Stringer rot questions 82 Nautique

[Murphyslaw82]

Upon further inspection I did find a little rot on my boat. I looked at a ton of 80-89 Ski Nautiques. I knew what I was potentially getting into with the floor on a boat this age. Out of all the boats I looked at this floor was rock solid. There is not a soft spot anywhere. I checked the stringers front to back and there is no soft spots anywhere. I did miss this one spot in the engine compartment which is clearly soft. I don’t want to dig any further. From what I looked at in floor replacement threads it looks like there is a 2x4 block that runs horizontal and connects to the stringers that run front to back. There is a drain hole at the base of the vertical stringer that allows water to flow to center and bilge pump that was clogged so I’m assuming water got trapped there for long periods of time. The strange part is that whatever wood was there seems thinner than a 2x4 and foam is right behind it. Again zero soft spots anywhere on the deck. I know they rot from inside out but I stepped and looked at some sketchy floors on these boats. Should I fill with epoxy and close it up seal it? Should I be concerned? Floor replacement cost down the road? I hear ranging from 3-7k? Any suggestions or insight? Thank you!

[Jonny Quest]

Looks like you are in for a stringer job some day. It’s very difficult to contain the stringer rot. Some have cut the offending piece out and replaced with new wood or composite. Use Douglas fir if you go with Mother Nature. There is a lot of info on stringer work on the other site (CorrectCraftFan.com). The site is down right now but hopefully Keith will have it back up soon. You may want to spend some Google time and read up on stringer work.

JQ

[hal2814]

You have rot. Now it’s just a matter of time. Since that piece is pretty accessible you could just cut it out and replace it. That can buy you time. Maybe years. Start checking your alignment regularly. Alignment going quickly out of whack is your best indication that it’s time to replace stringers and floor. It’s very easy to do on a 2001.

Materials alone are $2k-$4k for stringer repair depending on how you do it. If you’re not doing it yourself, don’t trust anyone who claims they can do it less for that. They’re cutting corners you don’t want to cut.

Also, that drain might not have clogged. It may have collapsed. That’s what mine did due to the foam getting waterlogged and crushing the channel. I slowly dug chunks of foam out with a plumbing snake until the channel was clear. Even with that I still didn’t have rot. But again, it’s always a matter of time. Wet foam then stringer rot then floor rot.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Murphyslaw82]

Appreciate the feedback. I have done quite a bit of research on it prior to buying. I have a reputable guy that would do it for 3k. I am just wondering about that specific piece. Does it tie into the vertical stringers or is it isolated. The deck is solid all the way around so I’m not worried about now or the near future. I’m just wondering if there is anything I should do for that area.

[Murphyslaw82]

Sorry I missed the second response there. That all makes sense. Again I’m not super concerned yet as the floor is really solid at the moment. I’m curious about checking alignment as I am not knowledgeable about that. I guess keeping a eye on it is best. I was thinking about shooting epoxy into it but I’m assuming based on what you are saying that will trap the water?

[hal2814]

I’d replace a piece of wood with a piece of wood. You’re already trapping water. No sense in trapping more. I suggested keeping an eye on alignment because you can’t inspect the stringers up front. The rear could be solid but if the front is mush it’s still going to mess with the alignment. That’s the real danger of rot. The floor is irrelevant from a functionality perspective. All it tells you is a general idea of how the stringers are doing. If the floor completely rots, you have to be careful about where to step. If the stringers completely rot, your boat sinks. Due to how an inboard engine mounts, stringers are as important to an inboard as the transom is to an outboard. And I’m not saying this to make you paranoid. It’s just something you want to stay on top of. Hopefully, that’s the only rot you’ll see for years. Make rot check a part of your routine and you can probably catch it early enough to take care of it in an offseason.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Murphyslaw82]

I appreciate the insight. How would you recommend testing the stringers? How would you test alignment? When does it become a necessity?

[Jonny Quest]

Check alignment...remove the 4 bolts on the trans/shaft coupler. Slide the shaft to the rear 1 inch or so. You can't go too far as the rudder is in the way. Spin the shaft 90 degrees. Bring the couplers back together. Use a feeler gauge to check the space between the coupler faces. Measure 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock. The gap between the coupler faces should NOT exceed three thousandths (0.003). If the gap exceeds 0.003, then you need to do an alignment. See the video link that follows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Qa2FQLc7k

JQ

[Johnscc83]

I have the same thing on an 83 cc sn, what did you end up doing with the rot

[SilentSeven]

Here's a beautiful stringer replacement job...not sure this is encouraging or not.

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...t-ski-nautique

[wayoutthere]

Silent 7, Thank you for the kind words.

murphyslaw, that lumber your taking about was used to dam up foam where they transitioned from the floor to the engine stringer elevation.
they also placed different lenght boards to taper up/down the width of what i'm referring to the exhaust slots outboard the main engine stringers,
as seen in pic 1.

pic 2 is where i would look next, specifically where the stringers meet the transom, they where cut at 45 degree for drainage and were never sealed from the factory (on mine at least).
The stringers looked like 2x8 mains and 1x6 outers with various other sizes thrown in to dam up the foam and what not.

since dimensional lumber was used 2x8 etc the wood did exactly as designed, it efficiently moved water from the source all the way to the other end.

that is not to say that your boat is in the level of neglect and or disrepair as mine, you may be able to cut out that transition/ dammed up area and replace,
it wouldn't be that tough if your handy.

don't be discouraged by what you see happened to my boat, safe bet it was never covered-washed-waxed or missed the dock-rocks or bottom it's whole life

[Johnscc83]

Murphylaw82’ still wondering what you did with the rot at end of the exhaust run,