I have two places where I might need marine plywood:
1) My Allmand had a leak at the chainplates. I think I've fixed that (at least temporarily), but it had happened for a long time, and the previous owner's "stuff" was on top of the wooden shelf that the chainplates touched. As a result, the water would run down the chainplates, pool/soak into the shelf, and then the stuff on there would keep the wood from drying out. I tore out the shelf, and now want to replace that. I'm leaning toward marine plywood, though I suppose for an interior project, I could get away with standard plywood.
2) On my Albacore, as I was dealing with the issues caused by the driveway contractor, the traveler track that runs along the transom pulled free on the port side. I realized that the holes had rotting wood in them, and I sought to address the problem by filling the holes with regular epoxy, sucking it out, then squirting in thickened epoxy. That seemed to work OK until yesterday, when I was sanding down the excess epoxy (I got a little messy). As I moved the traveler to get to some of the epoxy, the rest of the traveler pulled free from the transom. The area where the track had been was dirty, so I cleaned that with acetone, and poured some acetone into the screw holes, too, to try to dry them out more. Then I cleaned out the holes with a screwdriver. In the first hole, I slid the screwdriver in, and it went down a good 2-3 inches before hitting squishy wood. This was true of the other holes, as well. That's about the time the ants started coming out. About 100 of them. About an inch long, with big, thick bodies. It seems they weren't happy about my digging around, nor were they pleased with the acetone. It became apparent that the transom was infested with carpenter ants. I'm not sure if they are new, or if they came with the boat, but either way, it now appears that I need to replace the wood that is under the traveler. In looking at it, it will be a messy and somewhat time consuming job, but doesn't look like it will be all that difficult. The wood is "just" glassed to the inside of the transom, so I'll cut it out and replace it. I'm leaning toward marine plywood for this.
So, given these two projects, it seems I'll be in the market for some marine plywood. Who sells it? I know I can't find it at Lowes or Home Depot. So, can I get marine plywood at any national chains or other well-known stores?
1) My Allmand had a leak at the chainplates. I think I've fixed that (at least temporarily), but it had happened for a long time, and the previous owner's "stuff" was on top of the wooden shelf that the chainplates touched. As a result, the water would run down the chainplates, pool/soak into the shelf, and then the stuff on there would keep the wood from drying out. I tore out the shelf, and now want to replace that. I'm leaning toward marine plywood, though I suppose for an interior project, I could get away with standard plywood.
2) On my Albacore, as I was dealing with the issues caused by the driveway contractor, the traveler track that runs along the transom pulled free on the port side. I realized that the holes had rotting wood in them, and I sought to address the problem by filling the holes with regular epoxy, sucking it out, then squirting in thickened epoxy. That seemed to work OK until yesterday, when I was sanding down the excess epoxy (I got a little messy). As I moved the traveler to get to some of the epoxy, the rest of the traveler pulled free from the transom. The area where the track had been was dirty, so I cleaned that with acetone, and poured some acetone into the screw holes, too, to try to dry them out more. Then I cleaned out the holes with a screwdriver. In the first hole, I slid the screwdriver in, and it went down a good 2-3 inches before hitting squishy wood. This was true of the other holes, as well. That's about the time the ants started coming out. About 100 of them. About an inch long, with big, thick bodies. It seems they weren't happy about my digging around, nor were they pleased with the acetone. It became apparent that the transom was infested with carpenter ants. I'm not sure if they are new, or if they came with the boat, but either way, it now appears that I need to replace the wood that is under the traveler. In looking at it, it will be a messy and somewhat time consuming job, but doesn't look like it will be all that difficult. The wood is "just" glassed to the inside of the transom, so I'll cut it out and replace it. I'm leaning toward marine plywood for this.
So, given these two projects, it seems I'll be in the market for some marine plywood. Who sells it? I know I can't find it at Lowes or Home Depot. So, can I get marine plywood at any national chains or other well-known stores?