New bottom and stern on 1950's Wooden boat.

[evinrude20]

Hey folks. Here is my project and questions. I've inherited a nice old wooden boat in pretty good shape. The hull construction over the ribs i believe is plywood with fiberglass over top. Well a big sheet of the fibreglass peeled away last summer and some of the back end is rotting out. Theres about a hole the size of a dime through the joint of the plywood on the botton, and the wood coming up the side. My question is how to go about number one, flipping the boat on its back to work on the bottom, and secondly how to redo the bottom? Should I plywood overtop and re fibreglass, or pull the old stuff off? Its a 19.5' closed bow, I don't have any photos of the damage but I can post a picture of the boat. Thanks so much for the help!

Evinrude 20

 

[Ned L]

Re: New bottom and stern on 1950's Wooden boat.

I won't say you "can't" put a layer of plywood over the existing bottm, but that is not at all the way to repair what you are describing. It sounds like she needs a new bottom. This may or may not be to complicated, a picture of the boat would help. You would start by flipping over, proper blocking to hold the shape, removing the original bottom (might be able to do one side at a time), checking framing as you go, cut & refit new sheet plywood bottom, glass lightly, paint & you are done.
Again, pictures would help to assess if it is worth your time & investment.