Relaminating Hull and Stringers for Center Console

[maritimebilly]

Looking for a veteran to give me some advice on thickening the hull on my 18ft Midland Skiff... I have torn everything out of the boat.. deck stringers etc and I am at the point where I just have a fiberglass shell... What I am planning on doing is laying 2 layers of 36oz quadaxial mat with Max Bond Epoxy..After that I am going to lay in the Prisma Composite stringers that jamestowndistributors.com sells.. I spoke with the guys over there.. very very helpful by the way and this is excactly what they did to a 17ft mako and they got great results..if you are not familiar with the midland skiff its a single hull boat that was made in RI up until about 15 years ago.. its a fairly thin hull which is why I would like to add at least 2 layers of thick glass, if not more..any info on what you guys would use for glass and epoxy would be huge help..obviously I am not going to do this with west systems but I dont want to use poly on this thing.. let me know what you think.. here is boat how she sits in the water..along with the pics of the way it is now..

IMO, By the time you get the stringers well glassed in, two more layers of glass would have been overkill. Lightweight also means less materials, lower cost. What a good looking boat! - I'd try to keep it sitting on its designed waterline by not adding too much beef.

[H2OHOII]

I am new here as well, and am looking at rebuilding a 1959 Dorsett Fiberglass boat.

In tearing up the floor of my boat, and looking at the sides of the Hull, I have the same thought as Maritimebilly.... my hull looks very thin, and I am contemplating adding more layers to the Hull and sides to stiffen things up.

I dont mean to take over this thread, but I share the same question on adding layers.

I can undertand the hull bottom being stiffer once having the stringers glassed in, but what about the sides of the hull, The bow of my boat has about the same shape as the above pic, no reinforcement... this is my question, will extra layers be sufficient, or would adding ribs be better ? What I was thinking of was either adding 2 or so layers, or getting some of the Prisma prefab Hull Planks, and glass thoes in....

thanks for any input...

Any kind of stiffener is better, cheaper, less weight than extra layers. Stringers don't have to go just in the bottom, BTW. A sidehull stiffener can be a deck, a shelf, a glassed-in rod rack, a gunnel, core, a stringer or for a cheap/quick job a half a paper towel roll glassed in. It's the third dimension that makes it stiff. If your boat flexes and that bothers you but it lasted for decades as it was, I'd say maybe ad stiffeners judiciously. I would only make the thing thicker if there is a perceived risk of holing from beaching or such or if there is an isolated area flexing and you don't want hard spots where the new stiffener ends (a spot of core would work great there).

[irv]

Interesting pictures, had some that looked liked that in my yard before. By gosh, theirs a 24 foot there now and it looks just like yours. Adding glass will not stiffen your boat. Well placed stringers will. As said above. Support the bottom very well. I have used dirt piled up for 100% support. If you feel the bow is not supported well, shape plywood higher up and on the sides of the center stringer. You can do the same under the side the side stringers where the side of the boat becomes the bottom. Tie your transom to your rear stringers. Seal all with fiberglass or newer product. And no mater what, hit a rock, it will break the glass. Have a fun time building it

[War Whoop]

On some of my small boats I used 5 stringers that cut down the open span (panel width) and made for a rock solid cockpit sole when it was all glassed in.

[SamSam]

As Irv mentioned, support the bottom well. With all the structure removed, you've weakened the hull, make sure the shape of it hasn't changed before you glass in the new stringers and supports. Check for flat spots at the points where it is supported, sags in between, or that the hull isn't twisted. You have to be careful of your own weight changing the shape as you glass stuff back in.

[H2OHOII]

thanks for the input !

Piled up dirt ! now that is thinkin out side the box... I like that idea. Yeah, I will need to add support to the hull before I start reglasssing. I know the floor wont break thru per say, but it does flex like mad.... I can bump the hull from underneath and see it flex looking down into the boat... so yeah I'm concerned about proper support.

thanks again.

[irv]

Hope its straight now. I sat mine in dirt befor ripout. Set the whole boat on 1" or so of dirt and fill in the sides, gently pack but not hard. Work you way to the outside. I would take some measurements to ensure your square. Should be with the full support. The boat wants to be straight. By removing the local stresses slowly should come back to proper shape. Good luck. I use the dirt when I'm done to level yard. All works