Fixing Water Under Stringer

[gotoith]

Hi -

I have a very strange, and concerning problem with my stringers. I have water that is seeping out both inside stringers - port and starboard. It is at the bast of the stringer where it bonds to the hull. Even stranger is I have no water on the topside of one of the stringers. The other one has a small buildup of water.

Is this a sign I have bad stringers or is there more to this problem?

Thanks in advance.

Scott

[marshmat]

Water in the stringers- are they wood-cored? (if so, you also have rot) or foam-cored? (in which case foam is probably deteriorating). You almost certainly will have to replace the stringers. The question is how the hell the water got there in the first place. Osmosis? Cracked laminates? This is what you need to find out and fix. If the source of the water isn't obvious you might want the help of a surveyor to track down the cause, so you can fix it.

[gotoith]

It is definitely not obvious. I do not know... and am perplexed by the problem. There are no visible cracks on the topside of the stringer either. Is it possible that the stringers are still ok, if I troubleshoot the source of the problem?

[Buckle]

Gotoith,

I think you need to first get your boat out of the water ASAP. Inspect both the inside and out of you hull. Check for breakouts and blisters in the gelcoat.
If you have breakouts, fixing them will be straight forward. If however you have blistering (which I personally do not expect), your kinda buggered as your laminate is just deterioring. Most manufactures offer a 5-10 year osmosis warantee.

Check for whiting of your stringers. You may have broken a stringer, leading to leakage. This is quite unlikely as water would be floading in.

Personally the most likely answer to your problem is a leaky hose on a water tank/pump or something. The water would be travelling along the geometry of the stringer.

Ive seen boats where the base of a leakly deck handrail has allowed water to run 50ft along a boat, through topside stringers, wiring lomes etc giving the appearance that the bow of the boat is the cause for the leak, when actually the fault was at the stern.

Send us some photos to look act for a second opinion.

Enjoy finding your leak.

Buckle

[gotoith]

Thank you for the insight. I will take a couple of pixs to show you my problem.

[buckknekkid]

Are we talking at the Transom? If you have outdrives thats where to start looking, Inner and outer transom assembly

[buckknekkid]

of course I could be wrong, my wife says I am all the time.

[gotoith]

No... it is an inboard boat, but is closer to where the strut comes through. About 3 foot from the transom. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture. I may go do that today.


Scott

[gonzo]

Stringer sometimes have a core that only serves as a form when laminating. That is, it can completely deteriorate and make no difference. Chris Crafts, for example use to have cardboard tubes as core. What kind of boat do you have?

[buckknekkid]

you laminate the old tubes in to use as lifting points when youre trying to get the sucker out of the mold.

[gotoith]

The boat is a 32 wellcraft coastal - 1985.

[fiberglass jack]

i would check out the transom if i was u .u say u have a inboard there is a good chance the outdrives are letting in the water and wood is a natural wick and the water will travell to the stringers .i have replaced many transoms in the past and find the stringers are rotten u should cut the glass around the stringer close to the transom and have a look take a screwdriver and stab the wood , also do a tap test on the transom with a small hammer this will let u know if the glass has delamnated around the drives it will have a dead sounding thud to it

[gonzo]

In a wellcraft of that age a rotted transom would be common