coat. 15 years later & it is still solid & we are in a damp coastal area. Just say NO to carpet in wood cored boats!

 

[Gino27]

@Gino27 Pix didn't load

 

[Gino27]

The common thing is the wood structure and at 24 years old, it is a bit beyond the boat's design life.

So, you should take a deeper look into the structure of the boat to see if there are signs of moisture/rot within the structure. Much of the structure can probably be looked at via the engine compartment and you may get an idea if there are any issues.

If you are not used to evaluating boats, you could get a marine survey.

I believe @Friscoboater did a rebuild of a similar model/similar year boat.

I’ve seen Friscoboater’s rebuild and that’s what has me concerned. Big difference to me that when I poked around I felt nothing soft/spongey. I’m gonna look it over a lot closer when the weather warms up next week given it’s still for sale.

 

[Lou C]

Normally that area under the plywood in between the stringers is filled with foam so it would be unusual for the ply to flex like that. Before I filled the cavities in my boat with foam I test fitted the deck panels and you could feel a bit of flex when walking the panels but not much. The hatch over the fuel tank is supported with wood reinforcements but after foaming it is all very solid. I'm wondering if that area didn't get foamed, "production" boats are notoriously individual in construction details. Does the carpet feel/smell damp in that area? Could be that the cover leaked right over those spots?

 

[Gino27]

Normally that area under the plywood in between the stringers is filled with foam so it would be unusual for the ply to flex like that. Before I filled the cavities in my boat with foam I test fitted the deck panels and you could feel a bit of flex when walking the panels but not much. The hatch over the fuel tank is supported with wood reinforcements but after foaming it is all very solid. I'm wondering if that area didn't get foamed, "production" boats are notoriously individual in construction details. Does the carpet feel/smell damp in that area? Could be that the cover leaked right over those spots?

I’d have to take a closer look next time I go to see it. I’ve got a scope camera I can connect to my phone and get a good look under the floor near the gas tank. The carpet felt dry and the rest of the boat was bone dry. It’s been kept either indoors or under two covers. My current boat has a slight bend in the floor where the carpet gets significantly soaked from in and out of water sports. I wonder if this is the same symptom.

 

[tpenfield]

If you reference Frisco's thread on his rebuild, you'll know where the structural pieces (stringers, bulkheads, etc) are located for when you go take another look.

The boat could be fine, but you really need to check, as there is no telling if it is otherwise.

 

[Lou C]

I’d have to take a closer look next time I go to see it. I’ve got a scope camera I can connect to my phone and get a good look under the floor near the gas tank. The carpet felt dry and the rest of the boat was bone dry. It’s been kept either indoors or under two covers. My current boat has a slight bend in the floor where the carpet gets significantly soaked from in and out of water sports. I wonder if this is the same symptom.

Well, 2 covers can be worse than one. Because moisture that gets trapped, never evaporates.
I say, rip the carpet out, inspect the deck, replace if its getting soft, if not, sand, coat with resin and then gelcoat the whole thing in non-skid gelcoat, throw that carpet in the trash heap where it belongs. Carpet kills boats with wood cored decks. It is a cheap way to cover up poor 'glass work. For shame!
I would not do this job again, these pix were taken in 2005/2006.

 

[Gino27]

Well, 2 covers can be worse than one. Because moisture that gets trapped, never evaporates.
I say, rip the carpet out, inspect the deck, replace if its getting soft, if not, sand, coat with resin and then gelcoat the whole thing in non-skid gelcoat, throw that carpet in the trash heap where it belongs. Carpet kills boats with wood cored decks. It is a cheap way to cover up poor 'glass work. For shame!
I would not do this job again, these pix were taken in 2005/2006.

Your work looks beautiful. I’d rather have no boat than a project. My current stingray has nothing wrong with it, other than a lack of space. I’ve always wanted a gel coat floor with snap in carpets/sea deck, but I’m not willing to do that project myself.

 

[Lou C]

well, you can always get an estimate from a shop to do that part of it. I did the construction work and had the 'glass shop finish it off because I knew I could never make it look as good as they could.

 

[Scott06]

Your work looks beautiful. I’d rather have no boat than a project. My current stingray has nothing wrong with it, other than a lack of space. I’ve always wanted a gel coat floor with snap in carpets/sea deck, but I’m not willing to do that project myself.

Ive had two Sea Rays,a ‘91 170, and still have a ‘04. 200 sport, which is similar in size to the 210 you are looking at.
as outlined concern in a boat that age would be integrity of stringers and transom. If it is at a dealer would think they would be willing to drill holes down low in transom and stringers in engine compartment and ski locker, if wood comes out dry its ok plug it with 5200.
floor is probably not rotten by may be bowed from moisture Exposure. My 91 had a soft spot under the rear seat when you come up the swim ladder, suspect you are seeing the same

 

[Scott Danforth]

open the ski locker and stick your head in there

your 1998 still used wood in the stringers, transom and deck core

 

[Lou C]

If your choice is to keep the Stingray that nothing is wrong with vs a 24 year old boat why not keep the Stingray till you can justify moving up to a much newer boat, like less than 10 yrs old?

 

[Gino27]

If your choice is to keep the Stingray that nothing is wrong with vs a 24 year old boat why not keep the Stingray till you can justify moving up to a much newer boat, like less than 10 yrs old?

Both boats are the same vintage, stingray is 22 years old. The Sea Sea has significantly less hours too, with only 291 (elderly couple barely used it until selling in 2010). Plan is to keep the Stingray in the family and enjoy the extra room/power of the Sea Ray. If this floor and/or transom has a real issue with it I have no gripes walking away. There’ll be plenty of boats for sale this summer.

 

[Gino27]

open the ski locker and stick your head in there

your 1998 still used wood in the stringers, transom and deck core

Ski locker was all glassed and gel coated but the little bit of flooring I could see from in there looked perfect. I’m still gonna go back and peek around with a scope camera

 

[Gino27]

Went to look at the boat again today. Appeared that under the carpet is a full gel coat floor excluding a board over the gas tank area. Scope camera couldn’t see any rotten wood, or rather no wood at all. I wonder if Sea Ray fully glassed over their stingers and foam back in 1998?

 

[Lou C]

That does look good from what we can see

 

[tpenfield]

Looks like a fiberglass liner for the storage bay. Floor itself looks like carpeted plywood. Usually if the floor is completely fiberglass it is not carpeted and has a snap-in carpet