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.