Thanks LD. Unfortunately the manufacturer closed up shop in the mid to late
70s. I am trying to locate Drift-R-Cruz houseboat owners to get more info
on the construction of these boats. Geez I love a challenge.

"LD" wrote in message
...
Check with the manufacturer if you can. I had "sludge" that used to be
wood
for my stringers but I was told by Wellcraft that in this particular model
and year boat, the wood was just a "form" for the fiberglass. I removed
all
transom wood from the top and poured a chopped
glass/mineral/foam/polyester
resin mix to replace it. When I was removing the transom wood I
eventually
noticed voids, about 1 1/2 x 6" running perpendicular to the transom
(which
used to be the wood stringers). I filled the space with "Great Stuff" exp
urethane foam to keep from filling that area. When I drilled through the
hull, about 6" forward of the stern and 6" down from the top for a 1 1/8"
ID, 2000gph bilge pump fitting I discovered that the fiberglass there was
1"
thick! Good luck on yours.
LD

"Steve Lortie" wrote in message
.. .
If anyone has any comments on this, please fire away (with blanks
though).

I have a 40 ft 1969 Drifter. The two main stringers (16" deep) running
off
centre the length of the boat, certainly appear to have problems. The
glass
applied to the stringer is buldged out from the stringer a good inch,
both
sides! This would imply that the stringers have dropped but they are the
same height as the next set of stringers parallel to them providing a
level
floor. After removing the floor the give in the stringers is quite
obvious -
a good half an inch of vertical movement when you bounce on them. The
hull
is pretty thick and there doesn't "appear" to be any sagging, cracking
etc.
The stringers are very wet along the bottom which also implies rotting.
The
stringer is merely covered with one layer of what I believe is a roven
material which to me is just covering it and not bonding it to the hull
for
extra strength. Repair books show layering of the cloth to build in
strength
"transfer".

Am I looking too deep into this:

level floor (was it originally??) but buldging fiberglass implies the
stringer has dropped (the floor was sitting right down on the stringer).
Bouncy stringer. Doesn't even look like it was put in there for
strength.
Is
that possible?

Should I just rip em out and replace or leave them? Any one else with a
Drift-R-Cruz that has looked under their floor and discovered something
similar?

Thanks!