restore plywood boat

[treeclimber@xtr]

Hi there I bought a 26 foot launch today. It was a project the previous owner began and decided he was unable to finish. Basically he was attemting to lower the floor at the stern and move the helm forward to provide more area for fishing. There are several places of rot that needs to be repaird and several places where a clean hole has been drilled in the ply say with a door knob drill/cutter.

What I would like some advice on is this. The best way to make reapirs to the plywood both rot and the clean drilled holes and where or not to rebuild the topside entirely. alot of the topside is plywood and not so attractive. I have plenty of timber and would like to do a nice job but I dont want this to take forever either, The idea is to go fishing.

[teakcell]

Congratulation on your acquisition. I need pictures to answer re. ''places of rot''. I would repair plywood, especially as the idea is to go finish only, by plugging another piece of plywood/or moisture resistant wood with epoxy. I would drill a V hole and plug the plywood in, well epoxied. That's it to me.

[treeclimber@xtr]

That is what I thought. I'll get some photos up, Some places are clean holes that will plug nicely and other are area's of rot that are asymetrical and take up an area, of say, worst case scenario - 15 square centermeters.

[alan white]

You will need to show some pictures if you want good advice. I assume the boat is old and made from wood. I also know you mean deck or cockpit sole when you say "topsides", which actually means outer hull above the water.
Regarding covering plywood with solid wood, it probably would be beyond what you have time to do once you begin to deal with other issues. Wood boats can quickly bankrupt you, especially older ones, so proceed slowly and cautiously.

[thudpucker]

Some things to watch out for.
Years ago I raised a 24' Ply cabin cruiser off the bottom of a lake. It'd been down there for a year or so.
Not treated plywood and as far as we could see it wasn't marine plywood either.
I was surprised at how well the 3/4" ply held together.

The part we could see anyway, but as we took it apart to burn it, almost everything we could not see was de-laminating.
I believe it still might have held up for several seasons though.

From experience, I think you should verify the kinds of Fasteners the PO used.

Yeah on the photos. We are all curious about your new Boat!

[treeclimber@xtr]

Thanks I will get something up soon. I have every intention of takeing off all the paint and old fibre glass and re epoxy/sheathing the hull. I have some very good timber to use for redesigning the inside ( helm/furniture ect.) I am wanting to stear away from useing plywood for the furniture and flooring. I can handle it for the hull and I can get used to the over all shape, much of the design is determined by the building material which is plywood, but it would nice to create a well organised and uncluttered interior that has both purpose and asthetic.
First thing is first get the hull and topsides ship shape so to speak.

[Ophion]

Hi all. I have a 1964 Owens flagship 25’loa
I have removed engine and fuel tank and I figured to paint engine compartment. Any ideas on what type of paint .I was thinking kilzs primer and leave it at that?

[alan white]

I would go with a heavy-bodied alkyd primer and then two coats of a good polyurethane porch and deck enamel (Ben Moore is excellent).
Never leave just primer. It will discolor over time.
Single part marine paint is also fine, but the cost will be high. Maybe three times the porch enamel, and not noticably better if high gloss isn't the main objective.

[Ophion]

i plan on pressure wash low pressure loose dirt 40 years worth and then use tsp cleaner then paint as advised
thank you