This Old Boat...

[cyberkitty]

We finally bought our first sailboat! A custom wood 35' sloop built in 1959 by Rolland Lewis in Prince Rupert, BC. Sometime in the 70's some one laid some thick fiberglass over the hull. And in the 90's a complete make over was done to the boat, as the previous owner got her ready for offshore sailing, sailing her from Alaska to Mexico for 2 years... That being said... for the last 5 years she mostly sat attached to the dock and was used as a 'party boat'...

So the poor old girl wasted away a bit from 5 years of partying... we have some leaks in the pilothouse, and some patches of wood that need replacing, and a small area of delmaination on deck... Hull is solid.

Looking for advice on the best way to solve soft wood problems due to small leaks, here are some of the problems:

• Leaking portholes in pilothouse
• soft wood at the bottom of pilothouse front window, no leak noticable
• rotten edge of plywood on pilothouse roof near hatch
• leaking hatch, small leak, not sure how the water is getting in yet
• 1 foot of delamination just above fuel tank on deck, probably caused by a small crack around the fuel intake cap.

Thank you!!!!

Cyberkitty

[CarlF]

CPES epoxy should be your new friend. Their site has lots of info:

Wood Boats-Wood based epoxy products to repair and resist wood rot.

Also, if you haven't already done so - get a subscription to Wooden Boat magazine.

WoodenBoat Publications, WoodenBoat Magazine, Professional BoatBuilder Magazine, Small Boats Magazine and Getting Started in Boats.



Carl

[s/v Beth]

CK- you may want to talk to Charlie up in Bellingham. He is redoing his wooden boat completely except the fiberglassed over hull. (Sound familiar?) Look at Baggett and sons thread- that is him doing the work...

[rebel heart]

I've got a Hans Christian with a wooden cabin top, wooden spar and booms, and teak decks on plywood. Everything is wood except for the hull. Anything spongy should be torn out and exposed. If it's just a cosmetic bulkhead, rip away anything that's delaminating and build it back up with epoxy. Or just cut the section out and put in new wood.

Leaks are horrible, and generally anywhere a hole has been cut into the boat it will eventually leak and cause a lot of damage if not corrected. If you get there quick enough the repairs are easier than not.

Don't get discouraged though if you're not a carpenter or all that handy. You just have to make it seaworthy and pretty; perfect is for guys in white lab coats in Wooden Boat magazine.

Most folks with fiberglass boats don't get have to do as much work as we wooden (or semi-wooden) people have to.

[cyberkitty]

Thanks for the advice. I`m doing my homework... and we have a little help on the way so pretty sure everything will go smoothly. Thankfully none of the leaks or problems are large. Knock on wood!