Soft/Rot Wood on ply in bilge.

[Rasputin]

I have a 1964 wood ply with a gel coat cover sailboat. The bulkhead was holding some dreaded fresh water from rains that I must have not noticed for a while. Needless to say a some rot and soft spots on the marine plywood and rib near the back of the keelson. Does anybody have any experience or tips on the best approach? I don''t really want to pull her and tear through the bottom. 50% of folks say I need to go in through the bottom and the other half suggests just getting it all perfectly dry, take up the really bad stuff, use penetrating anti-rot epoxy and lay down some new wood pieces and heavily cover the area with epoxy. Any wood experts out there? Thoughts?

[kix428_2000]

I,m no expert, Ive read that the first thing you want to do is kill the rot which is a living thing. The best way to do this from my readings(cheapest too) is to mix some boric acid with automotive anti-freeze and pour it into thr affected area(the area dose''t have to be bone dry)let this soak in and dry. Now if you have lots of money fill the area with a name brand anti-rot epoxy or you can try thinning your own, Ive tried alchol,acetone and epoxy paint thinner, I sometimes heat the mixture up in my microwave (in 5second intervals, it gets hot fast)I''ve heard this is dangerous so if you try it be careful, but it sure thins down quick this way. You''ll need to build some retaining walls as this stuff will run all over, pour enough to cover the area and let gravity and the wicking action of wood do it''s thing. It''s best to check you mixtures before using them to ensure they will set up as mixed and how well they are going to penetrate. I hope this works for you if not I''m sure any experts that read it will surely respond to you. Good luck

[MikeField]

Rasputin, I''d have a look at the WoodenBoat Forums, at --

http://media5.hypernet.com/cgi-bin/UBB/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro

People who own wooden boats face potential rot problems all the time, and this topic has been discussed by the hour there.

Searching under "CPES" will throw up a whole raft of stuff for you.

[Rasputin]

Thanks for that "wooden boat" link. Fantastic!

Scott