1976 Seaswirl deck repair

[gchapman52]

Hi everyone, new member here, I’d like to preface this with the fact that I know hardly anything about boats but recently acquired one through a friend so please excuse any lack of knowledge or terminology!

I am currently replacing the carpet on a 15 foot seaswirl and I came across some floor rot. I am in the process of of removing the rotten portion and replacing it with new plywood, I know I should replace the entire deck but for as much as I’m going to use this thing I figured it would be fine for the time being. My question is after putting down the new plywood how necessary is it to use fiberglass over top? I was thinking about coating the plywood in flex seal to help with water resistance but I’m curious if the carpet glue have issues sticking to the flex seal. Could I line the entire deck, under the carpet, in flex seal just for added protection since the fiberglass is old and cracking?

keep in mind it’s an old boat that probably won’t see the water more than 10 or so times a summer. thanks for the help!

 

[Scott Danforth]

first, welcome aboard.

second, fiberglass boats rot from the keel up. by the time the floor rots, the transom and stringers are gone

third, you need to fiberglass in the floor of a fiberglass boat, its structural. you have a lot of work ahead of you. doesnt matter if you use it once a year or once a summer. you need to have a safe boat that will not sink on you. right now, you dont.

4th, read the stickies at the top of this forum, the 4th down is the one with all the restoration info in it.. specifically look at links 14, 15, 18, 2, 3, 4a, 4b in that order. look at every picture and video. all your fiberglassing questions will be answered by the time you go thru those links.

 

[GSPLures]

When I got my boat there was a patched area under the floor the previous owner told me he did 2 years prior to putting it in storage I attached photos of the after effect.

​​​​​​​I would repair it properly and also make sure you dig for more rot. There is no point in doing the deck properly if the transom and stringers are gone.