What to do with a boat that needs an overhaul (rot)?
 

I was planning on selling my little outlaw and upgrading some time next spring.... but, it turns out one of the stringers is wet. It already needed a new interior, what is it worth now with an unknown amount of rot? 3k?

What would y'all do from here?

Sell it for almost nothing? Part it out and maybe make a tiny bit more? Pay someone for repairs? (not appealing at all)

or

Open pandora's box, take it apart, and attempt to fix it myself? Who knows how much time, youtube videos, and trial and error it would take learning to work with fiberglass. And then where would it stop?

Stringers, transom, raised x, new floor, bulkheads, glassed on deck, decent power (500ish), hydraulic steering, k-planes, etc etc. Maybe after all that work I wouldn't even want to sell it. It is only used on inland lakes, I don't really need or want twins or something a bunch longer. I know some of you must have been in this situation before, tell me your stories.

You have to start with your budget. If you can afford to just replace it with a boat that has everything you want, go for it. If you are on a budget, its really not that hard to replace the stringers and transom. Figure at least $500 for materials. Messing with the x deimension is more costly once you include the extra horsepower to make it worth while, along with the necessary propping. Now you will have to have steering to safely go along with the speeds. But you could fix it for a around a grand with new carpet, go boating and add upgrades such as tabs and steering as the budget allows.

Been there, done that. Which stringer is it? I'm sure it was probably built the same way mine was, the superstructure built, then everything covered with a layer or two of glass. Once water gets in, it just migrates along the wood.

If you found some rot, chances are you haven't found all of it. If you go the repair route, you have to find out where it ends. If you have a place to work on it and the tools to do it, then by all means fix it. It's not worth much rotten. If you don't have a place to work on it or the tools, cut your losses and punt it.

An idea of what you may be getting yourself into - my 240 is the same hull as a later 24 Outlaw: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/b...ld-thread.html

If you end up doing it your self you should take the time & effort to make it better than new, Then the next time you're out boating you will get more satisfaction knowing it is done & done right :).... If you have the time/place/will etc to fix it you should do it. it'll at least be worth more if you decide to sell it & then you will know how to do Fiberglass work :)

flea bay?

sick stinger has a hull for sale with all the structural work done for $3500, cheaper than you'd probably get your work done.

It's the starboard stringer. I have tools, and I can work on it in my driveway it's just not covered.

What hull? What hardware is on it?

Engine stringer? If that's all that is bad, that's not too bad, and being in Texas you can probably work outside in the 'winter' I assume.

Make sure you check the transom well, and the bulkhead in front of the engine, especially down by the drain holes. If those are still relatively solid you should be able to do one stringer in a week, probably less.

Make sure you mask off everything, the more time you spend masking everything off the easier the clean-up is when you are done. Take plenty of pics and measurements before starting and along the way also. Another tip is to get a shop vac and use the drywall filter bags, put your vacuum hose in the grinding stream to catch as much dust as possible at the source.

Yank the motor, clean and mask, cut the stringer out and replace. Pretty easy to do.

My take - you're already checking out of this boat and excited abotu the next boat. I'd let this one be someone elses problem. Part it out or sell as a whole.

Nothing would be worse then jumping in, getting it torn apart and then trying to sell it because you've lost interest having moved on to the next boat.

Open pandora's box, take it apart, and attempt to fix it myself? Who knows how much time, youtube videos, and trial and error it would take learning to work with fiberglass. And then where would it stop?

Stringers, transom, raised x, new floor, bulkheads, glassed on deck, decent power (500ish), hydraulic steering, k-planes, etc etc. Maybe after all that work I wouldn't even want to sell it. It is only used on inland lakes, I don't really need or want twins or something a bunch longer. I know some of you must have been in this situation before, tell me your stories.[/QUOTE]

by the time your done with all that your going to have grey hair and an empty bank account. take the boat apart. sell it in pieces. and go buy something else.

Ditto, been there, done that. IF you do keep your head in it, and you DO finish it, you will probably be in it too deep to sell it and come out.

If for some reason you do decide to tackle it, maybe pay a few hundred for a surveyor to look at it and test it with their moisture meters. It would be worth the investment to know what lies ahead of you. A stringer can turn into a floor, can turn into a transom, can turn into a ................................

The wet part is down by the engine, though I have no idea how far up it has seeped. Working outside in the winter is doable just not ideal. It's not like I would have snow to worry about, just cold temps.

You are correct. Mainly because running the thing flat out and only going 60 mph was getting a little old. The problem is that I was counting on the sale of this one to get enough funds to move into something faster. Now that it's worth considerably less than I thought it was i'm not comfortable with the loan I would need to move up.

It's hard to tackle something like that when you're checking out mentally.

keep in mind the grain in the stringers runs fore and aft... it may have spread much father than you think...

Do you like the boat? Does it make you happy or are you "blah" about boating because of the boat?

I like it a lot. It's the first performance oriented boat i've owned, it's also the reason I met my girlfriend. It's just not scratching the speed itch anymore and upgrading to a new boat seemed like an easier way to go when I thought I could pull money out of this one, not so much anymore. I've never been "blah" about boating. Even when i'm on my buddy's air nautique i'm having a blast. Just being on the water is what it's all about.

I would fix it, it really isn't that hard.. I knew nothing about fiberglass when I did mine, but I jumped right into it got it done and off we went..

Talk, to someone like GlassDave about fixing it and then selling. If you pull the engine first it will be less money for him to fix.