Remounting winch in rotten wood

[marvinjansen50]

I am now the proud owner of a 1975 Glander Tavana 33' sailboat. It was somewhat neglected and wood under the starboard cabin winch rotted away. I need to do some kind of repair to mount the winch, a Lewmar 16 self tailing. Doesn't have to be pretty, just work. Any suggestions?

[marvinjansen50]

You can see where the winch goes just right of the companionway on top of the cabin, the fiberglass is still intact. Boat still needs to be cleaned. I have been working on the engine and got it going good with help from fellow sailors here. Now need to do some wood repair. Like I said, it doesn't need to be pretty, just work.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by marvinjansen50

Attachment 88732

I am now the proud owner of a 1975 Glander Tavana 33' sailboat. It was somewhat neglected and wood under the starboard cabin winch rotted away. I need to do some kind of repair to mount the winch, a Lewmar 16 self tailing. Doesn't have to be pretty, just work. Any suggestions?

IMO, there is only one way to effect this repair. Remove all the rotten wood and replace it with new wood. Then coat it with epoxy and finally some paint (to keep the UV off the epoxy). Any other way will always be a shortcut and will perhaps fail.
The winch will be putting substantial loads on the mounting point and you really don't want this to give way.

[barnakiel]

If your boat is wood the repair consists in replacing the rotten part.

b.

[q240z]

The field of view in the top pic is too narrow to see what's around the rotten spot, but it kinda looks like the rot extends out a ways, maybe beyond nearby bulkheads/walls. Since it's a high stress area, if it was me, I'd sound the deck with a mallet to figure out where the rot ends. Then I'd use a circular saw to cut the fiberglass skin a few inches back from where the rot ends. Then, peel off the fiberglass in a sheet and pull out all of the rotten wood. Use Cold Penetrating Epoxy Sealer on all of the plywood cuts, since it will wick in and encapsulate any rot spores that are in the good ply. Then install a new sheet of ply, epoxy it in, and replace the frp skin that you cut off. Fair and paint.

[marvinjansen50]

The PO removed the rotten wood and I was hoping to leave the fiberglass in tact and put some starboard underneath secured to the 2" wood that is sturdy. I guess that is a crude patch. Will take a pic from further back next trip to the boat.

[delmarrey]

Considering the condition of the boat, I'd just treat the rotten wood with Get Rot and then epoxy/filler in on the underside a 3/8" sheet of G10 material that fills the whole corner section (e.g. 12" x 18"). Re drill the holes, add fender washers and off you go.

[bsurvey]

rots too extensive for penetrating epoxy. cut out the bad wood and replace it with a patch of marine grade ply wood held in with epoxy or 3 m 5200 then use a large piece f g 10 over it as a backing plate

[ssanzone]

I do think you can do this from inside the cabin and preserve the deck.

1. working overhead is crummy

2. working with balsa overhead is a nightmare

step 1: Cut away all as much wood as possible and get some version of core-cell. cut it to the size of the cut away and shave off the edges, if necessary, to get a tight fit.

step 2: clean the deck (at least this area) and tape off the winch holes from above

step 3: clean the down side of the deck (cabin top) and give a decent sanding with 80 grit to aid in the adhesion.

NOTE: BE CAREFUL and let the sander do the work... it will be easy to burn thru to the geck

step 4: bleach bleach bleach bleach and let dry! (this is the exact place mold loves to grow)

step 5: epoxy the foam in place with 105 / 209 (slow)

NOTE: use something like this to keep consistent pressure applied while the epoxy cures

step 6: read a book or drink a 12 pack or re-tile the bathroom in your house, or take a road trip or do WHATEVER keeps you busy for 48 hours and prevents you from rushing to the next step

step 7: re-consider step 6

step 8: lay up fiberglass over the foam with 105/205 (fast)

NOTE: it is messy working over head and there will b a lot of dripping

TIP: cut a piece of 1/4" wood 150% of the size of the foam AND a piece of 6 mil plastic the same size. put the plastic on the wood, the resin on the plastic, the fiberglass on the resin and more resin on the the fiberglass THEN brush on some resin on overhead foam paying attention to the wood / foam seam. lift the wood overhead and use the joist jack to press the wood firmly into place. the resin will not stick to the plastic resulting in a well adhered 1st layer of glass.


step 9: light sand with 80 grit and repeat step 8 (2 or 3 times)

step 10: drill and re-install the winch with sealed deck holes and a backing plate

step 11: do whatever you are gonna do for the headliner.

gl.
-steve

[ssanzone]

BTW: congrats on the new boat

[ssanzone]

1 last thought...

Check for other soft spots in the deck. It is pretty common to have core rot in more than one place and this is a project bast done all at once.
-steve

[roland stockham]

From the pic that looks like a plywood cabin top and everyone is talking about fiberglass! Don't know the boat but it was comon at the time it was built to build glass hulls with plywood doghouses. If that is what you have then looking at the damage you need to look at removing and replacing the back of the cabin top and possibly aft bulkhead. Not as bad as it sounds, you can join ply by routing a step in both edges and epoxy gluing them together. Make sure you cut well past any apparent damage as water will creep through ply once it gets in so would recomend going at least a foot past any detectable decay to make sure you get rid of any fungal spores and damp. Epoxy coating the outside is good as long as you have all ply (don't do it on solid timber) but trying to fully encapsulate any wood usually leads to problem. To work all the timber has to be controlled in a dry environment to below 12% otherwise you just seal in the damp and it rots out from inside. Leaving the inside painted allows any damp to dry out.
If the cabin top has gone check the decks as well. This is a common problem with boats that have been neglected. Curable but lots of work.
Good luck.
PS If you need more advice the wooden boat forum may be worth a look or any of the traditional boat sites. I may be able to give further advice if you PM me with more details (I run a 1970's classic with ply decks so have some experience)

[marvinjansen50]

Roland, This Glander was a fiberglass hull built by Glander and the cabin added by the buyer. I think this cabin top was heightened in the 90's by a tall new owner getting it ready to live aboard. The top is covered with fiberglass that is thin, but I'd like to preserve it if I can. Thanks for all the advice.

[Old Engineer]

I'm working a similar issue on a 1983 Islander Freeport 41. I have found Don Casey's, Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair manual, published by International Marine/McGraw-Hill Companies Book, Camden, Maine (ISBN 0-07-013369-7) a valuable aid along with West System resin and epoxy manual available a West Marine for free. I bought the Casey book for a few dollars at Half Price Books in Dallas. I've found the hardest part is removing the hardware and rotten wood. Good luck.