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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Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Many thanks for all the information presented by Boat Builder Central and the cadre of builders and fixers that provide so much help to those seeking it.
I have been reading here for many years, long before Cracker Larry left us. I even registered but cannot find my old registration data so just signed up again. I'm pretty certain that I never commented with the old registration anyway.

I am a young guy, approaching birthday number 70. Still working and always have some project. Lots of tools, some glass experience working on my formula race car.

In 1993 I purchased a 1983 Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish. The boat had been on Lake Erie from new and the owner had all the records. Basically it was taken from winter storage around June 1 and winterized and put back in the storage building sometime in September. The gentleman moved South (Charlotte, NC area) and traded the boat for a pontoon. I purchased it from the marina. My children (4) were age 5 to 15 at that point. We used the boat routinely on Lake Norman exclusively, keeping it in the marina dry storage building when not in use. Sometime around 2005 the gimbal ring (stern drive) broke which requires pulling the engine to replace. I figured I would do that myself since I am thrifty. As we were using the boat less, it languished and just stayed in storage several years. At some point I bought a trailer as I was tired of paying for storage on the boat I wasn't using. It then went to outside storage with a cover over it. A couple years back the cover deteriorated such that there was really nothing over it. I did keep the drains clear and the boat high in the front so that water did drain properly. Also, the cockpit cover was still good protecting that area and the cuddy stayed completely in the dry. Storage was cheap at $30 month. Last month new owners took over the storage and the price went up by a factor of 4 to $120, not out of line for the area, but I have 8 acres and the boat is now home. I was afraid it would be completely rotten. I have always thought that I would restore the boat and I'm getting that started.

Other than surveying and deciding what I want to do it will be next summer before I really get much done. I have a Motor home I am restoring currently and a house at the beach that needs off season attention.

However, from what I can see so far, I don't have any rot issues in the transom or stringers, which would make my restoration much easier and I could work on her before next summer. I have the boat parked on the trailer on my property. I'll have power and water at that location in a month or so and I have lots of battery powered tools.

So, I will post some pictures a bit later after I get a handle on that. I have the tutorial.

I would like to remove the stern drive and add a bracket, single engine for something in the 250-300hp range. Looks like the bracket is about 200 pounds (flotation and swim platform) and the motor another 600. If anyone knows the center of gravity location for the Mercruiser 5.7 liter that would be useful. Doing that gets rid of something I always hated, all the complexity of the stern drive and hole in the boat, plus it frees up a lot of space. Removing the transom width fish boxes and motor cover gives me right at 3 feet of additional length.

I do have two soft spots in the sole, but they seem weird in that I don't think it's related to the stringer structure. They are midway bewtween the transom and cockpit seating and to tje left and right of the gas tank. I'm guessing the gas tank cover caused water to get under the bottom side of the sole and cause some rot on the bottom of the sole but not below in the stringers. I'll show what I mean in pictures when I post those. What I will be asking for is some eyeballs on those pictures and what you experts think it might be, plus a course of action.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Barry

fallguy1000
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Do nothing until asking. Lotsa guys screw up stuff by doing it wrong.

Armstrong is the way to go on the bracket. They may even have done that boat.

CoG is basically meaningless. You only track your changes.

So, the CoG is a simple reference. Pick a point one foot ahead of the engine. Keep track of all moments in and out, or out and in, and you'll know the net effect from that point.
My boat build is here -------->

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62495

Fuzz
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Fuzz »

Getting the balance right can be tricky. I removed a Volvo 31 diesel with outdrive from a 22 foot Seasport and added a flotation bracket and a 200hp Suzuki. Also I built a 20 foot boat and put a bracket on it. Both boats ended up more tail heavy than I would have liked. Both boats need some trim tab to run close to level and that cuts down on mileage.
Try to find the balance point with the boat stock and try to match that when you add the bracket and outboard.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

"Do nothing until asking."
Good advice and I will not.

"Try to find the balance point with the boat stock and try to match that when you add the bracket and outboard."
Also good advice, but I'm not real sure how I will figure out the current COG of the boat. I can't weigh the front and back like I can a race car or even an airplane. I recall that years ago when I first thought about this that there was some info I found, maybe on the Sea Ray website and I haven't visited that in years.

Alright, thanks for noticing my post, and I'm trying to figure out the pictures. I've created an album, I think. I'll try the next step and see if I can make it work.

Thanks again.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Let's see if I can get the pictures on here.

First try will just be the page from the 1983 Sea Ray brochure showing the 245CF and the smaller one:

Image

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

OK, that works with a little experimentation :)

As she sits in my drive after some pressurized cleanup (the Bow railing is off)
Image

Image

The hornets nest that was under the engine cover. Rigged up a coat hanger and wire to pull the cover over after dark and then soaked the nest with hornet killer. Worked out with no stings.

Image

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

The stern of the boat after I removed a bit of above deck rotten wood and the fish box that runs the width of the transom. Also removed is the sole surround of the engine. You can see a bit of the stringer on the starboard side. I see no rot below, in the stringer or transom.

Image

The sole from the engine up to the cockpit, with the gas tank cover in place:
Image

With the gas tank cover removed, and the red lines showing the "soft" area's, the port side being the worst:
Image

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Oops, the red lined pic has the cover in place, here is the picture sans cover:
Image

To the left and right of the tank is what appears to be 1/2 inch plywood that forms the sides of the coffin and they are not continuous. They start at the bulkhead between the engine and gas tank area, and stop just short of the end (front) of the tank. Then they start again just past where the seat mounts are. The picture is the port side front, just under the sole. You can see the aluminium for the seat mount sticking down:
Image

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Ok, so with that initial group of pics -

The sole is solid around the engine and everywhere but the redlined area's. The softness I feel in those spots, with the port side the worst, is maybe an 1/8 inch when I jump up and down a bit. I weigh 230 pounds. I do not remember this flex being there originally. The plywood that fits under the walk around area will need to be replaced but it is solid enough to provide support for the walk around for now. The walk arounds are solid all around the boat.

That gas tank cover has no gasket. Water that went between the cover and the sole is supposed to drain to the stern end and then on out through the scupper. I am thinking that with the dirt built up in there it was not draining correctly and ran out under the sole, wetting the bottom and rotting the bottom of the sole. I'm assuming the bottom side of the sole is plywood, but I'm not sure about that. Looking down I see a pretty clean area, hard to take a picture.

Tomorrow I'll use a snake type camera to get under and take some pics. Forgot I had one of those until just now :)

Any thought? Assuming the problem is truly confined to these spots, just cut that area out? Cut the whole sole out and inspect/repair/replace?

Thanks!
Last edited by Barry_CF on Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Oh, and the gas tank really looks good, at least on top. I expect to remove it for inspection or replacement.

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