Stringer repair

Rayfor

Member
Apr 20, 2020
42
Boat Info
1978 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer
Engines
454 Mercruiser w/Bravo 111 drive
I was wondering what you experienced guys think of this. The link is a youtube video about repairing bad sections of a stringer instead of replacing the whole thing. I might be interested in going this route if I can get a yes that it looks good.
 
I thought that this might generate a comment or two. I plan to run this by someone in the know soon for his opinion about it being an adequate repair or not. The process seems logical to me if it works and if your goal is to get this old 1978 sundancer safely in the water and not necessarily back to an original condition. Long story short my main goal is to get this boat to a useable condition to use over the next 10 years or perhaps a little longer, which coincides with the end of my career and into retirement. Investment and resale obviously has nothing to do with it.
 
Have you open up and looked at your stringers? I don't believe you'll find any, other than a couple small bulkheads, fully glasses in. Other than the exposed glass sections of the center stringers, there wasn't even tabbing to be found.
 
The only question is if this approach results in a structurally sound repair.

Certainly the repaired area will be very strong but it would have almost no longitudinal connectivity to the rest of the wood stringer. Not much different than gluing a new piece of wood in that section. Without a meaningful connection to the existing wood.....I just don't see how the stress on the hull would be mitigated.

That said if the choice came down to this approach versus junking the boat.....I would probably try it and possibly "sister" another stringer to connect the pieces.
 
On some boats the wood in a stringer is not where the strength is and its purpose is to create a form to which to attach the glass. On some boats the stringers are hollow.

In the video you can see how thick the fiberglass walls are. He needs it solid in that area because of the way the motor mounts attach.
 
You should go to Sail Life you tube video's and watch Mad's do a proper stringer repair. If done right the wood is not the structural load but the fiberglass is. You can patch repair stringers but, but the remaining stringer has to be good and capable of handling load, flex etc... If the purpose is to just get it sea ready and safe this can work. IMHO. Pictures of the affected area would be useful. I have never in person seen the "pour method". I am sure it has its place but i would first consider a fiberglass repair that you know will work for the long term if done right. GOD speed. JC
 
Have you open up and looked at your stringers? I don't believe you'll find any, other than a couple small bulkheads, fully glasses in. Other than the exposed glass sections of the center stringers, there wasn't even tabbing to be found.
I guess my inexperience is showing. I haven't evaluated the whole boat yet but I do have similar rot to what that video shows. It's where the waste water tank and batteries are located. I assume there's more. The center stringers that encase the gas tank and run through the boat seem in pretty good shape. I figured there were other strings and supports further inside under the floor. I'm hoping to avoid removing all of that to make the boat solid.
 
The only question is if this approach results in a structurally sound repair.

Certainly the repaired area will be very strong but it would have almost no longitudinal connectivity to the rest of the wood stringer. Not much different than gluing a new piece of wood in that section. Without a meaningful connection to the existing wood.....I just don't see how the stress on the hull would be mitigated.

That said if the choice came down to this approach versus junking the boat.....I would probably try it and possibly "sister" another stringer to connect the pieces.
 
At the end of the video some words pop up explaining that this procedure supposedly bonds with the existing good wood. When I saw that it made me look into this fix with both eyes. The sister stringer sounds good if I do this.
 
You should go to Sail Life you tube video's and watch Mad's do a proper stringer repair. If done right the wood is not the structural load but the fiberglass is. You can patch repair stringers but, but the remaining stringer has to be good and capable of handling load, flex etc... If the purpose is to just get it sea ready and safe this can work. IMHO. Pictures of the affected area would be useful. I have never in person seen the "pour method". I am sure it has its place but i would first consider a fiberglass repair that you know will work for the long term if done right. GOD speed. JC
 

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