seeking advice for soft deck on Wellcraft center console

[jdamron]

I have a 1988 Wellcraft v20 fisherman center console. About a foot all around all sides of the center console the deck is soft. I have slid the console to the front of the boat and removed the gas tank access cover as seen in the attached pictures. The vertical walls all around the gas tank seem to be solid. And the deck near the sides of the boat seem to be solid. The deck directly over the walls of the tank and near the edges of the boat is solid. But if you step halfway between the tank and the boat walls you easily feel the give of the soft floor. The deck of the bow and the aft of the boat seem just fine. I can only feel softness around the center console.

I am looking for advice and suggestions on the techniques, costs, and effort involved in solidifying the soft deck. Due to the age and overall value of the boat I am not sure this is worth a complete restoration. To do it "right" may involve cutting out all the old deck and replacing with sealed wood and fiberglass over that. But I am not sure if this boat is worth that much work. And I do not think injecting it with some sort of epoxy will work because I think the area is too large and the floor too soft for that to be adequate. I am wondering if I can just screw and/or glue some StarBoard or marine grade plywood over top of the existing deck. Also, the gas tank cover sits on a lip of the existing decking and I am thinking this would be challenging to duplicate for a novice. Should I just bite the bullet and rip out all the old soft deck? Or can I get a few seasons by just trying to shore up the existing floor?View attachment 186085View attachment 186086View attachment 186087View attachment 186088

Thanks in advance.

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: seeking advice for soft deck on Wellcraft center console

I'll take a stab. I'm learning myself, and knee deep in my own restoration that was not by choice. The general consensus around here is not to patch a boat. Just too much at risk. When a boat is that noticeably rotted, there is usually more rotted than just the deck. Meaning the boats structural integrity is compromised. While patching a deck gives you a place to stand, it does not replace the strength the original deck gave, and doesn't help the weakened stringers or transom you may have. I have seen pictures of busted transoms and cracked hulls on here. That is a danger that can come from a patched boat.

You can repair it, and the great guys here can help, or you can part it oit and find another.