Deck leak(s)

[redhead]

Having bought Raincoast, 57' ferrocment Ian Ross design ketch, we took possession in British Columbia (after having driven from NY) and sailed it down to Blaine, WA just across the US border.

She is a yard built boat that had every attention lavished on her when built in 1981 and has been neglected for at least a decade. We found a yard with an old "ways" big enough to haul her and had the sandblasted and after 4 coats of epoxy the surveyor was almost gushing (we got the insurance - hard for a ferro boat). Interior is in great shape, engine room is a tangle of 30 years of chicken wire and duct tape, but functional as is the electrical system. The Dickinson Atlantic diesel stoves work, the heads don't, you know the story.

Right now in rainy northern Washington state I am battling 2 deck leaks. It is a ferro deck with 1981 plywood (not weatherproofed) and then teak on top. The eventual plan is to take the deck down to cement but it's 7 months later and I'd like to go sailing! Anybody know of a product that can be applied temporarily (1 year? maybe 2?) to buy us some time out on the water before another huge time/expense project? We have look at elastomer roof coating (ugly and never hardens) and other products.

I know this is a long post - guess I'm up against it. Thanks all and be kind!

[JPA Cate]

I can certainly understand not wanting to get into a whole deck job. It's a lot of work to do right. However, the problem will only get worse if left unattended, because the rot spreads, and you're in a wet climate.

I really don't know of a proper product to do for that, but if you send "minaret" a PM, he knows the area, is highly skilled, and is a wonderful source of knowledge on CF. Look at his thread "Nauticat 52 Refit"; the work he accomplished tells you lots about him. He does not always tell you the cheapest way to do something, but what he considers the "right way".



Ann

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy.

When I come across a post like this, I am always curious to see the boat. Can you post some photos of your boat and the deck? This might stimulate some other responses.

I have recently seen a few "old teak deck rip ups" but don't have links to them. It does appear to be a dirty job process and labor/time consuming.

Since you are considering temporary "fixes" that may obviously need to be torn out later when you decide to get rid of the rot or wood, one thing comes to mind: some traditional wood boats (with wood planked decks) were traditionally covered in waterproofed canvas (tightly fitted over the deck). The canvas was painted to seal it (waterproof it), sometimes with sand thrown on for non-skid purpose. But, there are issues with canvas decks too. To learn more about that, here is a link to a discussion about canvas over plywood decks. Canvas Deck [Archive] - The WoodenBoat Forum

There was also a thread discussing canvas decks on this forum. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...eck-70058.html

My guess is that you will just have to bite the bullet and fix the deck properly to have to remove the threat of extensive deck rot in the future.

Good luck. And post some photos of your boat and whatever you do! I am sure it will be of interest to more than a few.

[Snowpetrel]

Sikafloor 400n working well so far (about one year) on a very leaky iroko over ply deck.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[redhead]

Several requests for pictures. It looks like I'm limited to 3 in the photo gallery so I posted them under "Raincoast". The topsides are OK, the bottom took us 3 months and is in excellent shape now, but the decks are pretty sad. I looked up the product Sikafloor 400n and it looks like it is Exactly what we need, however, not finding it available in US or Canada. Still looking. Thanks.

[Snowpetrel]

One thing about the 400n. It's very expensive . Probably at least a grand, maybe more, to do the decks on a big boat like yours. A nail with a bucket hanging under it works well short term... Cheers

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[minaret]

Consider a rhino lining job. Lots of commercial boats in your area go that route. If you contact a local yard they should be able to help you contact the guy who sprays them. If you PM me, I can probably help, but am extremely busy with boat show clients right now. Might take a bit for a response.

[Lepke]

One option would be to pull up the teak, repair any plywood, and then fiberglass over the plywood. I would use 2 oz RSM (random strand mat) and epoxy resin. It could then be painted to protect the resin from UV light. You could go 20 years on that deck. With a glass deck, any leaks thru the teak would be stopped. If, when you put the teak back down, you have a syringe of epoxy to squirt in the screw holes, any water seeping down the screws couldn't get into the plywood. If you wanted to bond the teak to the fiberglass, you sand off the paint and put down epoxy with a filler to make a thick coat under the teak.
If your plan is to reuse the teak, number each piece and make a map of the deck. Decking often matches the outside curve of the hull and planks will only fit in one place.

[HappyMdRSailor]

On pro/guru and several really smart guys are tuned into your thread... (yes, the pro/guru is smart too... )

You don't say where the deck leaks are, or the extent... Around hatches? bedded fixtures? Death (deck) joint??? In the middle of the 1.4 Acres of deck you have???

[redhead]

Sorry for the late reply I've been on the boat without WIFI.

The decks are like a layer cake.

The bottom layer is ferrocement. Then they glued old untreated ply down (which has rotted over the years) then screwed teak on top of that. The leaks appear to be coming from either all the deck hardware that has been screwed down or the toe rail. There is a space between the toe rail and the deck that appears to have had some kind of epoxy or liner which has rotted away in the last 35 years. Or it could be a combination of both problems.

I can spend a year and many thousands removing the deck and fixing it. I'm OK with that except I want to find a temporary fix that will last at least a year so I can go sailing. We're right next to the San Juan Islands, the Georgia Strait and some terrific sailing in British Columbia and in the last 8 months I've been sailing for approximately 30 minutes. Enough! If I can grab a summer of sailing and then go back to the grind, that's fine.

Not being a techie, I find it hard to post photos on this site. I posted 3 in the gallery portion under the boat's name "Raincoast". Thanks for any input.

Red