I didn't want to restore this 1997 Islander this summer

[Fj40fiji]

I haven’t done any real inspection on the wood backing. I’ll figure out how I want to do that. . . The lag bolts had good resistance coming out, held against the ratchet till they were down to 1/2” embedment.
Here is what else I found:

 

[Fj40fiji]

Gonna be some watching and wire brushing to see what’s going on with the stringers themselves, and interestingly the ply wood build up was two layers, 3/4”+1/4”. I’m also pretty sure they locate the engine in. The boat and then lag them down, the lags aren’t even close to vertical.

 

[Fj40fiji]

That’s where the height went

 

[Fj40fiji]

New bases for the engine mounts. Still cleaning the stringers, I might give them an overlay, partly just to get another .090” of height, the pitting isn’t that heavy and doesn’t really demand it.

 

[Fj40fiji]

Mommy. Did you test the wood in the stringers?

Turns out getting the wood out of the stringers is very straightforward and it’s in good condition.
The wet area is where I was cleaning around the engine before I pulled these out.

 

[Fj40fiji]

I just noticed autocorrect changed “acid washing” to “watching” earlier.
Especially on a horizontal surface I like to just rewet it throughout the day with either starbrite aluminum cleaner (phosphoric acid I think) or acetic acid (good old white vinegar) to dissolve as much corrosion as possible.

 

[Fj40fiji]

I don’t think I’ve gotten anything done in a month until today. I got my new engine mounts, replaced the wood build up with HDPE and set it on .090” 5052 covers laminated to the stringers with 5200. It was easy to get the wood in and out of the stringers to insect, they were very good and went back in.
I did layout new holes, now the lag bolts for vertically.

 

[redneck joe]

Time does fly

 

[Fj40fiji]

I think I’ve maxed out how much I can neglect my house and cars and other responsibilities to work on this boat. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to table it for probably the rest of the year. I’m gonna clean out my garage and load all the parts into it this weekend, park it at my buddy’s ranch, put the cover on and hope I can return to it before animals move in or it otherwise deteriorates. I hope this isn’t the chapter of this story where all the previous effort proves to be wasted and I eventually sell a derelict boat for pennies on the invested dollar after all the labor is discounted 100%.

 

[redneck joe]

I think you are close enough that the finish can happen pretty quickly when the time comes. Mothballs help with critters. I know its CA but rope supports under the cover keeps rain from pooling.