My First Marine Plywood Project

Original damaged area

Last summer, after several seasons of watching as a panel on the side of a locker at the foot of the Key of Sea's flybridge ladder slowly and relentlessly peeled and rotted from the exposure to water, I finally decided to take on the project of replacing it. How big a deal could it be?

Well, like every project I undertake that requires some talent as an electrician or a plumber or a carpenter or mechanic, it IS a big deal.

However, in the past I have found that in many instances, patience, a lot of careful study and going at it slowly, usually results in success. Thus, I began the process of learning what I needed to do to make this little project work and along the way I learned a lot.

The small 10 by 15 inch panel was rotting and as it was very visable, it got to look really bad. At least it looked bad to me. I noticed it everytime I boarded the boat. I'd cuss the thing a bit under my breath, shake my head and tell my wife I have got to figure out how to fix that.

Tearing into the project, I found more rot. 

Part of my concern was that it was part of a locker that also acted as the first step up the ladder to the flybridge, I really didn't want it to get so rotten that it might collapse on someone sending them sprawling across the cockpit deck.

So, I started by doing a lot of research on line. I posted a question on the Bayliner Owner's Club's question forum, and asked questions of boating friends. Slowly the planning portion of the project came together. I found I needed to purchase some specific tools I didn't have. I needed specific materials to do the job, marine plywood, epoxy, brushes, gloves, sandpaper, etc.

2 X 4 foot piece of marine plywood

I began collecting all the stuff needed and also made several visits to the boat to take measurements. As the panel was in bad shape, taking an accurate measurement was problematic. You don't want to be off in your dimensions and, as very few edges on a boat are straight, you have to measure more that twice. The panel turned out to be roughly a parallelogram but the height of the shape changed, becoming shorter as it got closer to the back wall. If I didn't want to go through a lot of very expensive plywood, I'd need to be very careful with my measurements.

Measure five times, cut once!

At $50 for a half sheet of marine plywood, I really wanted to get this right the first time. I purchased a square and a finishing blade for my skill saw and began measuring, checking, rechecking, double checking, thinking through every move I made to get just the right shape drawn onto the plywood. Then I carefully started making each cut, stopped, looked over what I'd done, remeasuring again. Then on to the next rip.

When I'd finally got the final cut done, I took the raw piece of wood down to the boat to see how it fit. Close, but not quite perfect. Back home, I shaved a bit more off one end to account for the height difference from front to back. Another trip to the boat and it looked nearly perfect. Pretty darn close for an amateur trying this for the first time.

I pulled the teak wood trim pieces off the locker, sanded and revarnished them over several days.

After carefully sanding the new panel with finer and finer grits, finally ending with double 00 steel wool, I cleaned it carefully with tack cloth, a product I had never used before. It basically picks up every bit of the dust and wool left behind from the sanding process making it more likely you'll get a smooth finish when applying epoxy and your final finish.

Finished panel!

The panel I was replacing and much of the plywood portions of our boat are all unfinished plywood, destined to rot out over time. It is one of the features of a Bayliner that makes it a more affordable boat when new, but a construction failing when the boat reaches a certain age. The plywood should have been covered with an epoxy in the beginning but this process would have added more to the cost, so it was left out. Now I am suffering for this oversight.

All edges of the new panel have been painted with the gooey epoxy and left to dry before the second coat was applied. Careful sanding of the epoxy prepared it for painting. I found a deck paint made by Rustoleum that went on beautifully. Not a brush stroke is visable.  A couple of coats of this and the panel was ready for installation.

The biggest problem was getting all the trim pieces back in place and the entire locker put back together. The finished product turned out so nice I almost suprised myself. I point it out to everyone who comes aboard and they politely compliment me but I know they are probably thinking that such a piddly little repair is kind of silly. But I am proud and so is my wife. And the boat looks so much better when I climb aboard.

I know there are more places aboard that will need this same treatment sooner than later but at least I know I can do it when the time comes.

My plan and measurements on top of the rotten panel