V-Berth Repair O’Day 20 (1974)

[Randy Michaelis]

Just recently acquired a 1974 O’Day 20 that needs some interior work. The v berth plywood appears to be original but is seriously degraded and needs to be replaced. There are screws down the middle of the plywood pieces. However, the plywood doesn’t appear to be screwed where it meets the hull. It looks it might be secured to the hull with epoxy.
I am worried that just “yarding” on these will damage the interior hull surface.
I would love to hear from folks who know more than I do on this.
Thanks,
Randy

[Fuzz]

Hey Randy welcome to our play house
Given the age of your boat I am sure poly was used and not epoxy. But it really does make any difference for what you will be doing. Do you have a multi tool? If not I would go get one but there are other tools for the job. Do you have a 4.5 inch grinder?
You need to cut the glass tabbing right next to the hull and pull all that old wood out. After that is done we will move on to the next step.

[Randy Michaelis]

Thank you. I greatly appreciate the guidance on this.
I do not have this tool but getting one is not a problem. Let me see if I understand. There are fiberglass tabs on the hull holding up the plywood. My task is to use the grinder tool to cut through these tabs, so that I can remove the plywood. Am I close?

[Fuzz]

When strips of fiberglass is used to join things together it is called tabbing or tabs. So you are correct you need to cut the glass loose from the hull and remove the wood. When you put new material back in you will tab it back in with glass just like you took out. Before putting things back together you will need to sand off any old tabs and rough up the area you will be glassing back to.

[fallguy1000]

Not to contradict, but you may be able to save the old glass tabbing. Do not remove anything that is good to start.

Just remove the rotten crap.

If you have cleats that support the deck; leave them because otherwise you have to add them back to support the new deck.

Also, it gets pretty easy to blow thru and put a hole in the hull when you start cutting close.

In many situations, the edge of the old deck can be left and then a new cleat bonded to it. I would cut out the old crap all the way to 2" away from the hull and inside bulkheads to see if I could use any of that for the new deck.

A small bit of rotten deck can be removed and replaced with epoxy fillers, so if a bit of rot remains behind; don't worry about it. If it is so loose is pulls off; get rid of it.

[fallguy1000]

Cut it all out with 2" remaining.

If the question mark wood is strong; leave it.

When you get it cut out; report back on the condition and pictures. Try to tell is what the hull edge is like when you can reach in there.

Use a multi tool or a 4" skilsaw set really close to the deck thickness. It may be hard to fit it in, so the multi tool is really essential. I only use a carbide head on them.

Fuzz is giving you a lot of good advice. I'd just not be in a rush to cut out the old tabbing because it might be globs of poly filler that are still strong and a shit ton of work to remove.

5C910CBA-C48B-4C67-B00D-26D19BC3DD83.jpeg (159.93 KiB) Viewed 548 times

[fallguy1000]

Here is a picture of how u may end up fixing it.

Orange is the old boat cut to 2" away with glass tabbing or poly fill edges under.

Yellow is a new plywood cleat epoxied to the edge. You would replace any rotten orange wood with fillers. Green is the new deck. The other side can probably be done the same way or easily removed and the new deck glued back down onto the bulkheads or cleats.

Boatside can be a noghtmare to remove all the old tabbing and not hole the hull and get the new deck to lay down in the right spot and then remove paint for tabbing the new deck back down..

[OrangeQuest]

Like Fuzz stated, use a multitool, even the cheap ones here, have been holding up very well for me and I use all 3 of mine all the time. The money is spent on keeping sharp blades. They are NOT fast but will do an exceptionally clean job of getting all the old wood followed with an angler grinder and a sanding disk.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=multitool

I don't think you will want to leave any of that old plywood in there. It's cracking and coming apart all the way to the edge where your hand is.

[Randy Michaelis]

You two have been very helpful. I am off to buy a multitool. I will report back on progress. Thank you!

[Jaysen]

Follow the “leave two inches” advice. Not to leave 2” of wood in the repair, but so you can easily measure and test fit the replacement wood.

Also keep in mind that many of our small boats will require you to use several smaller pieces to replace that berth. Most sailboats under 27’ are built with the cap going on last. Basically they build the hull and interior before the deck cap is laid up. It can be tricky to make sure it all fits if you don’t have the 2” lip to hold all your pieces in place.