First Boat Maxum 1600?

[dustincraine]

What's up guys, I am a new owner to a 1990 Maxum boat! This is my first ever boat and I am a pretty big noob to boats but I have been reading up and researching. I bought the boat from a family friend for $1500, the motor is a force 50hp and has been upkept pretty well from shop records. I tested the boat out and it did fine on the lake so I bought it on a wim. I am extremely excited to make this my new project and have lots of questions and ideas!
The boat does need some tlc but I gave it a good wash and cleaned the carpet. I also fixed the wiring and the radio, depth finder, and every light on the rig works! My only issue was the rotting deck, there was a hole upfront that I patched with marine plywood and sealed with epoxy. But I do have some questions, the stringers on the bottom under where I patched the hole weren't necessarily rotten.. But not in place? As in I could pull them out and not connected to the hull, is this okay? And there was no foam in the front, but that is all I pulled up of the deck is this normal? The boat does sit very far down in the front when I test drove it and leans to the left some with level weight distribution in the boat, I'm thinking the foam is wet but the rest of the deck is fine no soft spots so I don't know. I know I have a lot of questions but honestly I know barely any about boats but took the deal on sort of a project.
Any info on frequent issues with the 1600 xr would be awesome! Thank yall, and cant wait to get this thing in perfect shape!

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

No the stringers should be bonded to the hull. I suspect you may find more damage and rot under the entire floor. Also sounds like someone removed some of the foam as it was full of water and I am sure the rest is as well.

IMO use it this season and in the Fall look more closely at the floor and substructure for repairs.

[dustincraine]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

Welcome aboard

No the stringers should be bonded to the hull. I suspect you may find more damage and rot under the entire floor. Also sounds like someone removed some of the foam as it was full of water and I am sure the rest is as well.

IMO use it this season and in the Fall look more closely at the floor and substructure for repairs.

Thanks man, Yes I agree I do think there will be more rot to be honest and I believe the foam or under the deck has water or had water. But yeah that is a good plan. I didn't know if this is a I need to fix right now thing with the stingers and possible rot, or if I could use the boat this season then strip it down and redo the stringers and such next winter. Its not severe, but I do not know a lot about boats so it kind of threw me off how low the bow would get when I walked in the front (250lbs)

[mmwjr]

Not sure what you mean by how low the bow should get, if you mean should the deck deflect under your weight than the answer is very little if all is sound.

[dustincraine]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

Not sure what you mean by how low the bow should get, if you mean should the deck deflect under your weight than the answer is very little if all is sound.

I mean as in the water, If I walked to the front of the boat it would get very low to the water. As in 3-5inches of coming over the front into the bow. Is it normal for this boat to sit that low? And will bad wakes make it take on water or is it because the water logged foam is effecting it you know.

[mmwjr]

This does not sound normal to me, can you post a picture of it sitting at rest in the water?

[dustincraine]

Yes I will be bringing it back to the water this weekend and I will take as many pics/videos of it I can! So just give me a couple of days but thank you for the help man.

[shrew]

The stringers would be tabbed to the hull with fiberglass and resin. I don't see how they would detach enough to move. Did someone sister in second stringer to shore up a rotting stringer? Is the stringer exposed wood or encapsulated in fiberglass, resin and bilge pant?

Are the stringers moving, or the bases (boxes) the forward seating is built on? I could with the sole rotting, those would begin to show movement. The sole would be sitting on top of the stringers. Often rot from the sole spreads to the stringer attachment points, then spreads like a cancer. Usually it would be the tops of the stringers.

[dustincraine]

No I've only looked at the front of the boat under the deck where I replaced the hole. It was just a piece of work shaped like a trapazoid laying on the bottom of the hull and sides. It was soft wood and black layer of something on the bottom of the wood. I haven't looked anywhere else under the boat because it's all solid no soft spots. But I'm wondering if the foam, wherever it is, is wet. And if the stingers are rotten all throughout the boat

[shrew]

In the hull there will be 2 stringers which run from the transom in the stern to bow. These will look like joists (2 x 6 sanding up on its side). They would be somewhat parallel to each other.

There are plywood pieces which some would refer to as 'secondary stringers' though I think traditionally 'bulkhead' is a more appropriate term. Both the stringers and the bulkhead would be tabbed. There would be fiberglass sheet and resin covering a portion of the hull and stringer marrying the two together.

What you describe sounds like a bulkhead was installed to shore up the soft spot.

[dustincraine]

Yes you are right! I thought the stingers went horizontal across the boat because this of wood did! It must have been a "bulkhead" for the deck.

[dustincraine]

Okay guys so I got some time to clean the boat, I cleaned it up real good. Washed the vinyl, and the carpet then vacuumed. I also fixed some other softish spots and a seat that was rotten. It was the only seat that the bottom was rotten which I thought was weird but I'll take it. I copied the exact design that the rotten wood was and it worked great! The foam was still good and actually in plastic still inside the seat. I also got the bilge pump, radio, speakers, and depth finder working! I think she is turning out very nice, now all I need to do is some wet sanding/buffing to get the oxidation out and she'll be good as new. To me atleast haha.

[mmwjr]

Looking good.