Any idea what material I should use for this Sailfish part?

[Mama H Chicago]

I ve looked over the super sailfish plans but can’t find the dimensions or type of wood to replace the wooden strip that covers the hull halves and into which the aluminum rail gets screwed. I took the original one off the boat yesterday and the back half is dry rotted. I’m also concerned that the bronze screws were all very rusty at the ends, making me concerned about the state of the strip beneath it.

 

[signal charlie]

It's oak underneath, 3/4 inch so it should be okay.
Clean up the loose bits of the old center strip.
Fill any old screw holes with thickened epoxy or some other type of waterproof glue.
The center strip should be the width of the gap and 1/2 inch high. I think we used pine, as it is sacrificial in our books. Seal that strip with a couple of coats of wood sealer or epoxy before installing it. It will be bedded in place with your adhesive of choice.
The fairing strips on either side of the daggerboard trunk are 1/4 inch thick marine grade plywood, like the hull panel.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

It's oak underneath, 3/4 inch so it should be okay.
Clean up the loose bits of the old center strip.
Fill any old screw holes with thickened epoxy or some other type of waterproof glue.
The center strip should be the width of the gap and 1/2 inch high. I think we used pine, as it is sacrificial in our books. Seal that strip with a couple of coats of wood sealer or epoxy before installing it. It will be bedded in place with your adhesive of choice.
The fairing strips on either side of the daggerboard trunk are 1/4 inch thick marine grade plywood, like the hull panel.

Oh my goodness. You are an incredible resource. Thank you so much for the information!

 

[Mama H Chicago]

It's oak underneath, 3/4 inch so it should be okay.
Clean up the loose bits of the old center strip.
Fill any old screw holes with thickened epoxy or some other type of waterproof glue.
The center strip should be the width of the gap and 1/2 inch high. I think we used pine, as it is sacrificial in our books. Seal that strip with a couple of coats of wood sealer or epoxy before installing it. It will be bedded in place with your adhesive of choice.
The fairing strips on either side of the daggerboard trunk are 1/4 inch thick marine grade plywood, like the hull panel.

I couldn’t wait another moment to see exactly what she has going on inside, as I really want her to last it’s new family for generations to come. After a few learning experiences about how hard it is to pull ou hundreds of bronze ring shank nails, ANd then later mastering how to change the depth on my Ryobi circular saw….I went ahead and cut off most of the hull. I’m thrilled! She’s definitely an Alcort kit, as all her inner bits are numbered/labeled. And it’s dry and solid on every support. Like brand new! Ummm except for a few little slices that I am going to have to sawdust epoxy fill where I was sill learning about how a circular saw works

So, I’m going with the AquaTex plywood on both deck and hull. I’ll order the proper ring shank nails and bronze silicone screws from Jamestown Distributors, and put her all back together.

I’m not decided on how to get the old white paint of the dagger board trunk. I do see 4+ bolts that seem to be holding it in place, but I’m a little nervous about taking it apart for some reason. Maybe I just need to remember that everything is a learning experience and thus far, I’m doing pretty well!

Once I’m done with this (deadline right now for delivery is Memorial Day weekend). I think I’d really like to make one of these 100% from scratch for myself. I think I’ve seen on your blog that you and captain are maybe going to put together a kit or plans for a Sunfish (sign me up for an early purchase customer!!) and I know you’ve got so much knowledge and examples of these but if there is anything I can measure or send pics of off this one, I’m more than happy to do so.

 

[signal charlie]

Sweet!

I'd leave the trunk alone. All we did to ours was inject thickened epoxy into the seams and then we put a coat of thickened epoxy, or marine paint, over the outside of those stacked trunk blocks. We also put a skim coat of thickened epoxy on the inside face of the trunk. It looks like they use Weldwood glue, so those trunk blocks should be in pretty good shape.

Now take a look at how the frames do not really touch the underside of the deck, and there will probably be notches in the frames where they attach to the plank blocks. Those notches and gaps are there to let water flow to the drain points and not be trapped inside. This allows most of the water to be drained and the remaining moisture usually dries up in a day or two before rot can set in. That said, we did paint the inside of the plywood with marine paint before we installed the bottom, to add one more barrier to water absorption.

We can pretty much guarantee that the new boat will leak a bit somewhere, it's wood and glue.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

Really? Unashamed naïveté here…. Is it through screws and nails and such that leaks will come? I was thinking that I needed to just thixo the heck out of it on every seam, and ring shank nail on the new deck and hull etc.

My weather has been bad here so I’m in the 11th hour getting ready to finish her up!

 

[signal charlie]

She'll leak little or less for a few years. But, hold on to you bonnet...You may or may not know that older plywood can leak through the plies, especially under pressure. As wood fibers dry, small gaps form. Large gaps between fibers are known as grainwise fractures. If there are enough "fractures," air or water will find a zig zag path to the low pressure area, even through several layers of ply.

Pause this video at 1:09. See the bubble forming ON the deck?

The way we treat that issue is with a skim coat of thickened epoxy, either in spots or when bored we do the whole deck, which is what we did on our 1963 Sunfish CHIP. The alternative was to remove and replace the entire deck.

Only the Great Spirit can completely seal all of the seams, nail holes, screw holes, daggerboard trunks, mast steps, etc...for us to consider we are as skilled as the Great Spirit is hubris

In fact, there need to be a vent hole somewhere, so air pressure inside the hull can stay equal to outside pressure. ALCORT usually hid a the hull vent hole under the Serial No. tag or Alcort tag on the wood boats.

Our guidance for wood boat is to limit water intrusion as best we can with sealants and proper maintenance of coatings. And wisdom from our marine carpenter friend, he told us "Water will always find a way in, but not always find a way out." Trapped water is what kill boats innards.

 

[Mama H Chicago]

She'll leak little or less for a few years. But, hold on to you bonnet...You may or may not know that older plywood can leak through the plies, especially under pressure. As wood fibers dry, small gaps form. Large gaps between fibers are known as grainwise fractures. If there are enough "fractures," air or water will find a zig zag path to the low pressure area, even through several layers of ply.

Pause this video at 1:09. See the bubble forming ON the deck?

The way we treat that issue is with a skim coat of thickened epoxy, either in spots or when bored we do the whole deck, which is what we did on our 1963 Sunfish CHIP. The alternative was to remove and replace the entire deck.

Only the Great Spirit can completely seal all of the seams, nail holes, screw holes, daggerboard trunks, mast steps, etc...for us to consider we are as skilled as the Great Spirit is hubris

In fact, there need to be a vent hole somewhere, so air pressure inside the hull can stay equal to outside pressure. ALCORT usually hid a the hull vent hole under the Serial No. tag or Alcort tag on the wood boats.

Our guidance for wood boat is to limit water intrusion as best we can with sealants and proper maintenance of coatings. And wisdom from our marine carpenter friend, he told us "Water will always find a way in, but not always find a way out." Trapped water is what kill boats innards.

Once again, huge thanks for the knowledge!! I’ll post pics as I progress!