Noobie with new-to-me AS. '93 Osprey 210 CC

[btravlin2]

Howdy......now that I've got this boat it makes sense to be here. Hello all.

I had sort of been in the market for a Hydra Sports 2000 Vector because I wanted a pocket offshore fishing boat that I could trailer and/or keep in a lift. I also wanted it small so I could do some inshore, shallow boating as well. Along came this AS for a price I couldn't really walk away from. It has a '95 OceanRunner 225 on it, and the boat has spent most of it's life in a covered boat house with very few hours. Original owner. After compounding and applying Starbright PTEF, it is super clean.

For anyone's interest, here are the things I've noticed so far. I was immediately impressed with the fact that there isn't one spider crack/crazing in the gelcoat. None! The SS hardware was clearly high quality.....no corrosion or rust spots (like the cheap chinese SS I've been unfortunate to be familiar with). The pronounced deep vee (maybe 22 degrees?) looks aggressive. And lastly, the boat just felt beefy and solid.

Research indicated the transom was possibly a mix of composite and wood. Whatever it is, it's rock solid. Research also indicated the floor was likely wood cored. Now it gets interesting. Here is what I found yesterday.

I pulled the rear deck hatch to re-bed because it was leaking (more on that). The exposed core of the deck was solid fiberglas!? I was expecting balsa because the floor has a real rigid, but light feel to it. No softness at all.

I've seen a technique on some boats (high dollar ones too) where most of the deck was cored, but they switched to solid FG in localized areas where they knew stanchions, etc were going. Does anyone know of AS doing this? Otherwise, the whole deck is FG laminate, a big plus for me!!

The downside so far? The floor of the hold below the leaking hatch was poorly done with ply-coring, and hence.....rotted. It was only surfaced with a thin gelcoat which spidered and soaked the wood. Very poor work there, but that's the only negative I've found so far. I've ripped out the bad stuff and will do what I can after it dries to seal underneath with epoxy before putting in a new floor.

I'll be taking it out soon. I can't wait to see how it cuts the chop. My last boat was a Mckee 18 Southporter, and it pretty much didn't go offshore because of the flat design. It was a fun scooter, though.

Well, happy to be here. Cheers......

[Capt. Bob]

OK then.
Welcome aboard bt2.

Interesting model you have. Last year before the Euro transom. A pic or two would be nice   especially of the rear hatch area.

Look something similar to this ( pic on left/line drawing below)?
http://www.classicaquasport.com/gallery ... -3&cat=575


Like my WAC hull with a different cap.

[seabob4]

And hence the 210 became the 225 Osprey...

Welcome, would love to see some pics of the cockpit!

[Bergertime]

Welcome to the AS community!  They guys on here are great and I can't imagine not having them as a resource.  You are in the right place.

Tight lines and calm waters,

Bruce

[btravlin2]

Howdy......I finally had the time to work on the boat again. As you can see in the picture, I cut out the rotted floor in the hold. It turns out that this was 5/8-3/4" ply that was unfinished on the bottom side!! I couldn't believe it....raw, exposed wood underneath. This meant that every time water was in the bilge the wood was getting wet.

Since this small floor in the hold doesn't appear to have any structural value, I can only assume it was there to keep whatever was in the hold off the inner hull. I'm not sure I see a reason to replace it, as I will probably only use it for lifejackets.

So this, in and of itself, isn't a biggie for me because the rest of the boat seems to be well-built.

However, I am greatly concerned that the floor underneath the fuel tank may be built the same way, and hence, rotted. I can't reach under there, so I have no way to tell. But it's a scary thought.

Does anyone know how the floor under the tank is usually constructed? Clearly, if it's raw, exposed wood it will be rotten.


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[gran398]

Will assume the fuel coffin "tub" on your ride was molded into the liner/deck. All one piece.

So...no worries with rot.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't keep an eye on your tank. Do the bilge "sniff test" periodically.

[seabob4]

Scotty, most likely the tank floor was separate, glassed in floor, not part of the stringer grid.  That's what was in the 225 Osprey.  btravlin, fear not, that floor was first chopped (glass encapsulated), then glassed to the stringers.  It will be fine...

[gran398]

Gotcha, thanks SB. The good news is "no worries"

[Capt. Bob]

Scotty, most likely the tank floor was separate, glassed in floor, not part of the stringer grid.  That's what was in the 225 Osprey.  btravlin, fear not, that floor was first chopped (glass encapsulated), then glassed to the stringers.  It will be fine...

Like the man said.


This carries the length of the coffin. You can see the "knees" in the foreground used to mount the original tank. The black false bulkhead is my doing. Smaller tank toward back (top of photo) and battery relocation in front (bottom of photo)

Plenty strong.

Good luck.

[seabob4]

When a sub-floor is part of the stringer grid, it most likely will follow the shape of the hull...like on a 245 Osprey or Explorer.  The reason being is that most of these grids use plexus to bond them in place, therefore the grid has to be in close proximity to the hull bottom.  The 245/250's fuel tank is aluminum, with a v-shaped bottom to fit the tank compartment.  Matter of fact, now that my mind is going back and trying to picture chit from 15 years ago, I do believe the 225 used a v-shaped bottom poly tank as well...so there very well may NOT be a sub-floor underneath, just the hull bottom.  Let me see if all that AS info has the 225 tank drawing in it...

[seabob4]

Yep, semi-V shaped.  Here the drawing in this attachment.  The tank's bottom looks exactly what Bob's pic shows...

[Capt. Bob]

Yep,
That's the same shape as my aluminum tank. I did toy with the idea of going poly but ended with the aluminum. The bottom of either type tank rests on the "floor". Water is designed to traverse from the forward "bilge" (between bow/forward bulkhead/anchor rode compartment and second (main) bulkhead) underneath the tank floor, through the third bulkhead and exit into the rear bilge. 90/2000 era WACs have a forward pump. Not sure for the Ospreys but the route of the water is the same. The "plumb hull" design will often trap water forward unless the bow is raised (say on a trailer).

I'm thinking your hull (under deck) looks just like this (sans the extended Euru transom).

[btravlin2]

That's all interesting stuff, and a great relief too. It was very strange to see one small aspect of this boat having been built so poorly when everything else I've seen is impressive. I was about to glass in a new floor in that hold, but then I thought....."why not do some fishing first?" I can fix stuff later.

I already rebuilt the carbs (they didn't appear to need it), water pump/impeller, filters, fuel lines, plugs, etc. All that's really left is to fine-tune the slow speed idle screws and maybe get someone to check the timing. The Gulf is laying down alot more, as it tends to do in Fall. Time to fish!