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Just read the WC article about repairing the deck of an Outrage 22. Is it likely that if I buy an Outrage 18 built in the 1980’s that the deck will require repair? My take on the article on WC is that the factory does not caulk the deck screws or caulk the deck to the hull. If this is the case, then there will be water leakage and therefore the plywood of some decks will be rotting. Is there any plywood in the transom? If so, is there likely to be dry rot in the transom? If the hull a totally sealed unit?
Thanks in advance.
Mark

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The floors of the classic Outrages can get soft due to the plywood under structure failing over time, but the time line varies greatly between boats, mostly dependent upon how they were looked after. As you've read, it's a repairable item, so not the end of the world when a rebuild is needed.

Boats that are trailer kept, under shelter hold up well. My 1985 Outrage 18 has the original floor and it's still in pretty good shape. I will have to rebuild it eventually, but right now I'm guessing I'll get at least 5 more years out of it.

Boats that are left outside with the plug in, or moored, tend to need the floor rebuilt more often, due to having more moisture in the fuel tank area for long periods of time.

There is plywood in the transom, but it's not very common for there to be problems with them. Make sure the motor mounts and thru hulls fitting are sound, and that the top edge has no more than crazing cracks, and the transom is unlikely to be a problem.

The floor is a separate component from the transom, so the issue is mostly unrelated. The exception would be a boat which has really not been looked after, which may have more than a little water in the core, but it sounds like you are looking for a good one anyways, so not really a worry.

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It is not likely that an 18 Outrage built in the 80's will require repair. The factory did caulk the deck, but caulk has a limited useful life and many owners did not see it as required maintenance as often as they should. Even then, the deck will not need to be rebuilt, unless the boat was left with standing water that covered the deck. This would need to happen multiple times, be primarily fresh water and the factory would have had to miss large spots when they sealed the wood. My 18 Outrage had no caulk on along the tank cover, was filled multiple times with rain water by the previous owner forgetting to remove the plug. There was a limited amount of rot around the deck opening, easily solved with git-rot and resin. The area under the deck is expected to get wet and the water is expected to drain out the sump. The caulk helps direct the majority of the water across the top of the deck but there are holes that allow water to get into the tank cavity.

There is plywood in the transom, it is separated from the tank cavity. The transom can get wet if the interior foam of the boat becomes wet, but it is more likely to happen form uncaulked screws holding things like transducers.

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Thanks for the info guys. Will apply those criteria to the boat inspection. I have no problem doing the work to repair a deck but I'd like to try and avoid it. Still hunting for that Outrage 18. Hopefully will find the right one before next summer.
Mark

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I have a 1979 22' Revenge, which is a 1979 Outrage with a cuddy cabin. My decks are in fine shape. The damage you speak of , I believe is from condensation from lack of ventilation. I removed my fish locker deck cover and expected a major repair and no repair to speak of. I believe it is a "crap shoot". Plugged drains, no ventilation, etc... all factors. When I removed the fish locker deck, kudos to the original installation. No failure of the original sealant present.

Garris

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In the late 1980's I worked in the Norwell plant and installed Fuel tanks and the tank covers on the 18,20,22 and 25 ft hulls. We used bedding compound on the screw holes for the tank covers and also around the tank covers. Over time the edge of the tank cover would likely need to be redone.
This spring I bought a 1989 Outrage 18 and the tank cover is solid and the sealant looks good around the edge of the tank cover. There was 3 to 4 of us that installed tanks and I wonder if I installed the tank and tank cover on my new boat.

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The Outrage 18 is sounding better and better. Thanks for telling me your experiences.
Mark