New Tuna Boat for RR

Bluefinn · 03-02-2004, 09:58 AM

Test drove the 26' Marlin this last weekend out of Brookings it holds 207 gal. of fuel is equipped with radar,gps.two fishfinders one is a probe?vhf,cb,will hold two 1/2 totes.The boat has a 350 chev with volvo duo prop outdrive .The boat has been on many a tuna trip including one last year out 110 miles.My only concern is the stringers are wood core.The owner had to cut a small portion of one of the stringers out to replace a starter.The end of the stringer was never sealed. Does any one have a honest opinion on this ?Should I be worried? I was told that the wood is only there to hold the fiberglass in place while it sets up.I like the boat and the price is right but Iam worried about the wood in the stringers.THANKS RR

Miss B Haven · 03-02-2004, 10:33 AM

Depends on whether they really put enough glass inplace to provide the stiffness. Boats with foam cored stringers have to have the glass thickness because the foam provides no real rigidity. MOST boats which use glass over wood stringers depend on the wood to provide a lot of the stiffness.

Whether it a problem or not depends on a) the above b) whether water has actually gotten in and caused rot. Is the wood presure treated?

A good surveyor can drill a few holes and test for rot/water intrusion as well as tell you whether the glass is stout enough to stand on it's own.

Metal Manipulator · 03-02-2004, 10:33 AM

R you had better not buy it till I have alook at it. Just kidding sounds like an exelant fishing machine. A pocket knife will determine weather there is dry rot. and yes the wood should be dried and sealed to prevent further damage. As always it is a good idea to have the boat surveyed. Now for some further coments look to the upcoming posts from those who know - Salty Dogs -

DriftR · 03-02-2004, 12:02 PM

Make the deal contingent on a survey. Tell the owner that your price will reflect the survey cost. If the survey is sound then lower your offer price to help offset the survey. Prior to the survey and if it shows that the boat has problems agree on a 50/50 split on the survey cost. You don't pay full bore and get stuck with a problem and then the owner now knows he has a problem that a future buyer walked away from. He should share the cost because you have just identified the problem and its location for him to have repaired.

edsr · 03-02-2004, 12:18 PM

What DriftR said. Repairing fiberglass is not difficult but it can depend on where the repair is and how big. Hard to believe they left an open hole for water to enter.
edsr

Aqua-Holic · 03-02-2004, 12:39 PM

I found that most insurance companies want an up to date survey and will expect most items repaired or replaced prior to acceptance......another expense to look forward to.

Pilar · 03-02-2004, 02:41 PM

Besides the wood rot problem you should worry about where water could get to through that hole. The FRP casing around the stringer is a sneak path to the entire length of the casing. A hole in the bilge section of the casing could allow water to go all the way forward. Once under the deck and the foam it tends to stay there.

Any hole in the glass covering your deck or bilge area should be sealed with RTV, epoxy or polyester and glass cloth. All screw holes in the deck or stringer casings must be sealed to prevent leakage and saturation of the flotation foam. Use epoxy or RTV to grease the screw hole before tightening it down. The stuff should squirt out ... proving that the air space has been filled and the hole sealed.

The truck scales that appear along various highways can be used to detect 'water weight gain'. You can have a very small hole that will over time allow a large quantity of water to collect below the deck. Weigh the boat new in a certain configuration IE: Full of fuel, aux motor, batteries and minimal gear. Make a habit of periodically weighing it in the same configuration. Any significant weight gain is cause for concern. Pretty much the only thing that will cause the boat to get heavier is leakage and soaking of the foam and wood. Above deck wood can also become saturated. Water weighs 8lbs/gallon. 100# is like 12 gallons. This is dead weight that makes your boat unsafe, overloads your trailer, saturates the flotation foam, rots out the underdeck, stringers, transom and other encased wood.

A surveyor will explain this to you. Also check out the book 'Fiberglass boat repair' by Hugo de Plessis. He explains how glass boats fail and how to prevent that from happening. This book is a must for anyone with the plastic boat that does their own work.

backlash442 · 03-02-2004, 11:40 PM

Do you know when the starter was replaced? The boat may not have had many trips since it was put in. How clean is the bilge? Take a finger and see if you can rub in some obscure place to see if you find salt. That will tell you if the bilge had water sloshing around in it. Like Miss B said let a surveyor take a look at it. Well worth the money to have it done now than to have to spend major dollars later.

DriftR · 03-03-2004, 07:28 AM

Pilar,
Great advice. I would like to add to your post regarding boat trailers. Everyone should be aware of their actual weight allowed by the trailer manufacturer. A good rule of thumb is to allow a 10% safety factor on your trailer. Take for instance a 7500 pd rated trailer. 10% would be 750pd taken off the 7500 limit so now your pretty safe towing the boat weighing in at 6750pds. Most of us fail to take our boats thru a truck scale when we have it fully loaded down. Like Pilar says, figure 8pds to the gallon for water and fuel. This puts you on the safe side. Sit down on a rain filled day and try and calculate up the weight of your boat, motor(s), fuel, safety gear, fishing gear, line and anchors, spare parts etc. Review the tag on your trailer for the Gross Volume Weight (GVW). We forget many times that we fill out boats up near home with fuel, buy ice (can be a great weight when going for tuna), load the boat down with fishing gear, coolers, safety gear, food, propane heaters and fuel etc. Maxing out your trailer weight can cause premature wear and tear on the trailer, can result in harder stopping and longer stopping distances, abnormal tire wear and stress on the towing vehicle. Another rule of thumb is always balance out your boat on the trailer. This allows better weight distribution on the axles, tongue and trailer hitch. Another rule of thumb is to allow a tongue weight of 5% to 7% of the total package(boat and trailer)weight on the trailer ball itself. Remember also that it might seem funny to check this out but if your ever run across a scales by an OPS or checked by a county weighmaster you might be facing a fine if your trailer is overloaded. A boat and trailer whipping down the roadway overloaded and involved in an accident is just an added retirement benefit for an attorney.

8knots · 03-03-2004, 08:41 AM

In our enthusiasm to get the boat we want it is too easy to overlook things that turn into major $'s later. As a buyer, the survey will quite possible pay for itself. The surveyor will find things that you would overlook. If you still want the boat these survey items should be negotiating points. Either the seller has the work done and paid for, or lowers the price accordingly. Good luck!

No Cents · 03-03-2004, 07:34 PM

Get ahold of Speed Carter in St. Helens Or. He replaced all four of my Stringers.

He is the "MAN" for this!

Bluefinn · 03-04-2004, 08:12 AM

Thanks for all the great info.The boat was survey in 98 and had a great report .I spoke with the owner last night and he said the motor mount partial stringer is the only one affected.He said he cut out the portion when his starter went bad at least 10 years ago.He also stated they are seperate from the actual stringers.The owner is a good friend of mine and I beleive what he says.