Deck Rot - 2006

The rot was caused by a tear in the canvas where the water comes off the aft poop deck onto the bottom deck.
It was my fault, I made a mistake when I did the canvas. I did not know that the canvas would shrink a little after it dried out over the years. It pulled slightly away from the bulwarks and when I stepped on it it cracked.
If I would have been here in 2005 I would have discovered it before it go this bad. I was able to take out the wood with my bare hands. No wonder, it had 2 years to do it's ugly deed.


This is what it looked like after removing the spongy deck.	Deck shelf, cross beams and knees all removed. Also had to remove the top and bottom cedar strips, the top to get at the rot and replace the new deck shelf and the bottom one to allow removal of all the rotten wood that fell in behind. Notice I had to remove part of the Pilot house sides.


Here is the first new deck shelf piece being installed.	Here is the new wood installed and matched to the old shelf.


Here the knees ready to go in. You can see that the cedar has been installed and the stoop, along with the beams.	Here you can see all the new deck beams in, from the cabin side to the new deck shelf. Ready to install the new knees.


Here are the knees in place at the cabin door opening. I hand fit all the knees and Gnettie did her magic with the cutting out with the band saw and router while I finished up with the sanding. Knees are what give the joints a lot of strength. This is how they made ships 100 years ago.	All the knees are in and it's almost ready for the deck. First we'll need to paint all the new wood except for the top of the beams.


Knees are painted, and I'm ready to re-install the nurse tank for the diesel heater, then install the new deck.	Nurse tank installed. The nurse tank fills from the engine fuel bypass line. So as the engine runs it keeps this tank filled. This means we will always have a full tank to run our diesel space heater.


Paper fit into place to be used as a template to cut the new plywood deck.	New deck installed. You can also see I have filled all the gaps with bondo. Also you can see I have fitted and installed new pilot house side sections.


I also found some rot and wet wood on this edge that leads down the stairway. I dried out the wood and sealed it with MinWax sealer. Ready for new piece to be fitted.