Morrison Marine

Fiberglass Boat Restoration / Customize This small Boston Whaler is being used as a platform for fly fishing. A new trolling motor had been installed incorrectly causing the screws to strip out of their holes. The owner was understandably concerned with losing his new motor and came to us looking for a solution. As visible in the photo, the rigger had tried to secure the motor base with screws (9 of them to be exact) not realizing that you can’t put screws into a Boston Whal...er deck. Our fix was to fabricate a composite platform with a stand-off leg and bond the unit to the deck with epoxy. This was finished with a conversion primer and a coat of matching gel coat. The fastener holes for the motor base were then drilled and tapped into the platform with machine threads and the plastic base bolted into place. The finished platform is stiff and strong enough that he can tow the boat with the motor installed. See more

Fiberglass Boat Restoration Finish work completed this rebuild. The saw cuts were closed with fiberglass laminations on each side, sanded to shape and primed. Several unused holes were closed in the transom and the entire work area was refinished in gel coat. Stern hardware is reinstalled or replaced and the stern trim and rub rail is reinstalled and we added a boarding ladder. The owner has ordered new motors for his boat and he is headed to the rig shop next for installation. He will be fishing in no time! www.morrison-marine.com

Next step is the reinstallation of the splash well and adding fiberglass laminates across the transom block. The owner had requested that additional stiffening be added to the port side of the stern to accommodate a anticipated kicker motor. That was easily done with the deck out of the way, very difficult to accomplish with the deck in place. We finished the structural work by adding knees inside the stern to tie the transom to the hull. These knees also were used to secure the fuel tank into place. You can see them bonded into place here, they were then laminated into place with fiberglass.

This week we have removed the rub rail, disconnected the electrical harness in the stern area and used our four motor hoist to lift the deck free of the hull. With our hoist configuration we can slowly lift one corner of the boat at a time ensuring a clean and damage free separation. With the deck free we supported it with floor stands set inside the hull and wood cribbing forward. Now the fuel tank comes out and the new transom block can be installed. You can see the temporary fasteners used to secure the new transom block while the bond agent cured.

Fiberglass Boat Restoration This Bayliner Trophy is going to be a challenge. Leaking fasteners in the transom have led to dry rot spread thru the transom block, into the transom braces, side walls and fuel tank wall. The only access into the area will be to cut and remove the motor splash well and possibly the entire deck. Let’s get busy! We have cut a section of the splash well here and removed it. This required a saw cut around the interior shape, cutting off the cap at the... back end and breaking the exposed bond between the well and the interior of the transom. This work exposed the interior of the side walls. These were wet but not damaged so drying them out was the next step. We used a combination of heat, air and time to accomplish this. As the wet wood dried out, it became apparent that there was a leak in the fuel tank which sits immediately forward of the work area. The boat owner elected to service and repair the existing tank and on this boat model there is one way to get the tank out, pull the deck off the hull. See more