Seperating The Hull From The Deck???

[JedNeck]

How would one go about seperating the hull from the deck on a small 21' trailer sailor.

I'm thinking I would need to brace across the beam to hold the shape in a few places. With 2x2s maybe? Then I would set four picking eyes at quarter points on the deck. Seperate and lift the deck with my engine hoist. Drive the trailer and hull out and set the deck down on dunnage.

I want to rebuild some of the bulkheads and berths that have gone soft over the years. One of the POs let water sit low in the boat so some of the wood has gone punky.

There is no liner in the boat, all the bulkheads are tabbed to the hull.

Anyone done anything similar...know any good write ups online???

This is for a Cal21.

[Lake Superior Sailor]

If its like my 28, it's fiber glassed togather & fastened,Under trim! It would be better to rebuild from within!..Dale

[Faster]

I agree with Dale.. perhaps support the boat a bit better on the trailer, make patterns from the existing, cut away the current tabbing and work from within. Even rebuilding the seats and berths would likely be less work and less disruptive than trying to re & re the deck, esp if the deck joint is currently sound and not leaking.

[Parley]

Originally Posted by JedNeck

I want to rebuild some of the bulkheads and berths that have gone soft over the years. One of the POs let water sit low in the boat so some of the wood has gone punky.

This is for a Cal21.

if your hull/deck joint is fine, and your deck is fine, then I see no reason to remove the deck. Cut the suspect "parts" out. Thoroughly clean w/ soap & water. Grind remaining tabbing back to hull. Vacuum and dry wipe. Scribe shape for replacement part (marine ply, foam/glass panel, etc) and cut/fit in place. Position new part using small blocks (~ 1x1) hot glued @ edges. Glue new part in place w 10mm +/- fillet of thickened epoxy. Let cure. Sand (surface prep only) fillet for tabbing. Vacuum and dry wipe area to be tabbed. Cut matl's for tabbing (2 layers offset 10mm (1/2"). Make sure "tapes" are wide enough to come onto both hull and bulkhead at least 20 mm (~1"). offset will bring one tape 30mm onto 1 surface and 20mm on other surface (and vice-versa). Don't forget length of inside arc of fillet (~ 15mm). So, tapes should be ~65mm wide and run entire length of the joint. Tabs should be 2 layers of 2-ply 45 deg. biaxial glass (24-28 oz knitted fabric). Roll out tabbing with air roller ("bubble buster"). Done, unless you have access to a vacuum pump. If so, highly, highly recommend vacuum bagging (more stuff involved with that).
That said, I'm pretty sure Gugeoun (sp?), AKA West System, has great videos on these processes online.
Good project. I know of a Cal 40 that did this in prep for a TransPac about 8 yrs ago.

[JedNeck]

I'm pretty good with fiberglass. I built a small pram for duckhunting out of thin 1/4" ply and fiberglass. So far so good. 2 seasons of the most hainous beatings you can imagine and she still hold the water out.

The main problem is the quarter berths are in the low zone and is a contortionists wet dream to get back in there on my little 21.
I thought while it was off I could inspect the cockpit sole from underneath...as it may be a little squishy...but it's hard to tell if it's just flexing because the keel trunk doesn't run back all the way.
Y'all are probably right though. No sence biting off more than I can chew. I plan to sell the boat in five years or so.

[ftldiver]

there's a guy on macgregor owners board that did this with a V17, after glassing in new bulkheads, the cap didn't fit... he made some 'adjustments' in the stern and made it fit.

a come along or chainfall, some scaffolds and blocking timbers are your best friends. and 4 strong friend help.

agree, with others try not to do this... slippery slope once you commit.