Is my Fisher worth fixing???????

[Tim_N]

I have had my little Fisher V1 450 for 12 years and I will say that it has been nothing short of brilliant. It is now on its second engine.
It began life as a tiller boat but was converted to a centre console about 5 years ago due to health issues.
About 6 to 7 years ago, I lent the boat to a "mate" who was going to take it camping with his kids. Theafternoon I lent it to him, he rang me to inform me that he forgot to put the bungs in and it was sunk at the boat ramp.
I get to the ramp to find the top of the engine and the nose of the boat out of the water, a 4X4 with a winch trying to drag it up the beach, and this guys camping gear floating out with the tide.
The horror....
Anyway, the boat gets uncerimoniously put back on the trailer and within the hour, the engine has been fogged and is up and running again. No further problems with the Yamaha.
The boat gets repaired/fixed by using MY insurance policy, although the guy did pay the excess. I get slammed for the next 5 years with excessive insurance premiums, but hey, I've got my boat back in A1 condition..... or have I.
Over the past 2 years, I have had to have 15 holes of various sizes welded up in the bottom sheets of the hull due to corrosion. This corrosion is from the inside out and is in the bottom half of the sheets down to the keel.
Now, my question is, should I or could I or can I, take the bottom shhets off, repair the damage internally, which also includes the frame work which has also experienced a degree of corrosion, or do I send the boat to the recyclers?
Some say the job is too big and complex due to how the early Fishers were made, and that to replace the bottom sheets involves cutting the entire floor out and this would more than likely get the hull out of shape etc.
I don't know the in's and out's of it, but it will be expensive, and perhaps replacing this very fine boat is the better option.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with anything else but this, and having a leaky boat isn't doing it for me right now.
It could take 50, 60 or even 100 hours to repair, with no gaurantees, or a new small platey can be biult in aroung 125 hours, or do I get a production boat, or do I just go crazy......
The internal of the hull is covered in white bubbly blisters, like salt crystals.
It seems the original salt that got into the boat must have been caught, somehow in behind the frames, or it was never washed out properly in the begining.
The people who did the insurance work no longer exist, so I'm left to carry the can.
What to do..... your advice.
Tim

[finga]

Your at Bribie Tim
Go and see Col at Origin Boats seeing he probably built it to start with.
Tell him Scott said gidday

Cheers Alfred

[spelchek]

Tim, Have you taken the boat to Origin Boats and have them look at it? That would be my first port of call if I was in your position. I'm not sure if you are or are not aware - Col at Origin is 'the guy' from Fisher from when your boat was built. Sorry if it's stating the obvious - just thought it worth mentioning in case you didn;t know.

[spelchek]

Bloody finga pipped me to the post Don;t you have some work to do, fella?

[Jarrah Jack]

Its a lot of corrosion even with the salt are you sure you haven't got a short somewhere?

[Tim_N]

There are no other corrosion areas in the boat. There is no bubbling paint etc etc.
I have a battery isolator switch and do not have any earth leakages, so all I can put it down to is the salt residue from the dunking.
I took it to Bluewater Alloy Boats and they suggested a new hull.
Tim

[Stuart]

Sounds odd to me that your just having ssues with the bottom section of the hull. I would bet you have something in the way of
Dissimilar metal problems. How certain are you that when the boat went finding nemo a packet or hooks, sinkers, lures, lead head jigs or even swivels found there way into the hull?
Maybe it’s imposable for this to happen but it seems strange that it’s just the bottom sheets and not the rest of the hull.

[Tim_N]

It is a fully sealed deck with scuppers so there is no way anything foreign can get in there unless it was shoved up the bung hole.
The effected area seems to be between the middle frames, for example, from about 600 mm from the transom, forward about another 2 meters. Then it spreads outwards about 450 mm either side of the keel.
The worrying thing is the white bubbly corroded crud on the inside sheets, like it isn't even marine grade alloy.
Strange hey.
Anyway, to all you more ingenious types, do you think it is fixable?
Tim

[Jarrah Jack]

As others have said Tim, there is no better bloke to answer that than the bloke who built it. Take it to Col at origin boats.

[Dan5]

Take to your mate who sunk it and let him take it to Origin Boats.

[Greg P]

Buy a new boat tight arse

[Tim_N]

Looks like the best result Greg, but I love my little Fisher.
Tim

[JB]

LOL @ greg... blunt but effective

[Tim_N]

Greg,
What do you reckon of the new Quintrex's.
Tim

[tunaticer]

My tub has reached a similar stage after 15 yrs and these days i drill out the suspect area and whack a peen rivet in there to seal it up again. I do have access to the top side of the floor plate though.
Is it possible to fill the underfloor area with water and slightly pressurise it i.e 1 or 2 psi max? That will also show up some that have not broken through yet as well so you can get them fixed whilst you are at it.

My next tub will be custom built by a mate in Redcliffe.