Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Questions about boat repairs with our resins and fiberglass: hull patches, transoms and stringers, foam, rot etc.
Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Just to show how bad a boat can look and how it cleans up, a few pics. The first two are when it came home, before I pressure washed her with water only. The last picture is of a small section I test finished this morning. Using a porter cable DA polisher I first used Meguiars # 49 oxidation remover, a medium compound. Then Meguiars #45, a polishing compound. After that I applied some flagship wax. The wax I applied by hand as my backing pad crumbled. You can see the reflection of the motor home I'm restoring in the hull now. I did about 2x3 section. It will get done again when I do the whole boat. Now that I know for certain that I will save her, I'll invest some time and effort into getting her cleaned.

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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

I'll get started building a gantry to pull the engine this week. It will be useful removing the tank as well.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

I decided to go ahead and dismantle the port side cockpit walk around support. It need to be removed to access the floor if I decide to cut into that area, and there was rotten plywood at the beginning of the walk around.

The port side also has a built in tackle box which I would eliminate anyway. I never did like it as it partially blocked the cuddy entry.
First picture is as delivered by Sea Ray + 39 years :)
Then a pic with the tackle box out. The tackle box actually has supports built in that go under the walkway, since the plywood side panel ends at the box.

Last pic is with everything removed. Pretty easy to replace everything except the plywood has to be 1/2 and the local place here only carries 3/4 okoume. It takes one sheet to do both sides. Shipping 1 sheet would be ridiculous. Maybe I use a sheet of birch of something else, sealed with epoxy, then either painted or covered with fabric/vinyl. I never did like the plywood look there anyway.

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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

The starboard side is the same, the plywood just goes to the cabin as the tackle box is not there.
I'll probably screw some temporary supports to be able to walk on the walk around while I'm waiting to do other work.

wpstarling
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by wpstarling »

looks like a big project but the clean up was impressive. Will be nice when completed.
Boats restored: 1973 Glastron CV16, 1990 Proline 17 CC, 1993 Bass Boat
Boats built: custom 15ft flat bottom skiff, Soon-to-be-built TX18 (originally dborecky's build)

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Thanks wp.

IF the transom is good and if the stringers are good, then the job will not be too bad. I really expected those parts to have some issues, and until I get the engine out and the drive mounting off I will not know for sure. I'm expecting to find some imperfection down at the bottom, but I'm hoping it is minor enough to just get repaired.

Tomorrow, well today now since it's 1am, I am building a structure to hold a tarp over the boat to keep it dry. And maybe I'll get the snake camera out and mounted to something for better inside pictures.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

I managed to get better pictures from under the sole today. It appears that the cleats along the hull side were made from plywood and not coated for water protection. First pic is just the camera on my phone showing a clear picture of the side, sole and cleat. The next two with my snake camera, held steady for a better picture. Seems pretty clear there is rot present on the cleat, unless the glue they used is just black :)

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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

So, it seems clear I have to do some cutting. Pictured is where I'm thinking but I need some opinion here. The stern area to the left and right of the engine is solid, but that is a short area width wise, might be rot in the cleats back there. The front is solid also, so I'm thinking of cutting across in front of the bulkhead where the gas tank starts. Picture is of the sole and the areas I propose to cut are shown in red. Or, I could try to remove the whole sole.

Should I try to save the sole and put it back down? Or just build a new one with plywood, glass, and epoxy? (edit) It dawns on me to ask, since the sole seems to be a chopper gun construct and the same for the gas tank cover, it is pretty heavy. Would there be a substantial weight savings using the ply and fiberglass cloth? ( I know the weight of the current sole is unknown)

Also, if you can imagine the sole and the white gelcoat sides are a single molded piece. Is there any reason that I should not try to cut along the sides where the cleats are? Cut through the glass and cleat at the same time? It will be somewhat difficult under the walk around which is the majority of the cutting. If I don't try to save the sole it doesn't matter and I can just cut it out a piece at a time. Would and oscillating cutter work? Or does it require a rotary cutting blade? I have tools. And if there is something better I'll buy it.

I see no foam for flotation. Second pic is of the area to the port side of the gas tank where the 1/2 ply is to hold up the sole there. It's very flat and I'm guessing the hull has a top and under that top there is foam. Just guessing, what do you think? (you can see the tank in the pic)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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Last edited by Barry_CF on Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:04 am, edited 2 times in total.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Also, the width of the sole toward the stern is approximately 80 inches wide, and from the front proposed cut is about 130 inches to the stern. 3 sheets of plywood would cover this area, 4 - 5 if I do the whole sole replacement.

What thickness of plywood and what glass layup do you suggest? I have discovered I can get Okoume 1/2 and 3/4 locally (don't know what the quality is however) which avoids shipping cost. Glass and epoxy I'll order form Boat Builder Central. I have to put in an order for epoxy and glass anyway for the motor home restoration I'm doing, so I can just add it to that.

wpstarling
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by wpstarling »

I'd first try to see what thickness was there first but if it's 1/2" or less from factory then it's up to you really. I personally am a fan of the 'go big or go home' motto but that's not always good, for vertical pieces it's less necessary but if that's where everyone will be standing and there's only 3 stringers or something then thicker should be better (assuming you glass both sides, etc.
Boats restored: 1973 Glastron CV16, 1990 Proline 17 CC, 1993 Bass Boat
Boats built: custom 15ft flat bottom skiff, Soon-to-be-built TX18 (originally dborecky's build)

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