Hey all!
So ill try and give as much info as possible. I have a 22' Tahiti Super Cruiser that has been in our family ever since i was born. We use to go to the lake quite often, but early 2000's we stopped. I moved away & the boat was severely neglected. had a fabric cover over the boat, which let years and years of rain water come in and then unfortunately plastic tarps were placed over the boat in the summer which just accelerated the corrosion, rust, and deterioration. My dad was wanting to throw the boat away, but i wanted to see if i could get it up to par again. What at first seemed not to big of a task (rebuilding engine, overhauling jet pump, carpet & interior) was all going smoothly. Until i felt a soft spot right in front of the engine. I have an album of all the photos documenting my journey thus far which will clarify everything. So after cutting a small access hole in the flooring my jaw dropped. about 2" of water sitting underneath the floor with lots and lots of soggy wood debris floating. So at that point i said screw it. might as well see how far up shit's creek i was... removed all seats, tore up what was left of carpet, identified & marked where i thought the stringers were then pulled out the circular saw and out went all the flooring. vacuumed out all the water cleaned out all the debris & then took a screw driver and poked it into the middle stringer close to the engine. black mush came out once i pulled the screw driver out. So at that point i took a mallet and started go further up the stringer till i hit some dry wood. At that point i cut the fiberglass off of the stringer and was hoping i could get away with just replacing the bad section with a proper scarf, but since i figured i was deep enough into this yet...i decided to check up near bow & what do you know! more mush...so (sorry ill try and wrap this up). pictures will show where im currently at. Ive removed the old rotted stringer prepped the boat for the new stringer. made the new stringer (luckily their was enough of the old one to get a decent pattern) and have read through west marine's 002-550 Fiberglass Boat repair & Maintenance manual about 5 times now.
My fiberglass experience is nonexistent, but that's never stopped me before. My stringer is 12" at its tallest and about 12' in length. So Ive purchased Saint Gobain XM1808/1002/38 Biaxial 18 oz 38 Inch x 90 Yard Fiberglass Boat Repair Cloth (Roll) & 3 GLS stock number 1002578 is a new section of Owens Corning marine fiberglass made to be used with any polyester or epoxy resin The Owens Corning Product code number is 359333. It measures app 50 wide and is 20 ft long. .4 pounds per square foot. I'm about to order westmarines epoxy resin 105-c.
Im super hesitant on glassing the stringer in thought, since ive never done this before. So is their any advice you could give me before i give it a shot? Also, if this sounds like a fun weekend for anyone. Food & beer is on me + im willing to compensate for your time. Im located in chatsworth if anybody is close by
Also, i do realize that i should've probably just taken this to a pro, but unfortunately its hard to find a pro that is still passionate about the craftsmanship & after countless times of paying $$$ for careless work. I will spend the time to learn it myself. Thought i may not know all the tips and tricks. I always try and perform tasks with a solid understanding of what it is im doing and the "correct" way to do it. Im a firm believer in "if you want it done right. Do it yourself"
Thank you to everyone that responds!
here is a link to the photo album in case the embeded url doesnt work
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