reelfishin
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
- Messages
- 3,050
I have two Starcraft built trihulls, one of which I've owned for quite some time.
It's a 1977 Capri 17 that has the concern. First off, this boat has always had noticeable seems in the floor beneath the carpet. It carpet was about due and after taking up the old carpet I can see that the floor is made up a many 22" wide strips of plywood run side to side across the boat. The entire floor is completely covered in a thin layer of glass and resin. The concern is that each section of floor is held together with a number of what appears to be galvanized 'H' clips that hold the edges of the panels level with one another. Several of those clips have broken and the seams are now loose. I removed the rear tank, battery boxes and slid up under the splashwell to get a better look at things below and was surprised to see that the floor does not sit on the stringers at all, it's suspended on several cross braces which do not line up with the seams in the plywood. The supports and stringers are all solid from what I can see or reach and the bilge is bone dry. So its not a case of rot or something missing, just a strange way of constructing a boat in my opinion.
Another thing I couldn't help noticing is that there is no inner transom skin at all, just bare wood, which doesn't go all the way to the bottom. It's constructed much like the transom of their aluminum boats. My transom wood is solid and dry, but if the transom wood needed to be replaced, it could be done without any glass work with the cap removed.
Not ever having a problem with this boat, I've never really dug into the way it's built. For what ever reason, it seems to have held up well. Other than the interior being removed for fishing several years ago, it's all original.
The reason I really wanted a better look at the transom anyhow was that I just picked up a good running used motor which is closer to this boats maximum rating. It's lived most of it's life with a 50hp Merc, then for a few years with a 70hp Evinrude, now it's getting a 90hp Evinrude. The hull is rated for up to 120hp, so it's within it's hp range and should solve some of the power issues. (Besides, I need the 70hp for my other boat).
I've been debating whether to just take up the last two floor panels and add two cross members to support the floor at the seams, or to redo the whole mess and put the floor down at the stringer level. Doing so would make the floor two levels though, the rear floor looks to have been made this way to keep it level and flat all the way back. There are no bumps or curves due to the trihull shape.
I also noticed that the lower hull isn't filled with the normal pour in foam, the top cap is, but the bilge area has preformed foam blocks or strips down low. Its urethane or plastic type of foam, not the dry, hard foam thats in most boats. It's the same stuff that they used in my aluminum '63. Kind of like the foam they make those float noodles from. The boat has never been apart, I got it from a guy who I've known for year and he bought it new. I remember as a kid when he bought it, it spend most of it's life in a garage.
I am wondering if the fact that they didn't seal the transom wood in is why it's lasted so well? The stringers run to the back then there are two large gussets that reach up to the wood transom, they are all glass with some sort of honeycomb form inside visible through the resin.
I am over 275 lbs myself and the floor has always felt solid, except at that one seam, but not like soft plywood, just like a loose board. I don't like the idea that the floor panels aren't joined over the cross braces and find it odd that the cross braces are so few. I can only see three looking forward with my head hanging down from the rear near the bilge pump. The bilge area is also pretty deep at the rear, I was also thinking of adding a storage compartment back there as well or maybe putting the tank under the floor back there? There's more than enough room and I will most likely replace the original steel tank either way just as a precaution. I've seen other boats like this with floor storage boxes, and I even have a few that I've removed from other boat that I could install as well. I never really like the fuel tank weight being all the way at the rear either. The tank, and both batteries are all on the right side, with nothing but a fire extinguisher on the left side below the splash well seats.
How many boats out there use this type of construction? I've owned and worked on many over the last few years and this is the first glass boat that's had an open inner transom. It looks like the upper cap gives most of the structure to the transom, the wood rises up into the cap about 8" above the lower hull edge. I think what saved it all those years is that it was never drilled for a motor, the motor was always hung with clamps and a safety chain, the new motor will mount with four bolts. The original owner also made a polished stainless rear plate for the hull which was etched with a sandblaster and kept polished for looks. It was only held on with some rtv silicone, but it gave an extra layer of protection to rear of the boat. It certainly kept the motor from eating into the gel coat. The rear panel he made is rolled over the top edge and down to the splashwell pan. It looks great but added some weight, with the motor off, I was able to remove the stainless panel and re-polish the rear of the boat to like new. I was told that that panel might cause some corrosion since in saltwater? I will most likely leave it off either way, it's no longer really clean looking and is only a piece of 22 gauge sheet metal. the original owner was a welder who did commercial kitchens, so the boat was loaded with custom stainless trim he made. I removed about 300lbs of useless stainless trim from the interior. He made a custom dash overlay, glove box lid cover panel, dash top, and four heavy stainless caps on the forward and rear gunwales. It looked neat but was heavy. It would have been better if it were aluminum. The dash pieces were light, but the gunwale caps were pretty thick. My biggest concern with those was that they were slippery as well as heavy. I plan to make wood caps or step plates and leave it at that. I plan to use this for fishing, no show. Just two seats and lots of rod holders.
I will cut a 3/8" sheet of aluminum to make a mounting plate for the new motor, install a set of Monel bolts and a stainless inner support to protect the wood.
I think something other than just big washers would be better for the inner heads of the motor mounting bolts especially since it's just going through bare wood.
It's a 1977 Capri 17 that has the concern. First off, this boat has always had noticeable seems in the floor beneath the carpet. It carpet was about due and after taking up the old carpet I can see that the floor is made up a many 22" wide strips of plywood run side to side across the boat. The entire floor is completely covered in a thin layer of glass and resin. The concern is that each section of floor is held together with a number of what appears to be galvanized 'H' clips that hold the edges of the panels level with one another. Several of those clips have broken and the seams are now loose. I removed the rear tank, battery boxes and slid up under the splashwell to get a better look at things below and was surprised to see that the floor does not sit on the stringers at all, it's suspended on several cross braces which do not line up with the seams in the plywood. The supports and stringers are all solid from what I can see or reach and the bilge is bone dry. So its not a case of rot or something missing, just a strange way of constructing a boat in my opinion.
Another thing I couldn't help noticing is that there is no inner transom skin at all, just bare wood, which doesn't go all the way to the bottom. It's constructed much like the transom of their aluminum boats. My transom wood is solid and dry, but if the transom wood needed to be replaced, it could be done without any glass work with the cap removed.
Not ever having a problem with this boat, I've never really dug into the way it's built. For what ever reason, it seems to have held up well. Other than the interior being removed for fishing several years ago, it's all original.
The reason I really wanted a better look at the transom anyhow was that I just picked up a good running used motor which is closer to this boats maximum rating. It's lived most of it's life with a 50hp Merc, then for a few years with a 70hp Evinrude, now it's getting a 90hp Evinrude. The hull is rated for up to 120hp, so it's within it's hp range and should solve some of the power issues. (Besides, I need the 70hp for my other boat).
I've been debating whether to just take up the last two floor panels and add two cross members to support the floor at the seams, or to redo the whole mess and put the floor down at the stringer level. Doing so would make the floor two levels though, the rear floor looks to have been made this way to keep it level and flat all the way back. There are no bumps or curves due to the trihull shape.
I also noticed that the lower hull isn't filled with the normal pour in foam, the top cap is, but the bilge area has preformed foam blocks or strips down low. Its urethane or plastic type of foam, not the dry, hard foam thats in most boats. It's the same stuff that they used in my aluminum '63. Kind of like the foam they make those float noodles from. The boat has never been apart, I got it from a guy who I've known for year and he bought it new. I remember as a kid when he bought it, it spend most of it's life in a garage.
I am wondering if the fact that they didn't seal the transom wood in is why it's lasted so well? The stringers run to the back then there are two large gussets that reach up to the wood transom, they are all glass with some sort of honeycomb form inside visible through the resin.
I am over 275 lbs myself and the floor has always felt solid, except at that one seam, but not like soft plywood, just like a loose board. I don't like the idea that the floor panels aren't joined over the cross braces and find it odd that the cross braces are so few. I can only see three looking forward with my head hanging down from the rear near the bilge pump. The bilge area is also pretty deep at the rear, I was also thinking of adding a storage compartment back there as well or maybe putting the tank under the floor back there? There's more than enough room and I will most likely replace the original steel tank either way just as a precaution. I've seen other boats like this with floor storage boxes, and I even have a few that I've removed from other boat that I could install as well. I never really like the fuel tank weight being all the way at the rear either. The tank, and both batteries are all on the right side, with nothing but a fire extinguisher on the left side below the splash well seats.
How many boats out there use this type of construction? I've owned and worked on many over the last few years and this is the first glass boat that's had an open inner transom. It looks like the upper cap gives most of the structure to the transom, the wood rises up into the cap about 8" above the lower hull edge. I think what saved it all those years is that it was never drilled for a motor, the motor was always hung with clamps and a safety chain, the new motor will mount with four bolts. The original owner also made a polished stainless rear plate for the hull which was etched with a sandblaster and kept polished for looks. It was only held on with some rtv silicone, but it gave an extra layer of protection to rear of the boat. It certainly kept the motor from eating into the gel coat. The rear panel he made is rolled over the top edge and down to the splashwell pan. It looks great but added some weight, with the motor off, I was able to remove the stainless panel and re-polish the rear of the boat to like new. I was told that that panel might cause some corrosion since in saltwater? I will most likely leave it off either way, it's no longer really clean looking and is only a piece of 22 gauge sheet metal. the original owner was a welder who did commercial kitchens, so the boat was loaded with custom stainless trim he made. I removed about 300lbs of useless stainless trim from the interior. He made a custom dash overlay, glove box lid cover panel, dash top, and four heavy stainless caps on the forward and rear gunwales. It looked neat but was heavy. It would have been better if it were aluminum. The dash pieces were light, but the gunwale caps were pretty thick. My biggest concern with those was that they were slippery as well as heavy. I plan to make wood caps or step plates and leave it at that. I plan to use this for fishing, no show. Just two seats and lots of rod holders.
I will cut a 3/8" sheet of aluminum to make a mounting plate for the new motor, install a set of Monel bolts and a stainless inner support to protect the wood.
I think something other than just big washers would be better for the inner heads of the motor mounting bolts especially since it's just going through bare wood.
