Hunter 22, Bulkhead replacement questions?

[Dorsilfin]

Hey All, New boat owner here

I bought the boat in the fall and am getting it ready for the spring here in NewYork. I need to replace my starboard bulkhead as I was able to put a finger through it.. I figure its time to change it out huh?

I've got the bulkhead out without too much trouble. However I had to bend and really move this thing a bit to get it out and I'm wondering if this type of boat can have a new bulkhead put in, in 1 piece?









Any recommendations on the 1/2 plywood type to use here? Since this is on the interior of the boat, can I use regular 1/2 construction plywood?

I also plan on re -seating and sealing that chain plate once the new bulkhead is installed so that it will hopefully not get leaked on anytime soon with proper maintenance.

Thanks for your input and thoughts!
-Andrew

[Dorsilfin]

Well after some thought and reading. I'm going with 1/2 inch marine plywood.

Doing the repair correctly once so I don't have to fuss with it again. ( I hope)

I'm going to measure a bunch of times and lay out the old piece on the new ply and outline it. Jig Saw cut and hope I can get a close enough match to have the new piece fit right in.

After that Ill clean up and reinstall the chainplate and continue on with the spring clean up to get this boat ready.

[Dorsilfin]

Nothing like running with the excitement of sailing this spring to push ahead.

Got some marine ply and fitted a new piece. Going to button it up tomorrow, get the trim re attached and make sure everything is set.

Then its getting some stain and poly and away we go!




I guess, I'm finding that its best to just jump right in and try figuring things out.

I'm posting my progress incase someone else comes along with a Hunter 22 and has questions about the bulkhead. they can see some pics of how things are coming together pretty easily with a little trial and error on the fitting and cramming it in.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Andrew.

Thanks for sharing.

[Afrakes]

A little late now but it would have been best practices to seal all of the edges of the replacement with epoxy before installing it. Especially if it wasn't marine plywood.

[rourkeh]

You might want to find the source of the water that caused the damage in the first place, or you are going to be revisiting this repair down the road.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Afrakes

A little late now but it would have been best practices to seal all of the edges of the replacement with epoxy before installing it. Especially if it wasn't marine plywood.

And I personally woulda gone with something thicker like 3/4... but that's just me...

[Dorsilfin]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

You might want to find the source of the water that caused the damage in the first place, or you are going to be revisiting this repair down the road.

It was from a leaky chainplate that attached on the starboard side. Going to clean and reseal that in once I've got this piece ready to go so that it will now hopefully remain nice and dry!

[Dorsilfin]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

And I personally woulda gone with something thicker like 3/4... but that's just me...

This particular bulkhead has groves in the fiberglass hull so I was just going off the size of what was there. The groves would not accommodate 3/4th ply

[Dorsilfin]

Originally Posted by Afrakes

A little late now but it would have been best practices to seal all of the edges of the replacement with epoxy before installing it. Especially if it wasn't marine plywood.

Its 1/2" marine ply. I'm considering pulling it back out to epoxy the edges just for safe measure as I've read that in other places as well.

[Cheechako]

Nice job. If 1/2 was the builders size that will be fine. If you do pull it out, you will find it's a lot easier to finish at home before you install it. That Fir ply take a lot to finish it. Daly's sell a teak colored stain that you could stain it with first if you want to try to make it look like teak. Multi coats of whatever you finish it with some sanding to remove the up lifted wood between coats. Even if you scratch it lightly installing it you can then put a final coat on it after install if you have to.
I've used regular Varathane with great results before.