I thought I would tackle one of the main areas of rot on ‘Dawn Seeker’ this weekend. The water had been getting in somewhere from the upper deck, and had ‘taken out’ the whole corner of the saloon. The leak was so small that you couldn’t even see it. This is because of the capillary effect, which draws water into the smallest of cracks and more or less acts as a water pump to keep bringing water in. Its also why water can enter at one point and be coming out somewhere else, perhaps two feet away from the source of the leak.  |
| Open air Living!......Once I removed all the rotten wood it became clear that the water had been coming in through a hand rail ‘up top‘…. Probably over a period of years. I bought a top quality sheet of marine plywood from Tim Collins at Wroxham. I also bought a complete set of new rubbers, quadrants, trims to go around all the decks and coach roofs. These are all in Iroko. I wont fit them until all the superstructures finished and painted in spring. The new plywood will be sealed on both sides and glued into place with epoxy!…. Yes I know fibreglass! But with an epoxy coating and careful construction I can now keep the moisture out. Even if there were to be some breach in the coating, that would only be a local breach. For wood to rot, it needs three things: a particular moisture content, a range of temperature, and oxygen. The epoxy coating will keep the moisture and oxygen out. |
That’s the three main areas of the superstructure done now… another two to go… onwards and upwards!!
