My free boat project

gnknt	Well let me introduce my self first. I'm George better known on here as Captain G. My father-in-law has had 2 boats in his yard for the past 1 1/2 yrs just sitting there. I had asked him several time to let me buy on from him he said no way was he selling to family..LOL..ohh well kept bugging for the 1 1/2 yrs...finally told mother-in-law (who wanted the boats gone from the yard) that I wished he'd let me have one of the boats especially the big fiberglass one...(had 2 boats one little aluminum johnboat about 12ft with trailer no motor, and a Starcraft bahama model 15 ft with a 60hp non-running engine) He finally broke and gave me the white fiberglass boat.. Now the fun begins.. Boat has stress cracks everywhere I step. well not every where just in the week spots....Easily fixed...Floor rotted. transom in good shape, steering in good shape, trailer in good shape...he told me he has a smaller like 50-55hp motor that is suppose to run that he had originally bought for this boat but I haven't been over to get it put on yet... I cut up old fiber glass that was on top of floor board...the wood underneath was like mush....YUCK... near the rear of the boat wasn't as bad...still some bite to the wood with nails.. took it out anyway.. vacuumed out all the old wood crap...and fiberglass dust. now I find that there are like the fiber glass waves inside the boat that look like they have been draped over some wood but there is no wood inside.. To night when I took off the back last little piece of wood near the bilge I saw what was left of the wood inside and how it was laid.. Thank goodness...because I was just going to fill the valleys with polystyrene foam and glass it back in then lay the floor and then glass again and install seats... That could have been bad.. I will try to get my own web page made to show you guys my progress. I have decided to lay the cross beams the way they did and only cut out a small section at a time and use liquid nails to hold the wood in place. the use 1x2 or 2x2 to run the length of the boat.. Does this sound about right...Also does it have to be pressure treated wood or can I buy pine and coat it with resin?? Pc	2002-08-16
hw8478	Plenty of info on how to tackle the job can be found at the top of the page using the Search function. For a starter try "rot". Don't think you want to use pressure treated wood as resin does not adhere to it well. Be sure to use Epoxy and not Poly resin. Can be a pain in the butt project but rewarding when done. Take your time.	2002-08-18
gnknt	Thanks Solittle..I look forward to the day I get her back on the water again. I priced pressure treated wood yesterday now I can count on a little less for the wood since it doesn't have to be pressure treated. All in all it was going to cost me approx. $50.00 us to buy all the wood needed to repair the floor board but the f-glass and resin will be the most expensive part. Later	2002-08-18
crab bait	yeah,, but you don't want to use ' home depot' type framing' lumber either...!! you should only use Doug fir or Philippine mahogany or W H I T E .oak N O T red oak or spruce...they're others ,, but not rightly available.. like cypress , iron wood, Osage orange, locust,, etc .. but not typical framing' lumber... if not your just wasting' time & money... GOOD LUCK...	2002-08-18
iRich	why not use framing lumber crab bait? just curious, rich	2002-08-24
Bob_VT	Plain and simple answer is strength. The stringers are stressed length wise and most framing lumber is used for compression loads. The wood that Crab Bait (Honorable Admiral because of his boat building prowess ) describes has more flex strength and most of the grain runs the full length. Bob	2002-08-25
crab bait	boy, BOB.. your a life saver.. I came across this post directed at me earlier today and just couldn't really answer it.. so I put it off a little hoping' I could come up with a good answer down the line.. besides it just isn't done / it just isn't right.. I'm sure glad you stopped by... so RICK,, the answer's what BOB said . yeah, that's the ticket..	2002-08-25
Firewood	Sounds like a good project. Good woods to use are Mahogany. Oak. Cypress and locust. depending on your location you may have more or less options. I wouldn't use the liquid-nails. Go with 3m product 5200 polyurethane adhesive. its great stuff. stays flexible, won't shrink, under or above waterline too. Take a look at some photos of the stringers in my boat. Might give you some ideas. Also check Hawkeye's link under "my 69 formula" http://photos.yahoo.com/kmw250	2002-08-25

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