Repair of side deck, transom, and aft deck

Taking the aft deck and the transom apart

The top plank in the transom has been replaced in the past, but unfortunately, they used pinewood of questionable quality, so the plank was actually almost 100% rotted in just 3 seasons, there was only a little fresh piece left in the middle.

The reality is, that repairing an old wooden boat very often will result in no so pleasant surprises, so it was no wonder that the aft deck turned out to be in very poor condition, in spite of it looking quite good on the surface. It turned out that the stern deck was made by gluing 15 mm teak planks on top of planks made of some kind of pine which unfortunately were rotten just as, the beam underneath also was in poor condition. So there was nothing else to do but replace both the whole deck and the beam.

I have now installed a new deck beam and replaced the top plank (Siberian larch) in the transom, and have also removed the paint on the entire transom. In fact, it is only half a plank that has been replaced, the transom consists of 3 very wide lark planks plus an oak plank at the bottom. I glued the new plank to the plank below it, so there in reality still are the same number of planks. I was able to pull it in place with a couple of large clamps without steaming the plank. I am now saturating it all with Owatrol D1 so it won't rot again. I just need to make a small patch on the port side, then the hull is done in the aft end. The next will be the deck.

The top one is teak, the lower one is Iroko

The deck is not, as I thought, made of teak, it is made of Iroko, also called Irokoteak. It is a type of wood that is often used as a substitute for teak, it's cheaper, but with roughly the same characteristics as teak. The wood is a bit darker and more uniform in color than teak, but turns gray in the same way when it's exposed to the weather. Iroko also contains oil just like teak and has the same durability.

June 6, 2008:
I'm done repairing the hull at the stern. I had to glue strips into the joints in the transom. I used the router to make a hole for the strips and used epoxy to glue them in. I've saturated it all with Owatrol so it ready for painting. I am in the process of making the new Iroko planks for the aft deck. My new planer doesn't like the iroko, after having planed only 2 planks the knife is already very blunt.

June 16, 2008:

The aft end of the boat is now finished - I still need to caulk the aft deck, but I later do that later together with the fore deck. It turned into a somewhat larger repair than originally planned, but it was necessary. It takes a long time to manufacture and mount the different parts, because I saturate it all with Owatrol D1 before mounting the parts in order to prevent future rot.

I made a mistake when I fitted the planks for the aft deck. The angle of the side decks is not the same on both sides, so I ended up with a very skewed piece of wood in the middle. Fortunately, I was able to correct it so much that it's hardly visible. It was actually a very stupid mistake given the many years of experience I have with shipbuilding. I know that practically no boats are 100% symmetrical, something I learned that the hard way many years ago. But actually looks quite nice, I am a little anxious to see if I can make the colors of the different pieces of wood match properly when I stain them..

The next project is the replacement of a 1.8 m side deck on both sides as well as a 1 meter long patch at the bottom of the port side deck, right at the rounding up to the foredeck. I've already made the patch on the starboard side.

June 17, 2008:
I will have to extend the repair half a meter on the starboard side, and in addition to that, it is necessary to repair the two stringers underneath the side deck.

Rot under the side deck on the backboard side

I had the feeling that especially the starboard side would be worse than first expected because there already were a few patches at the bottom of the cabin side, and the side deck looked to be quite damaged - I'm sure it has been leaking for many years. It's not a problem - it just takes a little extra time.

July 24, 2008:
The port side deck is now finished, and on the starboard side, only the mahogany plank itself is missing. The bottom of the wheelhouse side and the strings underneath the side deck have been repaired, but now that I have it all taken apart, I'll fix the bulkhead and bench in the wheelhouse before finishing the side deck - it will make it easier.

The perfect piece of wood for the side deck

August 24, 2008:
I now have a brand new planer instead of the defect one, so now I can get on with the bigger stuff. I have found the perfect piece of wood for the side deck on the starboard side - watch how perfect the oars align.

September 12, 2008:
Finished! The next will be the foredeck and the main cabin.