Hello fellow boaters. I have a mid 80s 32 ft Carver. It's a twin inboard with two stringers running between an aft and midship bulkhead. Engines attach to the stringers in that region.

No signs of structural stress, but moisture levels in the stringers and midship bulkhead are about 29 pct. Drilled some exploratory holes in the vicinity of the infamous limber holes. Soft wood. Not exactly rotten, but soft. Core sample I took revealed it is plywood. As I get farther from the limber holes, the moisture readings are pretty similar, but core samples are drier and more solid. So despite the moisture readings, there are clearly differences in the actual condition at different areas. Near the engine mounts and where stringers join the bulkhead all seems solid.


So my question....


Replacing the stringers is too big and expensive a job for a 25k boat. And seems unnecessary since after 35 years the boat has no sign of structural failure. This is something that has been happening since day one, and there are a lot of these boats still in the water leading happy lives.... But I do want to improve the integrity of the stringers. Here are options I'd like to ask those of you who are experienced experts for your feedback.


Option 1. Drill and fill method.

Drill bunch of holes in the stringers and fill with epoxy.

Pros: easy and cheap

Cons: doesn't really so the job for the poorer areas

Option 2. Wood sistering.

Sister the stringers with additional marine plywood on both sides, bolt and epoxy to the original stringers.


Option 3. Steel reinforcement.

Fabricate a Pi (greek character) shaped galvanized steel frame to fit over the area where the bulkhead and two stringers join together. Bolt and epoxy through the original bulkhead and stringers.


I'm inclined to believe 3 is the best option -- for someone like me who likes improving upon the engineering of others that is . But my experience with a matter such as this is admittedly zero, so I am requesting some more experienced perspectives from this excellent forum.


Thank you, John