Deck = Done

We're finally in the final stages of the deck project,
and after 13 weeks the teak has been laid back down!

Thirteen weeks after removing the teak decking in the cockpit, it is finally laid back down.  Though there are the deck project,and the replacement of the rotten beam, is now finally complete.
still a few more steps to complete—the entire deck needs painting, a few areas need some patching, and all the teak needs sanding—

When sitting in the cockpit it looks as if nothing ever happened—in fact, though there are still those few things left to do, Evelyn already looks better on deck than we have ever seen her.  That is predominantly because in doing this project Lou did not simply replace things as they were, but also took the extra time to improve as he went.  So the line from teak to painted deck is crisp and clean, the joints where teak meets cabin are smooth, there is now a strip of varnished mahogany trim at the base of the cabin, and a layer of mahogany staving (currently being varnished, though at first he thought he’d oil it) decorating the backside of the cabin, which had previously been exposed and painted marine plywood.  The box protecting the electronic instruments was removed, repaired, the glass was replaced, and a layer of black plastic was installed behind the instruments to clean it up and hide the plywood that had also been there (thanks to a Tupperware lid for providing the plastic!).

He’s now patching up a back area of the bulwarks that had succumbed to rot—a temporary, less than desirable patch, but one that will fix the problem best as possible while we slowly prepare for the overall solution so that when we disassemble the bulwarks as much as possible is already prepared and the re-assembly can be much faster.  Once this is done, all the deck and bulwarks will be ready for their two coats of paint, and all the cabin sides will be ready for their two coats of varnish.  And then we will be that much closer to ending our haul out (it’s been almost a month—a wet, rainy month) and getting back in the water.

Thirteen weeks of working every spare moment—weekend, evening, and morning—is starting to come together and Lou’s dedication and endurance is paying off—Evelyn is looking great!

Here is a photo tour of the final stages of the deck project:
(To see photos of earlier stages of the work, click here and here.)

After the rotted deck and beam were replaced and then fiberglassed to match the rest of
the deck, all the edges and seams were filled and fared using a low density epoxy filler to help level,
followed by aggressive sanding to smooth things out.

The teak, which had been "cleaned" before (the caulking was removed and then the strips were sanded; broken pieces were glued back together), was arranged and fit back on deck like a giant jigsaw puzzle.  Once we had found where each piece belonged, we were ready to start securing the teak back onto the deck.

The teak strips were laid back onto the deck, secured with screws,
and the screw holes were then hidden with bungs.

Any open seams were then taped off, so that they could be recaulked.
(Also in this photo you can see that the new staving along the
cabin-side also received bungs to hide the fasteners there.)

After everything was prepped, caulking began.

Caulk is pumped into the seams and then smoothed with a putty knife...this step is why
the blue tape is so useful!  It makes clean-up later much easier!

After all the seams are done, the blue tape can be pulled.
A day or two later, the whole deck will be sanded.

The deck is finally done!  Now the new staving and trim can be varnished.

Pictured here is the instrument box mentioned above, which Lou repaired, oiled, had new glass cut for, and then made look cleaner by inserting black plastic behind the instruments (previously there had been exposed plywood).  The black plastic was cut from the lid of a large tupperware container.

Now that the edges along the cabin and deck have been fared and smoothed, and the teak replaced, the final stage of the project will be to paint the deck!  We decided to paint all the interior surfaces taupe to match the cabin top.  Sanding and prep-work was a long and hot process that required long days and nights, but we couldn't be happier with the results.  Below are some images of the completed deck during Evelyn's first sail: