Progress on the Stern Deck removal

Managed to get a little work done in between hospital visits and other !@#$. Finished cutting the the port side deck off today. I decided to remove more of the rail cap so it would be out of the way while I figure out where the stairs go and how I am going to handle the transition from sun deck level to the existing rail level.

It is a slow and tedious job to get these bulwark caps off. They are screwed on every 9" and there is a sealant under them as well. The the holes where the screws are are filled with wooden plugs. So first you have to find the plugs and drill and dig them out. Next you have to clean the glue out of the slot (yeah slotted screws *&^%) in the hopes that the slot won't strip trying to back the screw out.

Here is a shot of the scarf joint showing one of the screws. There are two screws put in horizontally to hold the scarf together.
















They are 2-1/2" wood screws. It only took about 1-1/2 hours to get them out and the cap off. Glad that is over. Oh yeah did I mention that the cap is slotted on the bottom to fit over the top of the bulwark.

And not a lot of room to work on this side. The starboard side was not as bad because the ramp is on that side. I am hoping to get a way without having to erect scaffolding on the port side.

Cap rail off and ready to start cutting the side deck off.

Sorry did not take any pics while cutting the deck and inside of bulwark off. But here is the finished product.

the next step is to fasten a piece of 3/4" ply with Formica on one side. This will act as a mold to build up the hull to the sundeck level.












Here is the other side of the plywood showing the Formica.
So hopefully I will be able to add the "molds" for the other side and stern this coming week and begin glassing up the sides.

Started Removing Aft Deck

Worked a few hours this afternoon removing the aft railings and teak cap rail in preparation for removing the aft decks.

Here you can see the railings and the teak cap rail are gone on the Starboard side and stern. Still have the cap rail to remove on the port side. I was thinking that they had glassed an angle into the hull at the top of the bulwark and another angle on the deck at the same height. Then they would over lap the two and screw and glue the joint together with 5200.

Well not quite, What they did was to just end the hull at the top of the bulwark then glass in a piece of 3/4" by 2" or so piece of wood. I have labeled the 3 pieces in this picture. The they did form an angle in the deck mold which they screwed to the wood they had glassed in. Not really strong but better for me. Most of the screws just pulled right through the glass work.





My plan is to remove the deck structure and the stringer they glassed in. Then I will taper the hull down near the top edge and temporarily attach a piece of Formica faced plywood to the outside of the hull. I can use this piece as a form to raise the top edge of the hull by adding more layers of glass that would lap the old glass and rise up to the new level. I think I will form an angle at that top edge to fasten the deck to. After building the deck/cabin top using cold molded plywood structure I can glass the top of the deck right down onto the new raised hull sides. Hopefully it will all make sense when you see the work in progress.

Did some more work in the front port area of the aft cabin too. I removed the sliding door into the salon and a silly little door from the aft cabin into the engine room. Great idea if you were an midget and the water lift muffler was not right in the way. I will splice in a piece of plywood to fill the hole left by the door into the engine room. This is also where I will be adding the bulkhead to extend the engine room space aft to the Stuffing box. I mentioned this in my last post. Again it will be clear when I have it done.

Well that's it for now. I have some outside work for tomorrow and Tuesday so I will not be back to work on this until Thursday.