Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

[JTRUSH]

I'm 18 years old, and just purchased my first boat. The boat is a 1990 bayliner Capri. When purchased from the owner he explained that the deck in the center of the boat between the two back to back seats was starting to get soft around the edges of the ski locker(i guess thats what you call it). After reading a few forums on deck repair i started to get worried. Yesterday i tried to advise the problem a bit more with poking and jumping on the deck, everything seemed to be solid with no flex except for the area which i explained.
How should i approach this problem? I'm not scared of work, nor is budget really a problem. I just want to get it done the right way.
Thank you,
John.
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3816/p00490.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2505/p00488.jpg

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

If it were me I would remove the seats and the carpet and see just what is going on under there. Hopefully it is just soft deck but as you probably know from your reading, soft deck usually indicates more problems below. I would also check the transom out VERY well and make sure there is no flex in it at all. If when you pull up the deck all of the stringers and foam are in great shape with NO rot you will be okay to re-deck,glass/resin,re carpet and redo seats etc. If however you find the stringers are rotted and the foam is all wet, the transom is probably shot as well and you will have a nice project on your hands for the next year or so. I hate to sound negative but its easy to buy a rotted boat that seems on the surface solid as a rock. I know I have done it once and only once. check it out for you and your passengers safety. I don't know of any method to do a spot repair of a soft deck, if its JUST that area you maybe could set a skill saw at 1/2" and cut down the middle of the stringers on either side and replace just that section. The problem will be finding the stringers and you will be trashing the carpet anyway so you might as well do the whole deck at that point. I'm sure others will come in with suggestions as well, thats just what I would do after seeing what can be going on in a boat that will have others on board that I am responsible for. Good luck hopefully its just the edges of the ski locker getting a bit soft.

 

[JTRUSH]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Thanks boatnut!
Hopefully ill get a chance this weekend to do some more investigating.
As for the transom, it felt rock solid. I shuck the outboard and saw no sort of flex as well as poked around toward the lower where it meets the deck. I guess i am okay on that one. Will try to get some pictures to see what you think.
I think i'm just going to bite the bullet and replace the whole deck.
Thanks again.

(And advice is greatly appreciated!)

 

[Mark42]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Sometimes the deck over the ski locker seems soft when it is really just flexing because of lack of support. The two stringers can be as much as two feet apart in the center, and that leaves 6 or 8 inches of plywood floor hanging over the edge of the stringer un supported. So check to be sure its not just the plywood flexing over the bilge area and around the ski locker hatch and not really a rot condition.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Well put mark, maybe you could stick your head in the ski locker with a flashlight and try to have a look at whats going on. If it is just the ply flexing over the stringer I wouldn't rip up the deck just yet, it sounds as if the transom is good so you may be fine. The boat from what I can see from the outside looks like it was taken care of and hopefully covered.

One other thing to think about is the waterpump in the outboard, do you know when it was last changed? If it has been over 2-3 years I would consider changing it heat is the number one killer of outboards. The parts aren't that expensive (around 50.00) and it isn't that tough of a job. I would also advise a good shop manual for the outboard. One repair you can make yourself and you have more than paid for the manual. Most marine mechanics are 60 - 80 per hour so even little things can add up fast. Also take a look at the spark plugs, new ones arent that much $ and can mean ALL the difference on how well it will run. Keep the old ones in an on board tool box to have just in case you get flooded out on the lake. Keep reading on these forums and you can learn alot fast about all aspects of your new boat, which is nice looking by the way.

 

[JTRUSH]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Thank you very much Mark and Boat Nut. I took a look like you said under the deck, nothing is rotten and the stringers were solid which was a great load off my chest. I guess my next question is now is how to resolve the problem, or how would you do it?
Thanks i am really happy with the general shape its in. (the interior needs a little bit of mommas touch ha!) You should'a seen the look on her face when i came home with it on the back of my truck, that one deff go's down in the books! i must have forgot to mention i was buying a boat lol
I'm not sure about the water pump, i was told the motor was rebuilt two years ago. The spark plugs look brand new though.
Do you know where i can get a hold of the shop manual you were speaking about?

Thank you again for all you're help!!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Shop manuals can be found at your boat dealer, West Marine, iboats.com (cheaper), or ebay (cheapest)

utah and mark gave you good advice...you may not have rot at all, and hopefully you don't. If you do, hopefully it isn't bad. Stringers suck

 

[tintug]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Only from my recent discovery in my own boat,I would look into the stringers and the transom just because of the damage I found in my boat when I got there.I got this boat knowing there was a soft spot in the floor.....the boat is now a gutted hull with what was major water damage to all the wood in it.Be sure to take some samples of the stringers and the transom if you think there may be any water damage in the boat. This is not something that will set you back a million bucks but be sure you know it may be there. Don't mean to make you feel bad but take a look at it now and save a headache later.....
Just my own input....Hope it all works for ya.....

 

[Mark42]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

If its just the deck around the sides of the ski locker, then some vertical braces under the deck should do it. I would get a piece of 3/4" pressure treated plywood and cut a strip about 2" wide and the length of the ski locker plus about 10 inches. This can be epoxied to the under side of the deck (on its edge) about an inch or so back from the opening. A couple of screws from above can hold it until the epoxy cures. Then a few vertical pieces of ply (about 2" wide) can be used as supports from the horizontal piece to the hull. Space them out about a foot or so along the horizontal piece. That should give back some rigidity to the deck, but it will also take up some space in the ski locker.

I think this is a good application for pressure treated wood because ski lockers are often damp, and P/T ply won't need much more than a coat or two of poly resin for it to last many years.

I am sure there are other methods, but this would be easy, inexpensive and will most likely last longer than you will own the boat. You could also use dimensional lumber like 2x3 or 2x2 to save the cost of having to buy an entire sheet of ply.

 

[JTRUSH]

Re: Advice on soft spot. (Bayliner Capri)

Mark that sounds like an great fix, and hopefully just a day or so job. It looked like the plywood or what ever is under the fiberglass had just fallen down in that section. I think i'm going to try and tackle the project this week if old Bestbuy is soft on my hours. Ill get some pictures along the way.

Thanks