Stringer problems
 

How can a Fountain which is pristinely taken care of and rack stored since new, have moisture in stringer and hull? I have a 1997 32 foot Fountain. the boat has never been in water overnight and is rack stored indoors since new. Surveyor tells me that there's moisture in some of the stringers and engine compartment. He says the transom is rock solid. I just can't believe that boat has those problems being it's a Fountain. Please am I being "hosed". I did hose down the engine room three days before surveyor came out.

Wood rot isn't unusual, but transom solid and stringers rotted is weird. On mine the exhaust wasn't sealed so it started there and went to stringers.

A buddy has one built 3 HIN numbers from mine solid as a rock. You may want to take a close look and see if the transom is solid.

Take a small core sample. That would be your best bet to tell if the surveyors claims are true or not.

Thanks I will do that.

all wood has some moisture,and some would be considered normal , what % is it? big difference between 8% and 40%

We just got done replacing 4 stringers and the bulkhead that were rotten on our 95...

I actually was at RF marine and met the whole family and this topic came up. Water eventually gets in around the through holes, e.g. exhaust. Around 2005 they went to composite stringers, at least in the 35's so the newer 2005 and later ones don't have this problem. You'll need to double check the exact year. Thats about the time they fixed the 525's so a lot of good things happened.