Wooden boat builders - HELP!

[Converted]

I'm in the rigging stage of my first wood boat and I screwed up. The boat is stitch and glue with Raka Epoxy and glass inside and out. I drilled some holes for the bow and stern light screws and wiring. I decided to leave the lights off and add another coat or two of Parker duck boat paint. In the mean time the boat got rained on several times with our daily afternoon showers. Now water has gotten into the wood deck. It is swelling in the vicinity of the holes and the 5oz fiberglass that covers the deck is actually splitting in 3 or 4 places along the edge. The hull is safe as it is isolated from the deck. I applied several coats of Raka to the top edge of the hull and 1x2 rub rails before decking the boat.

How do you dry out the wood when it's got glass on both sides?

I'm thinking I might run the belt sander along the edge and remove the cloth and leave the end grain of the wood exposed. I'd get the boat back in the garage and leave it this way for a couple weeks. I can then come back and strip down the paint for a couple inches away from the edges and lay some fiberglass tape over the effected areas?

Any other ideas?

[gonzo]

You got the right idea. Besides, if the fiberglass is splitting, the only way to fix it is to sand it off and lay a new layer. By the way, that's a nice looking boat.

[woody]

If you can`t get it to dry out,better cut out the spot and replace it now,rather than later.

[pungolee]

Originally Posted by woody

If you can`t get it to dry out,better cut out the spot and replace it now,rather than later.

That ply shouldn't be swelling like that from a rain,what kind of cheese did you use?Lowes crap?The only way to make this mess work from this point is to dry it out in a portable greenhouse, rig a frame up over the skiff and cover it with clear plastic, when the thing dries out(3 weeks min)seal the hades out of it with resin and hope for the best.That is a nice looking boat!

[PAR]

I'm inclined to agree with pungolee about the ply swelling after a rain or morning dew. A painted surface with some imperfections or holes would do as well if not much better then you've described, let alone the glass entombed in epoxy that is there. A little rain shouldn't hurt much, but anyway, you've got the idea down. Grind back to good glass and wood, fill with thickened goo and repaint, after a good dry out.

I'm near Orlando and work generally out doors most of the time. I can get my epoxy and varnish work done before the daily rain gets in to mess things up. I also have temporary covers I can put up to keep a squall off the work.

Drying out the boat is the key, get it under cover, a tent will do. A 100 watt light bulb, placed in the tent near the wet area at night, will speed up the process, quite a bit.

This is new construction and replacing the section isn't necessary, unless the amount of rain and the time it's been allowed to get wet has been understated.

[d&dshipwrites]

I'm not sure what type of wood you used, however if you were using plywood and it became that saturated you will most likely have problems down the road. I have never heard of plywood swelling enough to split cured fiber glass. The downfall with glassing plywood and letting it get wet like that is that it will rot very quickly. At this point it doesnt matter how dry you get it. You may be able to use penetrating epoxy and saturate the hell out of it and keep it from rotting. My suggestion would be to replace it now. If it were an old boat I'd say keep going. On a new boat you would be better to replace it now as oppsed to one or two years later wishing you had replaced it.

[PAR]

The original poster contacted me through email 2 years ago and the issue was resolved. My reply was in June of 2004.

[d&dshipwrites]

suppose i should look at the dates next time. sometimes i get to searching and reading different things of intrest and overllok minor details. thanks for that heads up.