I own a 43' boat. It is a 69 vintage with twin outdrives. I am wondering where other owners of the same or different year and configeration have found rot, and how have they resolved it.

TRANSOM, ENGINE STRINGERS, DECKING FRAMING, HATCH OPENINGS, WINDOW _frame_S, ROOF FRAMING. MOST OLDER HOUSEBOATS CAN HAVE EXTENSIVE WOOD ROT. YOU RESOLVE IT BY REPLACING THE BAD WOOD. THIS CAN BE AN EXPENSIVE PROCESS. MANY BOATS HAVE SO MUCH ROT THAT REPAIR COSTS CAN EXCEED THE VALUE OF THE BOAT. nn

Most Nautalines especially with outdrives have extensive transom and stringer rot. They are famous for the galley area to have broken stringers, the year you have also had a deck rot problem.

I also have a 1973 34 ft Nuataline. I replaced the transom and stringers in the engine bay and about 4 ft into the salon. Not too bad a job. I'm just now closing up these sections with fiberglass mat tape. The problem is that the wood is plywood and any water is sucked up like a sponge into the endgrain, and in plywood there is a bunch of it. Add to this that the stringer is enclosed by glass and the water can't escape - perfect for rot! There is a solution though. A product sold by Rot Doctor called CPES can be injected into areas that aren't too far gone and it will stop the rot and strengthen the wood. I've used it and it does work! - but it ain't so cheap, but not out of this world either. They have a great website and help on how to use their products. For the areas that are just mush you have to dig it out and piece in new and glass over. I have drilled along the length of the stringers, even those that appear good- you can tell by looking at the drill tailings, about every 6 inches and injected CPES followed by a wood matrix filler. I left about every foot a small area of wood on the top of the stringer exposed, without glass - this will allow the wood to "breathe". Roofs on almost all houseboats are poorly built. They don't have enough support for the thickness of the decking, so it flex's and debonds with the fiberglass and you've got problems again. You repair this also it isn't too bad either. Side decks are the toughest - primarily since they are difficult to reach in the forward side sections. The inside salon panels can be removed and good portion of the under decking can be gotten to this way. I have repaired several old houseboats, Gibson, Burnscraft, and Carlscraft. This is my first Nautaline but it is pretty much the same, I have found. Old Houseboater is right there is a point when it is time to let one go, but if you can get one for a song that has decent engines and gen set and you have time you can save yourself a bundle and have a great boat. I get a lot of satisfaction "tinkering" on things so I don't mind the work. This forum is great for info and help you'll find a world of knowledge here and great people willing to help!

I have a 1968 43' Nautaline. It's pretty solid except for a couple areas

1 - Hatch covers and _frame_s around same on stern
2 - Slight softness at outside starboard exhaust
3 - Rot around drain for front hatch cover where it leaked

Could the CPES be injected in the transom area while the boat is still in the water? nn

Yes you can put it in while in the water, what he is talking about is similar to GIT ROTor WHAT ROT. It is very effective on wood that is soft but not crumbling. Drill holes as Joe said in the stringers and fill them up. i guarantee you have rot in them somewhere.

I've never tried a repair in the water, but I suppose it could be done. I've used GIT ROT and CPES is way better. It has the thickness of diesel fuel and pretty powerful solvents - use a LOT of ventilation!! it will wick into wood that is damp - not dripping wet. Drill your holes into the transom to not quite go through all the wood. Drill several rows use a turkey baster to inject CPES and I follow it with about 20 psi air from a rubber tipped blow gun that will seal to the hole and pressurize the hole into which you have injected the CPES. Drill your holes about 5/16-3/8 diameter and about 5 inches apart. You will see CPES dripping from surrounding holes when you have injected and air pressured enough of the stuff into a hole. Go onto the next hole and repeat. Most of the time the severe rot is right at the bottom of the outdrive hole - a pretty tough place to get to with the engine in. By the way if the wood is really wet drill your holes and put a little warm air on the area to help dry it before attempting a repair. Good luck

ROT DOCTOR SITE


http://www.rotdoctor.com/index.html#1