another stringer replacement help!

im brand new as you can see and this is my first post. i found yall by researching stringer problems when i found mine. and ive read about everything i can find on them. but have a few more questions. first off its a 89 ski nautique 2001. i found my rotten stringers by planning on just replacing a soft spot next to the driver seat and in front of the spotter seat. not even bad but it was killing me to know what was in there and hoping there wasnt what i found!!!! i did all the bolt turning and inspections that i could before i bought it and everything was good until i found this. all the foam is wet and the main stringers dont seem to be to bad but the secondarys are nearly gone. i just bought it about a month ago and of course i want to spend all summer on the lake. how long does a stringer replacement take just doing it my self? after work and weekends etc. i thought of just patching the damage i did till the winter so i could have all summer on the boat. what should i do? or really im asking is there any way i can get this all done before summer is over? and i read it cost about $1000-$1500? to do yourself. any input would be great! as i really dont know what to do now and its driving me crazy!!!

It will depend on how much time you can dedicate to the nights and weekends. The CC guys can give you a lot better feel for hours than I can. Mine was much more involved pulling the top cap and eveything. I haven't done a final tally, but I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 hours and more than $1500 for sure.

I have been working on my rebuild(1975 skiier stringer replacement) constantly since March 1st and I have over $2000 in it and who knows how many hours. the good news is I plan on being at the Callaway Gardens deal next weekend with it if everything goes as planned. I would not attempt it this summer unless you checked your alignment and throughly inspected the engine mount area to make sure it will all hold up to a summer of use. If I saw any obvious problems, I would play it on the safe side.

I am no expert by any means but I did just get through with one of the toughest projects I have ever done but I had no idea what I was getting into to begin with so it made it harder and costlier.

Scott

Ronnnyb - Ditto on the others comments. I am in the process of doing my 83 2001. Hind sight is 20/20, if you can I'd try to put it off until fall and do it over the winter - if you have access to a shop or garage that can be heated, that the boat will fit in. Definitly plan on $2000+ and that only applies if you can stop yourself at the stringers. For myself I put all that work into the stringers and now I want to refinish the gel and install new skins....the project never ends.

Whats that saying about a boat being a hole in the water where you throw your $$$$.

Good luck and post lots of pics.   

I'm just about to continue my '83 stringer job that got put on the back burner due to the garage-mahal I've been building.
I found it to be cheaper to buy kegs and a Beer Mister than case's.