Introduction: Sailboat Deck Hole Repair (access Plate Installation)
I'm slowly restoring a 1975 Venture 17 sailboat. Somewhere along the line this boat had a bow pulpit that was torn off or was destroyed in an accident. The boat was pretty much abandoned with two big holes in the forward deck. Rain and time made the holes bigger and caused some wood rot between the fiberglass. My goal is to make the boat strong and tight but not perfect. Rather than a big fiberglass repair job for these holes I ordered some access plates on eBay (~ $8.00 each) and cut out the bad wood and lousy silicon glob repair.
I hope to post videos of these repairs along the way. This old girl needs a lot of work. Stay tuned...
And thanks for watching.
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3 Comments
9 years ago on Introduction
Again thanks for taking a look and commenting. Always appreciated.
9 years ago on Introduction
Looks good. Without commenting on structural integrity, especially since you already had holes there, I would suggest that you can prolong the life of the interior by leaving the portholes open when there is no danger of them getting wet. If the deck feels soft, it is due to delamination or wood rot. If wood rot is an issue, once it begins, it cannot be stopped. But if not, then you can halt any delamination by keeping the ports open. Delamination is caused by humidity building up and releasing with hot and cold weather. When the ports are open, air can move in and out freely.
Second, if you did not "glue" your porthole frames down with black RTV, now is your chance. If you do not then your new portholes will allow water to flow in from rain.
Third, if you're serious about sailing you might want to tidy up your cleat hitch. Here are three ways (there are two in the second link). I like the first one for my rigging. I trailer my boat so don't have cleats on the hulls (catamaran).
http://sailing.about.com/od/learntosail/ss/cleathitch.htm
http://www.knapiksmarine.com/knottips.html
Good luck with your sailing!!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Yeah that tie off was just temporary while I was working on the project. Started sailing with my Dad about 40 years ago, this is just a little light fun tinkering project.