Looking at 23' WA need advice. Newbie also

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Hello all I'm new here but not new to the boating world. I need some advice on a boat that I am looking at. Here is some history.
1988 23' walk around with a 225 mercury.
My buddy bought the bought from a guy in South Georgia a couple years back and never used once.

He had the boat surveyed and everything came back as all good. He started to clean it up but lost interest. This is typical of him and his dad. My current motor came from him at a third of the cost of a new motor. He let it sit in the crate in his garage for 6 years before I bought it with zero hours.

But it has two small soft spots under the seats in front of the console. The raised deck area.

Is this a common problem and an easy fix?

I assume it's from stress over the years and maybe leakage through the bolt holes.

Can I add hatches in the face of the raised deck area and do the repost from there?