Water logged sole over the bilge.

[Tom Tierney]

I just bought an 87 32-2. Hull #3 My first sailboat. My first boat. They always were a job for me. Now I'm 60, single and ready to liquidate the land and go to sea (and the marina).

My new girlfriend has a couple soft spots. Typical leaky grommets. But then she is 30 years old now. I know how that job goes. But before I reinvent the wheel (a nautical term), how have y'all dealt with the sole boards over the bilge rotting? Clearly, more wood doesn't make sense. What waterproof material did you find?

[Chance]

On Chance 1977 pearson 323 hull 10 in 2012 , replace the old teak and holly floor.  Install a new teak holly plywood floor and edge trim all bilge access with solid teak  on the floor and access panels .  It took 2 sheets  4x8 feet for the hole cabin sole .  Make sure you line the holly up in the main cabin. It require three pieces from the two sheet.  With enough left to do the fore peak and chart table floor. To protect this project ,I put three to four coat of Clear West epoxy  on all 6 sides of each piece .  If you have out gassing  problems , bubbles talk to West Epoxy techs  for advice.  I then put on four coats of gloss varnish on expose surfaces that will be seen after install . Then screw in place and bung the screw holes .Two more coat of varnish to cover the bungs.  In 2017 spring put another two coats  . The sole looks great and wears real well . If you use wood again make sure you seal  it with epoxy all six sides it well never rot. Good luck Bob K

[Bill1188]

I took my floor out two years ago. Pain, chipping out all the bungs and removing screws. Heat gunned off old finish, light sanding, five coats satin polyurethane. I fastened the floor by flush sinking some inserts into fiberglass and then flush fastening some shouldered brass washers in the wood. Then took some flat head brass screws to fasten floor. Looks great, brass and nautical. And I can take up floor any time by removing screws instead of hammering out bungs again.

[Dolce_Vita]

Mine on my P323 are shot too, and I plan to go back in with teak/holly marine plywood. After all, the original lasted over 30 years!  The critical thing is to get all surfaces, especially the edges, well sealed. Epoxy is great for this.

If you're really set on a non-wood solution, look into Lonseal ( http://www.lonsealspecialty.com ).  A friend with a Catalina 30 used this on his cabin sole and was quite pleased with the results.

[Last Resort]

I refinished the top surfaces of my sole for my 1990 31.2, then to protect the bottom I used a heavy coat of Black Tremclad Rust paint instead of the epoxy method and so far it's working GREAT!!! and it was a lot easier to apply and work with then epoxy! There were 3 pieces that had to be replaced though as the previous owner left the sails sitting on them with water in the bilge all winter, and they went black ALL THE WAY through the sole. If you have any like that, you'll need to replace them as well as fixing them isn't possible, and be sure to dry the bilge for winter storages.

[Dolce_Vita]

I just started taking my old original flooring up, and I was appalled to find that the edges and underside were not sealed!  No wonder it delaminated so badly from just a plumbing leak!