1985 19-BR wood rot

[Frankh]

I’ve been reading all the older boat posts, lots of lessons to learn here. I probably should have spent a day on this site before buying the cheapest running boat on CL In January. Oh well, it’ll be fun in the end.

I’m doing what I’d call a sympathetic restoration. Cleaning all I can reach, replacing what’s gross after 35 years, removing the carpet from the bilges and painting, etc.

In the bottom of the ski locker, there is a 2x2 piece of wood glassed in over the centerline. This was applied over the hull glass. The 2x2 extends from below the cockpit bulkhead, and disappears under the cooler box.

It’s gotten wet, and the first couple feet or more has rot. I’ve cut some of it out, and am wondering how to best proceed. I’d prefer to not have to cut into the cooler floor or pull the fuel tank to chase this piece of wood.

My question, is this piece of wood, there to help drainage, or is it structural? The glass around the wood is about 3/16” thick.

It was completely carpeted in this area and full of leaves/compost/water when I bought this thing.

[Lockey14s]

Nice looking BR! Glad to see another classic being taken care of. As far as the 2x2 stringer, Id say it was added for strength to the keel. but you are really getting all the strength from the glass and not the wood. Since you already have cut some of it out I would try and continue to cut back as ,much as possible where you have access to. its an easy job to bed in another 2x2 and then do a couple layers of glass over it and call it done. As for the part under the gas tank I would leave it alone, like I said the glass is doing all the work. Does the boat have any other soft spots? looks like some of the floor has been replaced

[AsLan7]

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Hey FrankH...welcome to the CobaltChat forum. So glad you found us!

I would agree with Lockey14s. Looks like it was added at one time to add some strength. Cobalt eventually switched to composite stingers eliminating the wood rot issue. It was one of their big selling points especially when first introduced. I wouldn't pull the fuel tank to chase that wood. We have a small extendable camera that can get into small places. Maybe something like that could help in your assessment. You may have to drill a hole for it to fit down into in order to look around a bit. Just a thought.

Nice to see you getting her out of the ER so to speak.

Keep those pics comin' and again welcome aboard mate!

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[Frankh]

Thanks all. The boat is in surprisingly good condition besides the vinyl. No other rot besides the seat bottoms. All the stringers and deck look new, besides some staining where screws were holding things down.

I did replace the cooler lid and plywood over the fuel tank. They could have been reused, but I went ahead and cut some new marine ply, rather than re carpet the old panels.

I’ve been ripping out carpet for what seems like forever. It’s clear they carpeted before bolting on the topside, you find carpet in some oddball places. I’m cutting out what I can reach. I’ll probably replace it with a woven vinyl, TBD. Anything hidden from view will be cleaned, sanded, resealed and hit with some bilge paint.

[Krob1114]

No help here but welcome and check back in often. Lots of experienced boaters and DIY people here.

[NWABoater]

Welcome to the board! Keep the updates coming. Our project boats are pretty similar so it's cool seeing someone else going through a similar restoration. Cheers!

[Frankh]

Here’s an update after the weekend. I borrowed an inspection camera, and confirmed that the wood support in question on extends past the “cooler bulkhead” about 4”. I was able to pull out all the rotted wood pretty easily. I sanded/cleaned the entire floor of the ski locker, a d added a few layers of glass mat to replace what I cut out. I then primed the whole compartment with total boat 2 part primer. I’ll add topside paint later.

I sanded about 1/4 of the carpet glue out. I tried acetone. What worked quickest for me was to hit the big stuff with the blade of my oscillating tool, then follow up with 80grit on a random orbit. Thankfully my sander has good dust collection on it.

I’ve been cleaning teak for weeks whenever I have decent weather. I think I’ll go ahead and use teak oil on everything. it will help make all the teak match. Right now the teak that was exposed to more sun looks quite different to the protected wood. Pictured are two pieces of teak that I cleaned/sanded.

[Big Block Power]

That looks sweet! Nice job. How about using soft mat flooring instead of carpet, that would look sharp and modern and really you can buy it in bulk pretty reasonably.

[Frankh]

Totally agree Big Block. I just ordered another 10 samples of flooring. Prices range from $250-$1200 for material only, for cheap carpet thru "deluxe" woven vinyl. I've not looked at Seadeck or similar products, I think they look too modern for this boat.

After getting samples from 4 websites, it looks like they are buying their material from the same vendors. It's about finding the right price. I am leaning towards a vinyl foam backing instead of the felt backing. My hope is it'll dry faster. I'm leaning towards Aluminum Pearl Infinity Luxury Woven Vinyl from Sailrite, but am trying to find a cheaper source.

The width of roll affects the price greatly. I need a 12x6 piece for the floor, and 12x2 for the sides. If I can use the trimmed piece for the sides, it'll save me lots of material.

The primer on the deck was a bit of an experiment to see if I could smooth the floor enough to make "snap in" pieces of flooring look good. I'm thinking it'll take too much effort to fully fair the existing glass. So, I'll be going with glue down flooring.

[Frankh]

Welcome to the board! Keep the updates coming. Our project boats are pretty similar so it's cool seeing someone else going through a similar restoration. Cheers!

Hey NWA, I have read your thread, and will be drilling a couple test holes into the stringers to check for moisture. These repairs/restorations are definitely a balance between want to/have to, and what's worth fixing on a boat in this price range. That is, I know no boat is an investment, but I don't want to put 4k and 200hrs into a boat that's only worth 3k.

Similar to you, I found petroleum product of some kind in the ski locker. I hope it was a spilled bottle of oil, but will find out soon. I have an appointment with a mechanic in a few weeks to go thru the motor and outdrive.

[Big Block Power]

Yea soft mat would make it look modern but to me nothing wrong with that?

[Frankh]

I love the soft mat decking. On this boat, I'm thinking it'll look "off" next to the wood trim/consoles and tuck and roll interior that are obviously older. Or, it'll make the older finishes look really old.

[NWABoater]

Welcome to the board! Keep the updates coming. Our project boats are pretty similar so it's cool seeing someone else going through a similar restoration. Cheers!

These repairs/restorations are definitely a balance between want to/have to, and what's worth fixing on a boat in this price range. That is, I know no boat is an investment, but I don't want to put 4k and 200hrs into a boat that's only worth 3k.

Yep, I'm operating under the same mindset. Clean it up the best you can without breaking the bank.

[Hoghead]

Nice work going on. Your boat looks very familiar beings I have a '84 19BR. Much of it was/is in the same condition as yours.

[Frankh]

There is sooo much teak trim on these things. I keep on finding more that needs to be cleaned/oiled but it's almost all done except for the dash.

I've struck out in finding an in budget upholsterer. The one shop that would give me an actual number and could do it this year, quoted "Starting at $8500, assuming all the foam and wood could be reused". So what I've been doing is disassembling the seat cushions and re-gluing the cushion to new marine ply. I've added much larger vents in the ply compared to the 1" existing vent. Hopefully this lets the foam dry out quicker. The plywood is fully epoxied, and should be good to go if I ever re-upholster the whole thing. All plywood that was installed vertically is in fine shape. All the seat bases are showing some to lots of rot.

I did re-wrap the rear cup holder with some new vinyl. It looks a bit better than the worn carpet that was original, but I'm not liking the pleats. I may try to add a stitched seam in some day. Deleted the old speaker for now.

The last pic is what I hope all the upholstery looks like soon. It took about 3 hours to clean this folding seat. For whatever reason the folding seats stayed much drier than the others, and do not need to be rebuilt. You can tell the foam is on the older side, but it's more than serviceable.

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