www.iFourWinns.com

Fair warning: ugly pictures forthcoming. As well as some precautionary advice.

Bought my 1997 Vista 278 in 2012, with a small soft spot on the forward deck. No biggie, fix it when it gets worse. I resealed the hatches, snaps, and horn every spring, so I knew I had some time before I had to face this - or did I?

Come summer 2019 and it was worse. Way worse. I actually was embarrassed to let anybody walk across the forward deck as I thought they might fall through

A reputable marine fiberglass shop took on the job. $7,500 I have to supply the 3 new hatches (another $1200). Thankfully the boat is paid off, and surveyed out having a fair market value of $25k. I have 350 hours on the engines, and the genset has like 125 hours. Otherwise, this may have be a fire sale.

Enjoy. Oh, and remember - get out there NOW and reseal your windshield, horn, cleats, snaps, and anything else.

I was present when the shop cut into the forward deck. This is one of the first pictures. You can clearly see the rot. Underneath and around this area was the worst. When someone would step here, the ceiling in the cabin would drop about 2"

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

As we cut further down the deck, I was absolutely shocked to see water dribbling out! The boat has been under full shrinkwrap since October 2019, with no access to the weather. What you are seeing is the water that had been absorbed into the Balsa coring. When people say "that boats wet!", its quite literal.



Look at all that rot! Never knew it went "that" far across. I swear, its like cancer.





Also, a small area of rot ahead of the forward hatch.

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

The pieces they cut out, with some of the rotted wood still attached. They said it was one of the worst they've seen.



The shop owner sent me this picture, from his surveillance cameras - any part of the wood that is darker than the rest is rotted. Its pretty widespread.

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

Ahhh nice fresh wood. This all happened today (6-17-20). They are moving pretty quick now, and I may have the boat back in time for the 4th of July; this all depends now on BOMAR, who was shut down for Covid19, and told me it would be 3-5 weeks for my new hatches




And the last picture the shop owner sent me just alittle bit ago - the wood is being epoxied and sealed. I told him to put it on super thick, I dont EVER want to be in this position again.

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

Prior to this, I'd always cringe when I would hear of a boating friend, or a story of someone whos forward deck was rotted "suckers!" I would think. "Gee, I'd hate to be in that position". Well, it can happen to anybody - I resealed my deck frequently. I was careful not to spray water onto the hatches, horn, windshield when washing, but it was inevitable. Now I am "that person".

Maybe you've wondered what it looks like when rot happens under all that pretty shiny gel coat and fiberglass. Maybe you've heard stories, read something on the web, or maybe you've looked at a boat to buy, and it had a "soft spot" or water intrusion. Well folks, this is it.

Use my $7,500 + $1,200 experience for your educational purposes. Don't buy a boat with a soft spot unless you get a GREAT deal, and be prepared to have deep pockets. Be aware of leaks, worn out seals, etc. Avoid this at all costs.

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

What you experienced it the unfortunate consequence of wood/glass composite construction with poly resin. For one thing often the wood is not adequately sealed and for another poly resin is not water proof like epoxy resin. I’ve been through this with my present (first and only boat). Lousy glass work by F/W for sure, thin skin coat of poly resin on the deck and the stringers weren’t even glassed all the way up, tops were raw wood I kid you not. Stupid rusted staples held the whole thing down and carpet held in the moisture and caused rot. This I repaired back in 07 I did some of it but the harder parts I had done by a glass shop, the deck was done over in vinylester resin. I had to fix a few more spots over the years (gas tank bulkhead, walkway pass thru and now I’m fixing 2 spots where the deck is supported in the engine compartment. All the repairs I did I used epoxy resin. What I learned:
I will not ever buy another old boat, 2-5 years old max. Outboard power only. I might just buy a new one at that. I like fixing things but glass work I truly hate. Messy, nasty work no one wants to do it and that’s why it costs so much. The hand work and the labor hrs are staggering. And you never know how bad it is till you tear into it. NO more old boats for me!!!

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thanks for sharing and it sucks your dealing with that.

Years ago I surveyed an '04 268 and it came back as having a wet foredeck. I was betting on the sunpad snaps not being properly sealed.

What was your rebedding process like? I've religiously rebedded my bow hardware with BoatLife LifeCalk. Since we never used the bow sunpads over the 5 years we owned our 318, I just sold them from our 358 and removed the snaps. Epoxy and some gelcoat - can't find where they were!

Looks like you have a good shop doing the work and that price isn't bad considering the amount of work.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

_________________
2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225