Stringers

I bought a boat. It's a 1986 ski nautique. The main stringers seem OK. The secondaries, not so much. Here is a video.

https://youtu.be/fuS-9ZONul0

This boat has been in storage for 5 years. I'm pretty sure the stringers are dried out. I've got some more engine work to do. But would like to take it out on the lake soon. But I really don't want to get those stringers wet.

The floor seems solid. I was thinking about mixing some epoxy resin. I have some West System 105 resin and 206 hardener from a previous project. Maybe applying it with a paint brush into and over all the cracks to prevent the water reaching the wood. I know this isn't a proper fix like a full stringer job would be. But it might buy me some time? How much I do not know. Maybe 1 year or 5 years or 10 years or 20 years I do not know? Seems the boat has lasted 31 years already. Might be easy to extend it a few more years?

Any advice? Is this a bad idea or is there a better approach?

Thanks,
Roger

So how long do you think this boat will be useable as-is?

It is VERY common for boats of that era to have cracking on the secondary stringers, particularly at the top where they meet the floor. I suspect the glass was a little thin here and the factory did not take great care to keep that 90 degree joint from failing long term. This is often one of the precursors to a rotten structure, but it is not the other way around. If the wood behind those cracks is solid, absolutely seal them back up- it will prolong the life of that structure significantly. If it's rotten back there beyond belief, then follow petes advice. If you want to seal them, I have used epoxy thickened with aerosil-cabosil with good results.