Tri Cabin String Repair

[Bob Giaier]

We have a 73 tri cabin that has been in storage for 13 years. We finally took her out last week end on a maiden voyage. The Chrysler 280hp engnes ran great and she immediately and painlessly got on plane. Don't think I went past 1/2 throttle and felt like she could fly.

Ok, here's the ugly part. I had some of the solon deck boards pulled since I was in the process of putting in a holding tank. With a 1 foot chop there was massive hull movement down there and I could see the floor lifting with each wave.

We did a thurough inspection (pulled up the aft head floor) and found that all the stringers were solid and wrapped with no noticable fibergalss cracks.

We did find the problem........ The outer stringers are spliced into the engine mounting frame with a very small lap joint. Additionally, the outer stringers are only about 4" in height thru the aft head and at the aforementioned attachment (splice point). On my boat both starboard and port splice joints are broken. In addition, the engine bulk head (in front of the V drive is cracked and pulled away from the hull. There is also cracks in the bulk head in front of the aft toilet (pull the access cover and check around the lower opening).

I am planning my repairs with some stainless splice plates and lots of West Systems.

I'm sending this posting out, so you guys (and gals) that have a tri cabin can do an inspection at the stringer joint that I describe (you'll see it beside each V drive). I also would like to know if anyone has had this repair done - what did you do?. Third, as I do the repair, I can post what I did for anyone that might need to repair theirs.

[k9th]

Sounds like you have quite a bit of work in front of you - but well worth it for the end result. I look forward to your pics.

[rickalan35]

Bob,

I personally have never heard of this scenario occurring before. Perhaps some of the other Tri cabin guys will have experienced something similar.

I'm going up to my boat this evening and guess what I'm going to be checking first.

After reading your post describing this problem, I began to wonder if there might have been any occasion whereby the long term, dry land storage cradle had been poorly arranged or positioned (you did happen to mention that the boat's had long term storage experience)....... or perhaps, had the Marina possibly dropped the boat onto it's cradle with a bang? .... or some such experience. It's just a thought, but if something bad happened while on dry land, I suppose we should expect some visual evidence on the outside of the hull in the form of chips, mars and/or cracks etc.

Rick

[aaronbocknek]

this sounds to me like the tri cabin was hauled at one point using a marine railway travel lift system. if that railway is not positioned at the absolute aft end, you will get a crack. remember, the tri cabins that have the engines in the aft stateroom are aft heavy. the railway support needs to be properly placed other wise the load will be too much. this happened on BUBALA 3 about 20 years ago when she was hauled at washington marina in washington, dc. as soon as she left the water, there was a loud BANG. talk about a sickening sound. both dad and i almost tossed our lunch. sure enough, upon inspection there was an exterior crack just behind the stern tube going up the port side meeting the splash rail. we were lucky as there was not any stringer damage, or interior cracking.... it was localized to the exterior layers of glass. but the hull did indeed need to be faired out and repaired. my suggestion to you is check for exterior hair line cracks where you see the stringer problems. she might have been cracked upon exiting the water and while she was on the hard, not properly supported and the crack kept getting worse. be forewarned.... this boat should never be hauled using a railway. always insist that she is hauled using a sling type travel lift, and make sure there are supports placed ontop of the splashrails as they too could be damaged if squeezed by the slings. just adding a bit of my tri cabin experience here. and yes. i cannot wait until i finally have one.
aaron in baltimore

[k9th]

Thanks for all of that first-hand info Aaron. That is why we miss you being here - especially those of us who own Tri-cabins. You could Google till you're blue in the face and not get that kind of experiential knowledge.

[rooferdave]

Aaron... don't mean to hijack this but you comment about wanting to own a tri cabin there is a nice one for sale here in my club (1979) for 25 thousand canadian it is a nice boat

[Bob Giaier]

Thanks guys for the comments. I guess it's good so far to hear that no one's had this problem so far, so that this is not some sort of inherent problem.

I will talk to the marina owner about your thoughts on whether it was dropped (I'm pretty sure what his answer will be though). I don't think the boat has ever been transported, but I will look into that one too. I know it's always been blocked up at the very stern of the boat and one third way to the bow with rest pads where the V meets the vertical part off the hull. Then a long rest pad under the keel near the bow. that's how all the boats are supported in the yard (that's typical).

I inspected the whole hull before adding fouling paint. I didnt see any cracks, but with all the old fouling paint I suppose there could have been cracks.

I was planning on calling Beacon Marine on Monday and se if they know anything.

[Bob Giaier]

I spoke with Bob at Beacon annd showed him some pics of the areas. Based on my description of the port fuel tank movement he thinks there is some larger movement towards the bow that is causing the joints and bulk head cracks around the engine aft head area.

Looks like another sea trial is in order to check this out more thuroughly.

Report to follow.

Bob

[rickalan35]

This is sounding more worrisome.

I'm trying to envision just what Bob has described and it's tough for me to do. Like what can be moving around up front?? Has the stem been cracked perhaps and subsequently repaired and reglassed??

Or maybe he means the bulkhead below the door to the V bunks.

I think we all hope though, that this is a repairable issue that can be handled without having to be the owner of a winning lottery ticket.

Rick

[captainmaniac]

Sounds to me like probable damage from bad blocking - especially if it sat there for 13 years. On a boat that size there should be at least 3 sets of blocks under the keel - one right at the transom, one near the bow, and at least one more in between. There should also be at least 2 (if not 3) sets of stands out at the chines to support the boat. If any of these sets of blocks or stands is cranked up too high or one of the sets of blocks is too low, I could see things giving under the stresses over time - especially that long.

Even if the boat was blocked this way recently, has the boat ever been re-blocked (or moved around the yard)? Maybe it was blocked badly before, damage was noticed by the yard, so they reblocked it 'properly' so it wouldn't be noticed.

Only other thought : has it ever gotten full of water and frozen up (ie plugs not removed, or not blocked on the right angle to let it drain)? Could ice pressures inside the hull have done this?

Last question : any Insurance on it while in storage?

[Big D]

Was the vessel blocked indoors on concrete or outside on soft ground?

[ready123]

I would walk away from it.... the money and time needed to make it fine again will have you in an identical boat without the problems.
There are many of them out there......
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... elected=-1

[Bob Giaier]

Again, thanks for the suggestions. This is like detective work (or archeology). When I first started refurbing the boat I noticed that someone had been trying to remove the port fuel tank. I figured it must have a hole in it so I finished removing it, only to find that there was no hole, but instead the 2" fill port fitting was cracked. Now lets go to the topic of the movement I saw up front.

The movement I saw was with the floor over the tank removed. I could see the outer port string which is firmly attached to the hull, moving with each wave and actually twisiting the main port string. And yes the hull was flexing since it is wrapped and attached to the outer string. The fuel tank is boxed in between the outer and main port strings and was moving with the each wave and with the outer string.

I believe that if it was bad blocking it had to have happened before the 13 year storage since noone was working on the boat for the last 13 years according to the marina ower. What I'm saying is that the port fuel tank movement would easily crack the 2" fitting since there is a long galvanized filler pipe connected to the tank prt running to the port deck. It's elbow rests on a plate that supports the solon floor.

I believe something (bulk head or stringer or both have pulled away from the hull in an area I have not inspected yet, namely the front head or v birth area.

I''ve only taken her out on 2 short runs and both times I was so excited that she ran well and had tons of power, that I hadn't spent enough time really figuring out this stringer issue. I go out Sunday with a few people and a few flashlights and I'm hoping to find I was halucinating or something, but I'll let you all know the outcome.

[captainmaniac]

The fuel tank is boxed in between the outer and main port strings and was moving with the each wave and with the outer string.

If the fuel tank is affected by the movement, DON'T LEAVE THE DOCK UNTIL IT IS FIXED!!! That tank splits or pops, and ...... I really don't want to read about a bunch of people being killed while boating by some mysterious, unexplained explosion... (I know you have to leave the dock to fix it - but the only trip you should be making is to get it hauled).

[Bob Giaier]

The movement is not that bad, but it is not right. I doubt any of you guys have taken your boat out with the solon deck removed, you should try it. There has to be some movement or the structure would crack. Again, the movement is excessive, but not dangerous in calm seas.

Ready 123, your a bit extreme. The boat has 500/700 hours on the engines. They run like they're new. Beacon Bob has told me where to look for the problem and if it is an outer stringer problem up at the bow (I believe now it is), then West Systems and woven cloth will fix it in the slip.

I looked at the link with the other Trojans. Those boats are many many many times more than I paid for this one. Just the fuel costs to move another Tri Cabin my way would buy a couple 55 gal drums of West System and I could mold a new hull of epoxy. OK that's an exageration.

Anyways, I'm not throwing in the towel - NOT YET!