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[uncharted_water]

Hi All! This is a long one.

I recently bought a 1980 SVR 300 Express Cruiser. It definitely needed some TLC (few missing seats, interior upholstery, etc), but a few things are turning into a bit bigger problem than originally thought to be. For instance, there was linoleum flooring in the dinette and galley that appeared to be saggy/soggy. It was loose and upon inspection prior to purchasing it appeared that the sub-floor was the only thing that needed to be replaced. After a rain, it looked like there was a leak from the header at the cabin entryway door that was the source of the water damage. Once I removed the linoleum and the plywood floor, I discovered a much larger issue that appears to have been one from several of the previous owners. There are good records in terms of owners manuals for the boat and most of all the equipment that is installed in it. However, I'm interested to know if anyone in the club/group has has a similar issue and has pictures of the damage/repair. 

The problem:

The deck between the dinette and galley is completely removed. It appears that a previous owner had a water issue and cut the original fiberglass deck floor and replaced it with some dimensional lumber and plywood, then laid linoleum. In the forward cabin, the floor through the door at the base of the under-berth storage is removed as well. It was carpeted and laid in place, held merely by the nap of the carpet and minimal clearance of the plywood floor. A bulkhead under the door threshold is merely held in place by what appears to be a previous fiberglass repair (slight pressure causes it to flex significantly). A bulkhead under the main cabin entryway, separating the main cabin from the engine compartment, is pretty solid and appears to have penetrations for electrical running to the bow and the head. The "walls" of this under-floor compartment are pretty much disintegrated. My hope is that these aren't structural stringers, but with my luck, they may well be. I'm leery on this label because I'm not to the outer hull since the floor of this compartment is flat and not contoured to match the hull. So, I'm thinking that what is disintegrated is just a substructure to support the main cabin deck.

A few thoughts:

I was aware that this boat was going to be a project. It had been sitting through the winter and abandoned by the most recent owner in the spring. I picked it up for cheap and it came with some free land storage. Originally I thought, since the marina owner stated it was running on the water last season, that I could get it back in the water and take my kids out before I really got in to making this boat my own. I had plans to do a lot of the restoration myself, trying to keep a lot of the "charm" from that era of boating, but get rid of a lot of the "shag", equivalent to the "pink bathrooms" and "tile counter tops" that plagued houses from that same period we all now abhor. At some point, I was planning to completely gut the cabin and refinish all of the solid wood, replace/upgrade the appliances (would prefer an in-counter range with cover, and cover for sink, rather than the current counter top electric one, replace/redo cockpit seating/entertaining to something of a more modern style yacht with an asymmetrical curved bench seating layout around a single pedestal high-low table, refrigeration and electric/gas cook top and sink, and replace the swim re-boarding/entry-over-the-transom ladder with a transom door (would make for much easier entry to the boat), among many other things.

There are probably going to be plenty of people that will probably tell me to just sink it and get something that isn't older than you are. That's fine, everyone has an opinion. I'm interested in hearing from people who have had a similar floor issue and had it repaired (either DIY or professionally) and would share some pictures/methods. I'm also interested to hear from those same type of people whether they would band-aid the floor back together (I still can't find the water entry point), enjoy the boat with the kids for the summer, and work on the rest in the off-season. I couldn't attach any photos, so I created an Instagram account to share the photos here and document the restoration progress. Hopefully the link works.

https://www.instagram.com/uncharted.water/

[wingless]

Welcome to the forum.

That sounds like a fun project.

Ensure the hull and cap are sound, or defects may be fixed before getting too involved.

Images didn't work.

[uncharted_water]

Thanks! It is no doubt quite an ambitious undertaking.

Try just going to Instagram.com and then type "uncharted.water" in the search bar. You may even be able to search "uncharted.water + Instagram" in Google or Safari and find the account I created there.

[wingless]

This troglodyte does not have an Instagram account and won't be creating one to view the images.

Good luck with the project.

[PatH]

I have a 1994 300 Sundancer Express that had similar damage. It did involve the galley partially, aft cabin, engine room bulkhead and stringers. And some overhead balsa core damage as well.

I took on the task. It was a challenge to do properly.

It did take three years of part time. I could have done it in two with help. And really made progress once I rigged an HVAC so I was not dependent on the weather

Multiple albums at various stages

https://Www.facebook.com/HughesPat57#!/HughesPat57/photos?lst=1369864107%3A1369864107%3A1595202861