Bare Wood in Fish Hold

[Import Manager]

#0, Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by Wizard on Dec-13-03 at 11:25 PM

Didn't notice until now that the underneath side of the cockpit deck wood isn't sealed in any way, specifically in the fish hold. Is it sealed in the newer Blackman's? Is it the same way in the fuel tank area? Anyone out there concerned enough on their boats to have glassed it up or at least added a coat of epoxy paint? Seems like wood that is always wet/damp and going to rot sooner or later.
Today I took out the lag screws holding the flybridge stairs which were all loose from just sitting in 3/4" of damp wood, drilled completely through and made them all screw/nuts with a heavy dose of Lifeseal.

Glenn
The Reel One
26' Billfisher

(P.S. Seems a quiet time of the year on this msg board, so I'm doing my part asking questions )


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#1, RE: Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by Nomad on Dec-14-03 at 08:36 AM
In response to message #0

LAST EDITED ON Dec-14-03 AT 08:37 AM (PST)

Hi Glenn,
The cockpit on the new boats is all fiberglass. Here is a picture of the mold used to form the cockpit on the NOMAD:
http://www.followingsea.net/nomad%20.../Cockpit2.html

There are more pictures here, just click on the any picture to view it in more detail:
http://www.followingsea.net/nomad%20...ion/index.html

Some wood is used in the boat for reinforcing and for bulkheads but it is all glassed over. Hope this helps!

Charlie


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#2, RE: Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by Wizard on Dec-14-03 at 09:23 AM
In response to message #1

LAST EDITED ON Apr-28-04 AT 06:24 PM (PST) by Nomad (admin)

Thanks Charlie. I remember looking at all of those pictures before, but didn't realize there was one of the cockpit mold in there. Sounds like I will be sealing some wood on mine to approximate what they now do on the newer ones, sooner or later.
Glenn


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#3, RE: Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by NoSlack on Dec-14-03 at 06:19 PM
In response to message #2

Check with Blackman before you go and seal anything up. I thought the wood was left raw on one side so the wood could dry out. You would think sealing both sides would keep the water out but it still wicks in some how.
From what I've been told over the years, salt water on the wood is no problem. The wood rot is a result of fresh water soaking into the wood. This all might be a bunch of bull people fed me over the year but I would check with the shop for the straight scoop on this one.

Mike


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#4, RE: Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by moo fish on Dec-15-03 at 02:51 PM
In response to message #3

My 23' suffered from the plywood fibeglass delam deck rot. Replaced deck stringers and deck from the pilot house back. I used the WEST system--everything got a coat of epoxy--front side, backside, up and down. The deck surface is fiberglass cloth and epoxy finished off with nonskid (epoxy paint and walnut shell). I would use straight epoxy resin for the underside of the plywood--penetrates better than epoxy paint. Check out www.raka.com for an excellent primer on epoxy and fibergalssing.
Did ou ever figure out the sloooow leak??


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#5, RE: Bare Wood in Fish Hold
Posted by Wizard on Dec-15-03 at 04:20 PM
In response to message #4

Thanks for the feedback. I will have to see what is best for longevity on the wood.
As for the leak, haven't put her back in the water yet. Sealed up the transducer, tested the bait tank and washdown, next test is to back it down the ramp until I/O is in the water and see if there is a leak in that area.

Spent half the weekend starting to wax the gelcoat and scrub out some of the non-skid. Got a two page list of things I want to do, sooner or later. Funny thing, I enjoy doing the work if it means improving something.

Glenn

[yellowfin1]

Glenn,Mike,

Checking with the shop might be an OK idea but, here's what I experienced. Steve told me to open up everything and just let the wood dry out. I did this for two weeks in excellent dry weather conditions. After two weeks, the wood under the deck was still very wet and soft. It wasn't until I lifted the fiberglass on the deck that the wood was able to dry out quickly. Seems like the water just could not evaporate through the glass. I have re-fiberglassed, painted and non-skidded the deck (also with white paint) and I plan to epoxy then paint the under side of the fish hold area this week. It too appears to have never been sealed.