A little rot on the pilothouse?

JYDPDX

2008-02-01 11:48:36

Let it ride I say!

Do a little poking around. You find a soft spot. You start digging and it never f@#$ing ends. There is nowhere to stop. Alas, it's a month later, >$1500 spent, you still dont have the lid on, you never even got all of the rot and haven't even started the important work you've got planned for the "offseason".

I can now take solace in that there is a troller's forum where I can vent.

Kudos jonny, the board looks great!

Jon

2008-02-01 16:45:37

five letters for ya...

B

O

N

D

O

.

Did you have to go through canadian customs on your way down last winter?

JYDPDX

2008-02-01 19:42:55

nope. only have to if you go to port I think. The only placed we stopped was Bella Bella and I dont think it counts.

Dont you worry, there will be plenty of bondo on the new house.

shakers

2008-12-22 05:39:22

depending on where it is,

Sometimes you can dry it out with tarps and heat.

drill holes and sink two part epoxy into the timbers. this can be a temporary fix.

if you stop the fresh water and dry it out you slow the rot.

if you get it really dry the epoxy makes a very strong fix.

bondo is good but does little to strenghten the wood

two meter troll

2008-12-23 04:29:32

you got any more info on this boat. occasionally i fix or build the odd boat so the more info i can get i might have a suggestion or two. hmm and if you are in portland i might be able to lend a hand from time to time.

Let it ride I say!

Do a little poking around. You find a soft spot. You start digging and it never f@#$ing ends. There is nowhere to stop. Alas, it's a month later, >$1500 spent, you still dont have the lid on, you never even got all of the rot and haven't even started the important work you've got planned for the "offseason".

I can now take solace in that there is a troller's forum where I can vent.

Kudos jonny, the board looks great!

tacorajim

2008-12-23 15:58:31

Do not use automotive Bondo on wood. Salt water/Bondo produces a juicy, destructive chemical reaction rivalling battery acid's affect on your Levis.

My boat's former owner/crabber spent years restoring classic cars as a hobby. He went through cases of Bondo. He cut out some soft wood from the Tacora's outer bulwarks planking, and packed the void between the ceiling planks and outer planks with a gallon of Bondo. Ten years later the surrounding stanchions, planks, covering board, guard, and ribs two-feet below -- vanished! The other ribs, stanchions, and covering board forward of this Bondo'd patch were punky from rot caused by fresh water intrusion, but were basically intact, and held fasteners. But all the wood in contact with, or dripped on by, this regularly splashed Bondo patch . . . got ate up, so to speak.

I wish I had saved the Google link I found four/five years ago, explaining what I experienced above. And wish I'd taken pictures. No matter. All new side of the boat aft.

Carol W

2008-12-23 16:32:57

Try smith systems epoxy specifically "clear penetrating epoxy"

JYDPDX

2008-12-23 18:58:12

Thanks for the bondo info guys. I didnt use automotive bondo, it was stuff I got from limback lumber in ballard on the recommendation from a shipwright friend there. It was used primarily on the interior and roof of the pilothouse to plug fastener holes and fill plywood seams.

I completed the project last spring.

In hindsight, I should have just patched the roof up and let it ride for a while. However, it is nice to have the satisfaction of doing the repair right and knowing that the spread of rot is stymied, on the house at least.

:)

sixlines

2009-01-16 04:27:00

Ive never messed with rot on a boat,but on house foundations ive used some stuff called kills wood preservitive.It turns rotten wood to something like cement.Check it out.

salmontroll

2009-01-16 06:23:57

B E A R S H I T.... = equal parts cement and atco wet patch

System 3 Epoxy

West system Epoxy

JYDPDX

2009-01-16 10:03:13

salmontroll -

Would you like to explain a little more about bearshit and its merits? Furthermore if anyone else would like to chime in on bearshit, it would be much appreciated.

My understanding is that bearshit and lead patches, etc., are for temporary fixes, bush repairs.

What is bear shit? Can anyone here explain its' merits and proper usage?

sixlines

2009-01-17 22:28:48

Bear shit is a hot patch most comenly used flat roofs on buildings.(Its like a tar)

Monterey

2009-01-19 07:25:01

I am in the same boat as the original poster. Rot in the pilot house. (plus very unfortunately rot on the top of the deck pin frames)

I read that one of the things that kills rot is antifreeze (more accurately, the glycol in the antifreeze). But I also read that it is toxic and sweet tasting. has anyone used it on a boat? or is the danger of contaminating the fish (from drips to the bildge and mixing, etc) too great?

What else can kill it? or is it one of those things that one must amputate the arm on account of a finger infection (cut the wood far ahead of the rot even if its good wood)

Thanks,

tacorajim

2009-01-19 19:49:49

Eventually you want to replace all your bad wood. Meanwhile use this. I got it all over me using a garden sprayer in the hold and lazarrette -- no problem.

JYDPDX

2009-01-21 03:18:25

I have some rot on one of my covering boards that I started picking away at and went almost completely through the deck plank with a screwdriver. I injected "git rot" all in and around it then filled the hole (2"x2"x2") with Splash Zone. Seemed to hold up for two seasons so far despite being in one of the highest water traffic / bloodstrap settling areas on the boat.

Be careful what you poke at on the pilothouse. In hindsight I can think of many temporary solutions that would have bought me time to be able to better allocate the financing of the repair in terms of timing. If it's not leaking on your electronics???? But what do I know. :)

Also, if you are doing a roof replacement or surfacing, I DO NOT recommend "Ultra-Flex". I couldn't do fiberglass so I went on the recommendation from one of the guys at Fisheries Supply (upstairs = ignoramuses) and I was very disappointed. Might work well for putting traction on you patio but certainly not the best thing for the roof of a boat. This is not from lack of proper application either. I put a lot of effort, time and money into it and was not satisfied with the product at all.

Good luck.

tacorajim

2009-01-22 01:45:36

As JYDPDX says above, I did a temporary fix to my punky covering board pockets 4-5 yrs. ago. After poking around, I took out only what would yield with a sharp 1" wood chisel by hand w/o a hammer, knowing it was temporary. Since then I rebuilt starboard and aft with all new wood including steam-bent white oak stanchions from the caprails to the waterline (between my new frames that reach up just short of the covering board, down to the keelson fastened to the old cut-off ribs that were preserved by cement ballast I removed, thus making the well deck double-ribbed where it gets the most pounding), which was what I could spend at the time.

The port side bulwarks/covering board is next on my list to replace all remaining bad wood in the boat except a little rot in the pilothouse. As with the rest of my project, I'll have a shipwright cut out a little beyond what's rotten, and put in new marine-grade wood.

My project will have spanned 7 years. But I'm retired. Slow. $50K-plus of actual receipts. 5000 hrs of my interrupted labor. Notice I say "interrupted". I bullshit with any fisherman who comes along pretending an interest in our progress.

When you get old like me you gain respect for the local doctor -- who knows after all these years he's just selling the client more time. 25 more years in the Tacora's case. A wood troller active in the fleet after 115 years? I think so.

Carol W

2009-01-22 16:18:25

A product that does seem to work pretty good is Clear Penetrating Epoxy by smith systems. I did use ultra flex and it seem to work for about 3 years but then started peeling in sheets, I know the guys in Sitka are using tough flex. Best thing is like Jim said to rip out the bad wood, any body who has an old wood boat that hasn't been refasten I would urge them to pull a couple planks and inspect nails I was totally shocked at how far the nails in Carol W had gone.