Another Newbie and my boat pics - Advice?

[robertmee]

Longtime fisherman, fishing since I was about 10 (now 42), but this is my first 'real' bass boat. I've been fishing from a 20' playcraft pontoon this past season, and that's no fun. So, for about 3 months I've been diligently watching local ads, craigslist, ebay, etc. and finally purchased my 'new' boat. It's not without it's warts and to that end, I need some advice. Prior to purchasing I did check the best I could transom strength (seen the horrors), floor condition, and most of the electrical.

The good: Transom seems solid as a rock. I weigh about 220, and I couldn't get it to budge jumping up and down on it. The hydraulic tilt/trim works just perfect, all hoses in good shape. The Mercury 50 had $800 worth of engine work and seemingly runs very well, although it's suffering from old gas and likely gummy carbs at the moment. Compression checked in at #150 on all cylinders. Aerator's work as do the RPM and Speed gauges. Has an old whrilibird hummingbird that I'll probably take off.

The bad: Bilge pump locked up and blows main fuse when tried to run. Trolling motor connector trashed. And the worse, two very weak spots in the floor. One is the front fishing pedestal and the other is under the cockpit. Which brings me to my question (which seems like everyone has). I've done quite a bit of reading and have more to do, and I know floor work and/or stringer work is in my near future. You can see from the pictures how the screws on the front pedestal have basically nothing to hold on to. Reaching under the floor next to the well, I can feel what I would describe as tee-peeing of the floor (splinters), so it's at least cracked.

On the front floor, since it is a risen deck, how is it constructed? Is it just a built up wood sandwiched fiberglass box with both the shelf and risers being wood. It all seems molded as one fiberglass 'body', so I'm unsure of how to begin fixing. I'm anxious to get some use out of the boat this season, so is it safe to do a temporary fix (some resin coated plywood) before attempting to cut out the entire floor. All the tutorials I've seen/read to date are on flat floor designs all the way across the boat. I'm unsure of what I'm in for with this multilevel floor design.

Anyway, here are some pics, and any advice would be greatly appreciated.