If you look at any fiberglass book they will always tell you to coat plywood with fiberglass for good construction. This is not true. Never ever, never encase wood in fiberglass. First the wood has to breathe, second fiberglass IS NOT a glue. It is only made to hold glass fibers together. Use epoxy for glue, not fiberglass resin. I build 2 large ribs to support the major bulkhead. The deck shelf was glassed into the middle of each rib. When I started to work on the starboard side to complete the ceilings I notices some black water constantly dripping into the bilge, from the small drain holes I had drilled into the fiberglass underneath the deck shelf. More water came out! I then got out my Rotozip tool and removed a large piece of fiberglass. Water and smelly rot came out all over. I could actually go into the deck shelf and remove it with my bare hands. What a #(*$^$ mess. The water had seeped into the rib from the back of the aft cabin and had no where to go but down the deck shelf. I had to remove up to 6 feet of deck shelf. Thankfully the copper naphthenate I applied the deck plywood protected it. This set me back about 2-3 weeks. But I am glad I discovered it now and not while we are at sea.
The area on each side of the Aft cabin was also rotted. This is where he water seeped in. This shows the port side. Notice the hunk of deck shelf removed.	I used the Rotozip tool to cut away an access to check the back of the port side deck shelf. This was dry and as good as new. Thank God as I had all the ceilings done on that side.
This shows the starboard side with al the rotted wood removed. I completely isolated the new wood from the rib. Now if the rib fills with water, who cares!	Here you can see the starboard side fixed inside. The pressure treated block you see here was found on the beach a few years ago!
This is what the repair job looks like on the outside. Notice the green tinge. This is the copper naphthenate applied to prevent any rot in the future.	Here is the port side fix from the outside. This was rotted up under the teak strip.
Here is the new deck shelf on the starboard side, all with new gussets.	The gussets and wood they are attached to are all new.