To date, all of our attempts to make the decks watertight have failed. After our Bahamas cruise, where every time it threatened to rain we had to move everything away from the sides of the boat and cover the v-berth with plastic, we decided something had to be done.

We did a great deal of research and came up with two viable solutions. One was to cover the decks with plywood and then cover that with Dynel cloth and epoxy (the same treatment we used on the cabintop). The other was to use a coating on the decks called Coelan, which is a German product designed specifically for wooden decks. The cost for either was about the same (and not cheap), so that wasn't a factor. Because we really like the look of the laid decks and the Coelan is a clear coating, we decided to go that route.

The first step in the job was to repair all of the rotten wood on the decks. Previous owners had "repaired" the rot by using sealants and other miracle goo, none of which actually works. We went over the decks carefully, picking out the goo and then cutting out the rotten wood. While most of the rot was to the deck planks only, we found two spots where the structure underneath had rotted. One was at the starboard aft corner of the cockpit, and the other was the port corner where the hull meets the transom. This was the more major of the two.

To repair the transom/hull corner, once the rotten decking was removed, I had to cut away the planking (which was rotten on the ends) to get access to the corner. There is a frame called the "fashion piece" that forms the corner. Both the transom planking and the hull planking is fastened to it. The fashion piece w

as rotten for about a foot down from the top. As with the other frames in Malolo, it is doublesawn. I cut away the aftmost piece about ten inches lower than the inner piece, leaving that as the overlap for the new wood to be bolted to the old. I then made a new fashion piece out of white oak, installed it and replaced the bad decking.

Once I started digging out the bad wood at the aft corner of the cockpit, I realized that the whole back cockpit coaming was questionable, so I removed it. I then cut away the bad framing that ran behind the coaming underneath the deck and replaced it with new wood, as well as replacing the bad decking.

The next step in the waterproofing process was to "reef" all of the compound out of the deck seams so that it could be replaced with new compound. To do this we used a combination of the Fein Multimaster and a special "U" shaped blade, the traditional bent rat-tail file and various knives and chisels. It was a long, tedious job but it is very important to clean the seams as much as possible so that the new compound can get a good grab on the sides of the seams.

Once the compound was removed, I looked for any spots that needed the cotton caulking fixed up (that's what's pounded into the bottom of the seams to make them watertight) and also caulked all of the decking that we had replaced. After we were sure that everything was as good as possible, it was time to fill the seams with the new compound.

We used a product called Sika 290DC which is designed specifically for deck seams, and is the recommended filler for the Coelan coating that we will be putting on the decks. Before starting, we taped the decks leaving about 1/4" of wood showing on either side of the seams. This is so that when the tape is removed, it doesn't pull the sealant away from the edge of the seams. After taping, we painted the seams with the recommended primer for the sealant and were then ready to go.

The sealant is applied with a caulking gun, forcing the compound deep into the seam and overfilling it slightly. A flexible scraper is then used to run over the top of the seam to force the sealant down and to scrape off the excess. We removed the masking tape as we went so that the compound didn't have much of a chance to skin over. Overall the process went smoothly but took much, much longer than expected. I don't know how long you've ever squeezed a caulking gun for, but 10 1/2 hours is way too long! If I were to do it again (and I'm not going to), I would definitely rent a powered caulking gun.

Once the caulking cures for seven days we will sand the decks down and apply the Coelan.

When we purchased Malolo, her bilges were filled with concrete, up to the top of the floors. This allowed water in the bilge to flow over the top of the floors to the back where the bilge pump was located. This is a very good method, as long as the concrete stays intact and attached to the wood planking. In fact, the concrete acts as a preservative and the planking under it will not rot.

Unfortunately, primarily because of ongoing oil leaks, a lot of the concrete in the bilge had separated from the planking. In some places it had mixed with so much oil that it was more like a soft asphalt than hard concrete. When we rebuilt the fo'c'sle we removed the concrete from that area. When we replaced the engine, we removed the concrete from the aft section. Now it was time to remove the rest.

The problem in the main saloon was that when the previous owner rebuilt it, he only left a small access hatch to the bilge. We decided to cut out a bigger hatch, which not only would allow us to remove the concrete but would also make it easier to clean the bilge. To make the hatch, I clamped a straightedge beside where I wanted the cut and then carefully made the cut with a circular saw and a thin kerf blade. By doing this I was able to use the piece cut out as the hatch itself.

Once we gained access it was time to remove the oil soaked lead ballast that lay on top of the concrete. Because these pieces weighed anywhere up to about 50 pounds, this wasn't an easy chore. We rigged a pully system on the boom that let us lower a platform through the companionway. I would load a piece (or two) of lead onto the platform, then Donna would hoist away to raise it up. We would then carefullly swing it over the wharf where Donna would slide the lead off and we would repeat the process. It took a while, but we got it all out.

Once we had the lead out, I started chipping away at the concrete. I removed the loose and easily chipped pieces using a hammer and a masonry chisel. Once that was out we rented a rotary hammer (a handheld jackhammer) and went at the rest. It took a few days and lots of contortions to get it all, but we did.

I removed the sole from the hallway and the head and chiseled out the remaining concrete in those areas. When we were done, the only concrete left in the boat is under the woodstove and a couple of spots forward of the engine. These places are inaccessible without a lot more deconstruction, so the concrete will remain.

To ensure that water can't collect between the floors and cause rot, we need some way to ensure that it flows aft to the bilge pump. We can't use concrete because it won't stick to the oil soaked wood. Another traditional method is to fill the space with pitch or roofing tar. We don't really want to do that because it would take an awful lot of tar and if we had to make repairs we'd be in the same position of having to remove it.

After talking with a boatbuilder friend, we decided to drill 1" "limber" holes in each floor, along the centreline. A limber hole is simply a passage for water to flow. We will then fill each frame bay up to the limber hole (only about 1" or less) with roofing tar to ensure that the water flows.

In order to make the stem repairs (described in a separate post), we needed access from the inside. This meant that much of the v-berth cabinetry had to be removed. Because we wanted to rebuild the fo'c'sle (described in Upgrades), we decided that this would be the time and we ripped out the whole thing. It wasn't a hard job because a lot of the wood was soft and we weren't trying to save any of it so a Sawzall was put to good use.

Before we started we knew that there were a couple of floors (the structural pieces that run across the bottom of the boat) that were soft. What we didn't realize was that most of the floors were soft, as were the ends of the frames where they run down into the bilge. Now was the time to fix the floors and frames, before the new cabinetry was installed.

We decided to cut off the bottoms of the frames and scarph in new pieces and remove the floors and replace them with new floors made of white oak. In order to remove the old floors, we had to chip out the concrete that filled the space between them. The concrete was used to allow any water in the bilge to flow over the floors and aft where it could be pumped out. Using a small sledge hammer and masonry chisel (along with various other implements as necessary), we chipped out all of the concrete.

The mast step had to come out next. Because it had a large crack running along its length we decided that rather than try to save it, we would cut it apart to get it out. We then removed the floors using saws, chisels and brute force. It wasn't easy because even though parts of them were soft, most of the wood was rock hard. In some ways it was a shame to remove them because you just can't get wood as good as the madeira mahogany that was used in the construction of the boat. On the other hand, while the area was apart it would be silly not to replace them.

Only the bottom foot or so of each frame was damaged. We didn't want to cut out too much of the good wood, but on the other hand you don't want the joint with the new wood to be in the same place on each frame (that would create a potential weak point).

The frames on Malolo are "doublesawn". This means that each frame consists of several pieces of wood, butted together to get the full length required. A second, similarly constructed frame but with the joints at different places lies alongside the first, and is bolted to it. To repair the frames, the bad wood is cut out, making sure to leave one of the frames about 18" longer than the other. In this way the new frame pieces will overlap and can be bolted together for strength.

We marked each frame for cutting, sometimes going all the way up to an existing joint, sometimes just going beyond the bad wood. We then removed the fasteners that run from outside the boat through the planks and into the frames and then cut out the frames. We used a tool called a Fein Multimaster to make the cuts. This is a vibrating saw with a blade about 1 1/2" wide. The saw is plunged into the cut line and only cuts as far as you push the blade, therefore it is easy to stop the cut just as the blade reaches the planking.

Because we didn't want the planking to "spring out" by removing the fasteners from all the frames, we cut out and replaced every second frame, then went back and did the remaining pieces.

Once the old frames were out, it was time to start making the replacements. Because of the curves involved, and the fact that it's important for the frame to fit flush against the planks so that the planks are held snug, we made patterns for each frame out of inexpensive wood before cutting the white oak. As each piece was finished, it was painted with red lead, a traditional preservative (the orange colour in the photos), bolted in place and the planks refastened from the outside.

With the new frames in place it was time to start work on the floors. These pieces presented an extra challenge - not only did they have to fit snugly, they also needed holes drilled in them to match the existing bolts running up through the keel. We made patterns for the floors themselves, then to determine where, and at what angle, the holes should be drilled we made a pattern identifying where the bolt entered the floor and where it exited. Once the floor itself was made, these patterns were used to mark the entry and exit points of the hole to be drilled. A tedious job, but it worked.

With the floors temporarily installed, we started to make the new mast step. This huge hunk of wood is what the mast sits on. It spreads the load of the mast (which includes the mast's weight as well as the force of the shrouds pulling the mast down) over several floors so that there isn't a "point load" at the base of the mast. The mast has a tenon on its base that sits in a mortise in the step so that the mast can't slide out.

With the help of our boatbuilder friend Bill Lutwick I managed to locate a large enough piece of white oak. The basic shape was cut (it's just a rectangle, so that wasn't too hard!), and then slots were cut in the floors to hold the step. Once everything was fit in place, it was time to mark and cut the all important mortise. This is critical because its placement determines exactly where the mast will sit and at what angle. To ensure that we had it right, we used long 2 x 4's to simulate the mast, sitting them on the step and running them up through the mast partners in the deck (the hole that the mast goes through). That way we could check the angle and be sure that the mortise was directly under the partners.

Once we were satisfied with the positioning, out came the step and into the shop to cut the mortise. With everything painted in red lead, the step was bolted in place and the repairs were complete. Time to rebuild the cabinetry, as described in Upgrades.

Before leaving for our Bahamas cruise, we decided to remove all of the hardware from the spars, fill any excess holes and check for signs of rot. While we were at it, we had our friend who is a marine metal worker make us new spreader fittings for the main mast.

Fortunately the only rot we found was at the top of the mizzen mast. This was easily fixed by cutting out the bad wood above the halyard block and gluing in a new piece.

We did have a bit of a scare with the main mast. I was hammering plugs into the old sail track holes to fill them so that we could drill new holes. In one spot, each plug that I hammered in disappeared into the hole. I would put another plug over the one just put in, bang at it and it too would disappear into the mast. Oh, oh, seemed as though the mast was rotten right through and the plugs were just going into the rotten wood.

Donna noticed a small seam about a 1/4" away from where I was working. Once I started picking at it, out popped a wad of sealant that was covering a half inch hole all the way through the mast. It seems that a previous owner had removed some through mast fitting and rather than filling the entire hole, they had just plugged the ends. My little plugs were just dropping into the hole! I pulled the sealant out of the other end of the hole and filled it properly. No sign of rot!

Once I was done, Donna (and her helpers) stripped all the spars and repainted them.

During the 2006 sailling season we noticed that where the bobstay attached to the stem there were signs of stress and of the bobstay fitting pulling out.

After we hauled out for the winter, closer inspection revealed the the stem was definitely showing signs of cracking where the fitting was attached. Usually the bobstay is attached to the stem by an eyebolt that goes right through the stem along the fore and aft axis and has a backing plate on the inside of the stem. For whatever reason, the fitting on Malolo instead consisted of two "arms" that ran aft along either side of the stem with two bronze rods connecting them through the stem (see pictures). The end result was that the pull of the bobstay out from the stem caused the bronze rods to try to rip themselves out, causing the fractures in the stem.

It appeared that the only proper solution would be to remove the stem and replace it with new wood, a major undertaking but necessary. As this repair is beyond our comfort level, we enlisted the help of Bill Lutwick, a local boatbuilder and friend. He suggested that he would guide us through the repair, helping when necessary.

In order to gain access to the top of the stem so that we could see if there was any rot, the bowsprit had to be removed. We decided to remove the samson post as well, to allow us more room to move around inside the fo'c'sle (see post Rebuilding Fo'c'sle). We removed all of the fittings from the bowsprit and all of the trim around it, saving the trim for re-installation. That was the easy part!

The aft end of the bowsprit has a square tenon that fits into a socket in the samson post. In order to remove it, the bowsprit had to come forward out of the socket. There was no way to get enough leverage on it to budge it. To get it out, we rigged up a bottle jack pushing a 2x4 up against the bottom of the sprit from the ground. By jacking it up an inch or two, a crack would open up between the end of the sprit and the samson post. We put a shim in the crack, then dropped the jack which caused the top of the 'sprit to back out a bit. Put a shim in that crack and repeated the process with bigger and bigger shims until the tenon came out of its socket. Once that was done we were able to lower the 'sprit to the ground using lines and a brace of 2x4's.

Removing the samson post was relatively easy, we just put the bottle jack under the bronze cross piece and jacked it up and out.

Once the area was made accessible, it looked like we were lucky. It appeared that the damage to the stem is not as bad as we thought. The top and inside seem rock hard, so it is possible that it is only the outside couple of inches that is bad. The plan was to take a saw to the outside of the stem, cutting it back to the planking at the bad spot. If we found solid wood away from the surface, all we have to do is scarph in a new outer stem. If the wood isn't solid, well, then it's back to plan A, removing the stem completely.

In June, the moment of truth arrived (along with our friend, boatbuilder Bill Lutwick). With chainsaw in hand, Bill started to cut horizontally through the stem. He watched one side of the cut while I watched to the other to ensure that he stopped cutting just as the blade reached the planking. After a few of these relief cuts, Bill took out his chisel and mallet and chopped away the waste.

We were lucky, solid wood everywhere except the visible damage!

Bill used a handsaw and chisels to cut a "long scarph" (a long, angled face that gives a large surface for the new piece to be glued against) above the damage. There already was a joint in the stem a foot or so below the damage so we removed the wood to that point. Once the area was cleaned up with nice straight, even faces, Bill made a pattern out of thin plywood.

The next step was to locate a hunk of solid wood large enough to make the replacement piece. It needed to be about 6" thick, about a foot wide (to allow enough room to cut the curve of the stem) and about four feet long. After some phoning around, we found a big enough piece of white oak (a very good, structural wood) ironically enough, at a neighbour's shop (another boatbuilder).

At Bill's shop (my tools aren't powerful enough), we carefully cut the stem using the pattern, leaving it a bit wider and deeper than necessary so that we could plane it to match the existing wood once installed. The face that had to fit against the existing stem had to be cut perfectly to fit.

Back at the boat, we test fit the piece, made some minor adjustments as necessary, then installed it with glue and through bolts (actually 12" long bronze rods). We then finished planing it to match the existing stem, painted it up and it was as good (or better) than new!

Back up on deck, when we removed the bowsrpit we found rotten deck planks underneath. This was caused by the bowsprit sitting on the deck but not having any type of sealant under it. That allowed water to get underneath and sit there causing the rot. We replaced the bad wood by scarphing in new plank ends and recaulking the seams. When we reinstalled the bowsprit we put a good bedding compound between it and the deck so that no water could collect there.