Deck Progress

We are making progress on the deck. After consulting with the boatbuilder who is going to actually install the new deck we began the process of removing the old one. The first step was to identify all of the edge/trim board in hopes that we could remove them in one piece and use them for patterns. I can hear many of you laugh but the reason the deck needs to be replaced is that it is lifting. The original silicon adhesive was applied much too sparingly.

Step 2 was to remove the teak plugs and the screws. I began by using a sheet metal hole drill to drill out the teak plugs over each screw. Next was to make sure that I could drill out the screw by cleaning out the epoxy of the screw “slot” although they were mostly phillips screws. That took the most time. Next – remove the screw – maybe. Often it would strip the hole so I would just leave it there to be removed after the boards were lifted.

This is about 80% of the screws – any guesses how many?

As I was doing this, Alan was busy removing all of the through deck fittings like the windlass.chain hawser, two deck drains per side, fuel, water and waste fittings, genoa tracks with bolts every 4”, cover plates for the shrouds……

I then began prying up the boards with a small crowbar. Many only needed to be started and then they could be pulled up by hand. Most of the 10’ strips came up whole. Once the wood was up we discovered that the deck was covered with silty mud which had worked its way under the teak. It was time to scrub the deck so we could see what we were dealing with.

The deck needs to be scrupulously clean with no silicon residue so we are currently in the tedious process of scraping with solvent and a razor blade. All of the holes in the deck  are covered with mylar and masking tape to keep out today’s rain. It looks like this work will be postponed for a few days due to the weather.

This weekend we had another surprise visitor. We had a wonderful time chatting and  showing my father around. For 82 he did a great job of getting around the boat. Visitors are great because it forces us to clean up occasionally.