1980 overnighter with a raised stern.

[bluelink1]

Hi everybody. My dad and I just bought a 1980 overnighter from a guy who did a complete overhaul on both hull and engine. A few things bugs be but the scariest thing that I am hoping that is not going to sink the boat is this crack in the stern. I do not know were exactly all the supports are on the boat but I think there is two that run parallel to the sides and they box in the gas tank. On the star-bird side on were I think that support is it is raised and there is a slight crack on the floor. You have to really get down to the ground to see the crack but you can feel the raised floor at that point. The port side of the stern has no sign of this. There is no soft-spots on the hull of the boat but I am still concerned. I dunno why this happened and how to fix it or not. I am hoping somebody knows what I am talking about and I am hoping someones also has a diagram of all the supports of the boat I can look at. I have some pics, but I don't know if that helps since you cant really see it expect for the crack at extremely close up.

Thank you

 

[gw204]

The supports you are referring to are called stringers and you are correct that there are two that run parallel to the center line of the boat on either side of the gas tank. There should also be a second on each side in between the main stringer and the side of the hull.

It sounds to me like whomever did the rebuild did not cut the starboard stringer to the proper height to allow for a level floor (the floor rests on the stringers). The floor had to bend over the mis-cut stringer and that's the reason for the raised portion.

This doesn't explain the crack in the floor though. Is it a new (core, fiberglass and gelcoat or paint) floor? If not, and the original floor was re-used, I can see how the crack would form when the old floor was forced into place over the stringer. Gelcoat is very brittle by itself and when it flexes, it cracks. Now, if the floor was new, it should be cracking unless something is moving. A new floor could be layed down core first, then glassed, then gelcoated or painted. The glass and gelcoat/paint would conform to the shape of the core.

How in-depth was the previous owners overhaul? What exactly did he do?

 

[bluelink1]

Hey thanks for the info about stringers. The other owner gutted the boat. This CL link should help http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/2013216781.html. But I know he had the gas tank out to do some work but nothing about the floor. He did give me some pics that shows the work. That could be a owner previous to him. The floor looks original with the textured look like you see in original boats. Also he did bolt SS plates to the transom to where the out board got mounted to strengthen it. I want to also get into the hull and try to figure out a way to connect a hose to the fish tank that right now just drains under the boat to the buildge pump. Also there is two live wells that are just tanks that drains to the side of the boat that may or may not be above water line. We went to put it in the water over the past weekend but our state boat ramp just got taken down for the season so I couldn't not figure that out. I want to put a raw water wash down and make the wells live and not sure how to do that as well.

 

[Grog]

It sounds like the boat may have some structural (and possibly safety) issues, I would strongly recommend having the boat professionally surveyed. It looks like you are from the south NJ area, if you launch the boat this time of year and something bad happens, there is good chance you will not make it.

 

[bluelink1]

We bought it in South Jersey but we live in Edison and so we launched it from the Rartian river and everything was great. We went to do it again but they closed the ramps so now the boat is winterized and going to play with it in the spring again.

 

[richie rich]

Blue, post some pics....it will give folks a better understanding of the problem.

 

[gw204]

Also he did bolt SS plates to the transom to where the out board got mounted to strengthen it.

People do that as a bandaid to get more time out a flexing/rotten transom or to raise the height (incorreclty IMO) to allow for installation of a longer shaft engine. From the pics on CL, it appears you still have a 20" motor on that boat, so that rules out no. 2...

From the ad description, it sounds like the previous owner did have some knowledge (or at least knew someone who did) as evidenced by the electrical system description. However, in a 1980 boat I would be expected to see some description of the transom, stringer and floor condition as well as mention of a new fuel tank.

Do yourself a favor and pull up the deck panel and remove the tank. Give it a thorough inspection. If it's original and not already leaking, it won't be long. Having the tank out will also allow you to inspect the stringers.