BoatBanter.com - 88 cobra commander boat floor soft spot

On Jun 20, 1:16 pm, jrenick wrote:
Everyone:
I have an 88 cobra commander 19' ski boat, closed bow. The boat has
been sitting for a while now covered but outside. I noticed up toward
the front at the closed bow between driver and passenger seat that
there seemed to be some cracking noise when I stepped there. It also
seemed to depress a little when stepping in that location. (most
likely due to sitting/parked on trailer in one position for a long
period of time). The whole bottom of the boat is covered in carpet and
the stringers are actually elevated or protruding(in other words you
would trip on them if no seats were in the boat. My question is, do
any of you think that this is a repair that I can do on my own? I'm
currently not positive whether it is wood or fiber(I believe wood). Is
there anything below that sub floor which the stringers seem to sit
on, other than foam type of material? Can I simply treat the location
and then resin/epoxy that spot and get further longevity without
replacing it all(then cover it again with carpet(what type of adhesive
do I use for the carpet)? The spot seems to be about 4''x4'' in
diameter at most. Can anyone give me the case scenario for both wood
vs fiber or the best way to fix? Do you think that the whole floor
has to be repaired because of this?

I don't know that boat specifically but the age is appropriate for
having problems with floor/stringer/transom rot. The only sure test
for how extensive it is would be to drill holes and see what comes
out. In all probablility all three structures are wood covered in
fiberglass saturated with polyester resin. The boat building world
has figure out that fiberglass is actually water porous over a long
enough time. Depending on the kind of wood it may just be wet or it
may have rotted. Unfortunately rot is a bit like an iceburg or
cockroaches in some cases. If you see a few then you probably have
more. The right fix is to remove all the problem wood, replace it,
and then glass it back in with epoxy instead of polyester resin.
Depending on the value of the boat, the extent of the problem, and
where you use the boat you night decide to just patch as needed to get
some more use out ot it. Patching can be done by drilling holes and
then repeatedly saturating the rotted wood with epoxy diluted with 10%
or so alcohol. I've also known people to just rip up the carpet, lay
another layer of ply down and carpet that. Keep it thin so it doesn't
add too much weight.