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Gearing up for the winters work, and so here is the next question: The bottom plywood is de-laminating at the stern, centered, for a total area of about two square feet. Feedback on this repair approach please. See the attached photos. Note also that the keel cap and keel band will be off as well for repair, refit, replace, but that is a different post.

With the boat flipped over, I'll strip all the paint and caulk and expose all the screws. I'll use a router to remove the delaminated layers in the affected area leaving 2/3rd's of the existing plywood in place, which I am hopeful will be solid and rot spore free. CPES or thinned MAS on the entire stripped surface of the bottom. I'd then fill the resulting cut out area and exposed screws with a quality marine filler that has some sort of ....um filler added for strength. Then, I'll use the TXCAPTAIN approach (My 12 yr old daughter loves your red boat Dan) to fair out and correct what I hope are minor hooks from the improper way the boat was stored on the trailer . With the additional fairing to correct the hooks, I could end up with filler a 1/4 inch thick, so was considering a reinforcement cloth such as fiberglass in the cut out area.

Thoughts?

Peter - That really doesn't look too bad. I would sand affected area to bare wood and I think you will find only the top layer has started to peel. This can be sealed and repaired with an epoxy filler and faired smooth. I think waht you have is fairly common for this type boat, I would not try routing until you sand a little and find out what really has come loose, I suspect only the edges. When you remove the keel cap you will get a better idea of condition of garboard plywood. When I did my keel cap I added extra screws in garboard that would secure sheet and be hidden by keel cap. Your hull has an unusual keel cap mine is about 1x2 oak and does not hang down like that, is that stock?
Good luck Dan

Hey Dan,

Good points, I plan to sand it down to bare wood and I'll plan forward from what I see then. I am hoping you are right that its only the top layer. I also have to consider the screw heads and making sure I don't hit them with the router bit.

To the best of my knowledge, and based on inspection in side and out before I put a maintenance coat of paint on it, I believe that to be the original keel cap. Sitting at my desk and not under the boat at this particular moment, my stem cap is 1X2 and as it turns under the bow flares out to I think 2X3, connects to the keel cap, which runs to the stern where it tappers off like you see in these photos.

I juat used a 4" ginder on my bad spots with 40 grtit paper, then cpes and then 2 part epoxy filler. Has held up well for 3 years and 100+ hours at 20 to 30 mph in all types of water up to 3' rollers.

I like that approach - as you can see - I have a tendency to over engineer things