I spent today sorting out the hole in the starboard side and also that side of the cockpit. The cockpit is just a reassembly job.
I'm getting to be an old hand at cutting out the rot and replacing it with good timber. The trick is to cut it back to good wood, trying to get it in line with a support timber so that the new panel can be easily screwed in place, where that isn't possible I use hardwood behind to create the support, making sure there is an overlap of at least 2 inches. I coat the timber with epoxy mixed with some filler to create a very thin paste so that when the screws tighten it squeezes out of the ends.
I then run a finger over the excess to create a small fillet to add strength and to make sure its well packed in. I then make the new in fill panel and do the same, making sure all the joints are full of resin and filler, making sure the resin is proud of the joint so I can sand it flat once the resin has gone off.
It does get kinda messy as the resin paste is very thin and its advisable to wear gloves. Its all held together with stainless steel screws. Once you have got the hang of it its actually very easy and quick to do and it makes more sense to just chop out the rot just to be on the safe side.
I also planed off the side timbers for the sliding roof, originally the sides were plywood so overtime rotted as part of the changes I have made to her I have been replacing some of the ply with hardwood to help prevent any future rot. Thank goodness for the thicknesser planer.
