TOPIC: 1982 Ebbtide stringer construction?

Hey guys... I have an '82 Ebbtide that has a slightweak spot inthe center of the floor right between where you walk through the left & right consoles into the bow. The weak spot in inthe main floor, not in the open bow section. Anyway, the stringers feel really soild and I was just wondering if anyone knew if Ebbtide ran wood or composite stringers back in '82.

Doug

I am going from memory here, but I tore into a 1981 or 82 ebbtide open bow once that had hit a submerged bouy at a local lake. It was beyond repair, and I was salvaging hardware. I recall looking under the deck after i took all the seat bases out and I recall seeing plenty of foam along with what appeared to be wood stringers.
I apologize for not digging into it further, but I was pulling parts and not going for repairs. I will look and see what I can learn further.
I know that the new ebbtide boats still use wood core stringers based on literature from their website, but these are of course a different breed from the old girls made in 1982.
I will keep digging...

Thanks Mike,
I've decided to go ahead and tear into it today to see what's there. I've got the interior out and the carpet ready to pull but have to run into town for some honey do's before I can go any farther. I put a transom in this boat 2 years ago but for the life of me I can't remember what the stringers were there in the rear. I'm betting they are wood, but we'll soon see.

Nice looking boat Doug, what is she, about a 17 footer? Are those speakers in the passage to the bow section? Would like to see more pics when you get it back together, okay.

Tore into it this afternoon. Stringers are wood and encased in foam. Even better the foam is good and the stringers are rock solid. I got lucky on this one. Should be an easy fix. Probably going to repaint it and go all bright yellow instead of pale yellow/white scheme that is on it now.

MarkS wrote:

Nice looking boat Doug, what is she, about a 17 footer? Are those speakers in the passage to the bow section? Would like to see more pics when you get it back together, okay.

Thanks Mark,
It is a 17 footer, I bought it about 3 years back without a motor. Put a transom in and and used it for a season then fried a cylinder or something in the 140 and parked it for the last 2 years. I'm not sure what happened, I think it lost fuel and starved a cylinder. Got it to fire back up on 3 and made it to the dock, loaded it up, and took it home. Never pulled the cover off of it till last night. lol We'll see.. I've got a 90 Merc, a 115 Merc, and a 105 Chrysler so I'm niot sure what I'll put on her just yet. It's rated for 105.

Those are speakers. Two 6x9 Pioneers up front, and two 6" round pioneers on the sides farther back, witha Pioneer am/fm/cd player and a power antenna. It's a nice old boat and I love the ride. It's a shallow V design, but almost looks like a tri-hull the way the sides droop down in the front. Really stable.

Here's some more pics.
Doug

YUP!! Thats the same foam I saw on the last one. My memory is not as shot as i thought,,,,,,lol.....
Looks like a new deck and your ready to go. Nice boat!!!

Glad to hear your stringers and foam are in good shape, from what I've read on your projects you'll have this one back together in no time! The interior is laid out very similar to my 73 Starflite, guess that's one of the things that caught my eye. (From what I've read over on CGOA, the Glastrons were bad about floor and stringer rot too, guess I got lucky with mine!)
Love the padded backrests all the way around the inside, did you add those? I plan on doing an interior upgrade/redo this winter, always looking for ideas.

PS - LOVE the grin on the Li'l Captain's face standing at the helm!

Thanks Mark,
The side panels are original to the boat. I'm not sure how fast this one will get done. I'm unemployed right now so money is tight. I need two sheets of plywood and some resin. Donations anyone? LOL