The problem is that fiberglass is not water proof. Water migrates thru the
fiberglass and soaks the stringer. You can not seal a wood stringer with
fiberglass. Epoxy is more likely to keep the stringer dry but it is a lot
more expensive so nobody uses it. Even with epoxy any compromise is going
to let the water thru.

Most are laying enough fiberglass on the stringers to provide the majority
of the strength even after the wood gets soft. Some have figured out that
they don't really need the wood for strength and switched to foam. The foam
is just there to as a form for the glass.

I'll bet if you drill a hole around those motor mounts on your Tolly you'll
find quite a bit of fiberglass.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 08:40:18 -0500, "Paul Schilter"
paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:

Chuck,
Okay then why the concern over rotted wood in the stringer? I would
imagine that the water got in through a poor job of sealing the wooden
stringer, so why not seal it up and not worry about it? But does an
older
boat like an 89 Sea Ray depend on the wood for its strength or the
fiberglass coating? I know a fellow that had his boat (88 Sea Ray 300
Weekender) out of the water for three seasons while he dried out his
stringers and checked for moisture with a meter. I think he then bored
some
holes in the stringer and filled with epoxy. Was he wasting his time?
His
complaint was that Sea Ray drilled limber holes through the stringers and
didn't seal the limber holes causing the water absorption. I'm just
trying
to determine how wide and important of a problem is this.
Paul

I know the mid 80's Wellcrafts - 34 ft or so- were famous for rotten
stringers.

It would be interesting to know how much some og the boatmakers rely on
the wood in a stringer for strength and just pretty it up with epoxy.

I know in my little Tollycraft, it would take a wrecking ball to move
the stringers my engines are mounted on.