Rotted plywood under front seat and wet under deck after rain

[RAI]

I just found that the 20 year old pro-line that I bought recently has completely rotted wood under the bow fiberglass seat just over the live well. It looks like the hatch leaked for years and the plywood wicked in the water and rotted away. The plywood must have been molded onto the bow during fabrication. In front the seat where it extends back into an anchor storage area, the wood seems solid.

1. What is the best way to treat the rotted plywood edge and repair the area once I get out all the wet plywood that I can reach?. The glass is pretty thick on front seat area of this old boat so the front seat seems quite solid even without the wood support. I am not sure that the wood needs to be replaced for any structural reason.

2. One reason that I bought this boat is that the deck seemed as solid as concrete, but now I am wondering if I may soon have a bigger problem. Whenever it rains, I notice that the sub-floor and top of the internal gas tank under the round access hatches are always wet. In addition to the front hatch problem, there are a number of screws in the deck where a front console seat once was. Should every hatch and hardware screw be removed, caulked a reseated to prevent water from penetrating from above?

I am a new, old boat owner who does not know all that he does not know.

Thanks for any advice that you may have.

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Rotted plywood under front seat and wet under deck after rain

Before you start fixing anything it sound's like you may have to do a little more digging to find out the extent of the rot. If it's been "leaking for years" and is "always wet" you could have some serious problems. You might have to cut some holes in the deck to check the condition of the stringers. Once you have determined how much is rotten you can decide if the boat is worth fixing. If you can post any pictures of the damage it will help. There is lots of Knowledge in this forum and some great people that will help you. Start reading and you will find lots of info on how to check your boat for rot.