Need your opinion on boat floor

[Dave1027]

I got an old '88 SeaRay bowrider that needs new carpet. I removed the old carpet and now I'm wondering which way to go with this floor. It looks like SeaRay did a crappy job laying in the fiberglass over the wood in one spot. Most of the floor is fine. That's the first pic. The second pic shows the problem area between the floor storage hatch and the fuel tank access. SEARAY DIDN'T LAY ANY FIBERGLASS CLOTH THERE. It's only resin which after almost 40 years has cracked up exposing bare wood..

Which way should I go with this? Any advice? Not sure I really need to replace the wood. It's an old boat (and so am I)! Any ideas for a quick and dirty fix before I lay down the new carpet? Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott Danforth]

You have a nearly 40 year old SeaRay. Your stringer and transom were most likely rotten years ago

Do some test drills in the stringers, transom and flotation foam before worrying about carpet

 

[Dave1027]

Hi Scott. I hear ya! I looked at the stringers. They can be seen from inside the floor storage locker. They look fine as they are thoroughly incased in fiberglass. Transom is also in fiberglass and gelcoat and is solid. No cracks or anything that I can see. Believe it or not, this old gal is very seaworthy. I'll do some test drills to confirm.

I might need some work on the floatation foam. I had a piece of it come loose. But the piece the looks perfectly fine. Like brand new. It likely only needs to be reglued in.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, I had an '88 SeaRay Sorrento 19'bowrider. The deck was plywood with polyester resin and chopped glass sprayed with a chop gun. Some areas of the deck were fine, and others had only resin, w/o chopped glass, and were rotting in 2010 or earlier.

Check the floor of the ski well. Mine delaminated there, with the glass humping up. Also, the sides and top edge of the ski well plywood rotted.

SeaRay had originally used a piece of scribed plywood on edge (think keel), that was stapled to the underside of the ski well floor, which supported the center of the hull. The staples rusted away and the plywood keel fell over and the hull collapsed when I jacked it up for bottom paint.

I removed the skiwell floor, replaced the rotted plywood keel with dry dimensional PT lumber, replaced the ski well floor and sides with new plywood, as well as the frame that held the skiwell hatch, and glassed everything. I also did a spot repair on the deck, where the seats bolted it, plus glass and cloth where there was no chop.

On a related note, one day the hull cracked, and she started taking on water. The bay was not particularly rough that day, but it was enough to crack a strake, and water bubbled up into the ski well. I think it was caused by an area that was not foamed, leading to a weak spot in the hull. I repaired that from the inside with a new stringer across the repaired crack and new foam.

 

[airshot]

Hi Scott. I hear ya! I looked at the stringers. They can be seen from inside the floor storage locker. They look fine as they are thoroughly incased in fiberglass. Transom is also in fiberglass and gelcoat and is solid. No cracks or anything that I can see. Believe it or not, this old gal is very seaworthy. I'll do some test drills to confirm.

I might need some work on the floatation foam. I had a piece of it come loose. But the piece the looks perfectly fine. Like brand new. It likely only needs to be reglued in.

They " were" thoroughly encased in fiberglass.....fiberglass is not water proof, only the gel coat is, this is why drilling test holes is needed to test for wet wood. Start drilling as close to the bottom as possible, if dry wood chips come out, then seal that hole and try another. In my 60 plus years of boating, I have never saw a 40 yr old fiberglass boat that did not have wood rot in the skeleton. Not trying to be mean here, but, we want you safe along with family and friends. Your insurance company may require a thorough inspection of the hull before covering your boat.

 

[Chris1956]

To be fair, my '88 SeaRay had a layer of fiberglass over the stringers and foam that was under the deck. The bolts that held the seats to the deck were set in redwood or cedar blocks under the deck. That part and the stringers below were not rotted. Of course this was a long time ago. The OP may have more issues than I did.

I assumed my boat was made on a Friday, and they were too lazy to get more chop for the chop gun and rushed thru the construction. It was a guess.