stringers

[arikalucky13]

im new to this whole boat thing, but someone recently gave me a 16' fiberglass boat. the only problem is that the guy who gave it to me has no clue about the boat (it was inhereted) and i want to see if the stringers are good before i put it in the water. how can i tell if they are good, and if not what should i do about replacing them?

[jimslade]

drill a small hole and inspect what comes out. if its good wood your lucky if its wet and rotten search the forum for stringer replacement. its not fun.

[marshmat]

Originally Posted by jimslade

drill a small hole and inspect what comes out. if its good wood your lucky if its wet and rotten search the forum for stringer replacement. its not fun.

Stringer replacement is LOADS of fun! You get to spend every day in your boat for a full month! And you learn so many new curse words you'd never pick up otherwise.
Seriously, though, count yourself lucky if it's good wood that comes out of your test holes. There are a LOT of poorly encapsulated stringers out there, that just rot to pieces.