Being completely new to boating, my first purchase turned out to be a suprise. You know the story--looks good on the outside but the transom and floor are rotten and it leaked liked a sieve. Thanks to all the kind folks here on iBoats, I think I know enough now to do the rebuild job. I've spent hours reading the great posts.
The floor/deck (which was not original) seemed to be 3/8 plywood with two layers of CSM (it was so rotten I couldn't tell). I just lifted it out by hand, except edges which are well-tabbed to the hull. So now I have two exposed "stringers" about 3 inches high and 10 inches wide, foam-filled, with a board on top. I will cut the tops off, dig out the foam, refoam them, and then glass them over.
The transom will be poured NidaCore or a similar product.
But I have a question I have not seen addressed in these forums.
The reason I didn't know the deck was rotten is that PO had covered it over with 3/4 plywood. The plywood pieces fit tightly and were covered over with stapled-down carpet. It look great and seemed solid when walking on it, but as I said, it was a loose deck, just sitting there on the old one.
This brings up the question: Why can't my new deck also be loose, not tabbed to the hull? After I rebuild the transom and stringers, I could do as PO did--just lay down a new plywood deck. The advantage of doing this is that it would be easy for years to come to just lift the deck and see if things are okay down below.
I'm guessing you will point out that a properly glassed-in deck is structural. I can understand that, but as a friend said, "Back in the '60s, they didn't know how thin the hulls could be, so they made them real thick." This boat is only 15 feet, and the hull has lots of structural "lap lines" which add strength. Also, last fall we ran the boat several times in rough water. The deep hull design didn't have any problems with bouncing over the waves.
seemed plenty strong.
I'd love to hear some advice. Thanks.
The floor/deck (which was not original) seemed to be 3/8 plywood with two layers of CSM (it was so rotten I couldn't tell). I just lifted it out by hand, except edges which are well-tabbed to the hull. So now I have two exposed "stringers" about 3 inches high and 10 inches wide, foam-filled, with a board on top. I will cut the tops off, dig out the foam, refoam them, and then glass them over.
The transom will be poured NidaCore or a similar product.
But I have a question I have not seen addressed in these forums.
The reason I didn't know the deck was rotten is that PO had covered it over with 3/4 plywood. The plywood pieces fit tightly and were covered over with stapled-down carpet. It look great and seemed solid when walking on it, but as I said, it was a loose deck, just sitting there on the old one.
This brings up the question: Why can't my new deck also be loose, not tabbed to the hull? After I rebuild the transom and stringers, I could do as PO did--just lay down a new plywood deck. The advantage of doing this is that it would be easy for years to come to just lift the deck and see if things are okay down below.
I'm guessing you will point out that a properly glassed-in deck is structural. I can understand that, but as a friend said, "Back in the '60s, they didn't know how thin the hulls could be, so they made them real thick." This boat is only 15 feet, and the hull has lots of structural "lap lines" which add strength. Also, last fall we ran the boat several times in rough water. The deep hull design didn't have any problems with bouncing over the waves.
seemed plenty strong.
I'd love to hear some advice. Thanks.
