Day 1.

Finding that things that join up aren't necessarily attached...

A fillet of epoxy between the thwart bulkhead and the side. Not really attached to the side.

After removing the epoxy, there is about a 4mm gap. This is the inside, matching the position of the crack on the outside.

After removing the paint around the crack on the outside.
It has been around for a while, there are 2 different types of screws (Brass slotted screws and stainless square drive). Unfortunately, the screws are all in the front side of the break, going into some timber under the thwart. There is nothing to screw the back part into so it has moved, hence the gap inside. It hasn't been water tight but the wood is still good.

While working on the hole, I found the thwart bulkhead wasn't just loose across the top and that it was only attached to the side about half way down from the top. After pulling that clear it is clear that water has gotten in but again, the wood is sound. 


The lack of evidence of any glue between the thwart and the bulkhead is kinda worrying me. Afraid that the paint is holding the boat together...

My plan for this is to clean up everything and epoxy the bulkhead back in, add another upright (like the one in the picture above (but on the rear side of the bulkhead) and put some screws through the outside to hold the rear side of the break. I'm considering a layer of fibre glass across the gap on the outside but worried out much I'd have to fill fore and aft to make it blend in.

There is evidence of something similar on the other side of the boat. A sticker covers the area but you can see 3 screw heads. Not sure if I want to remove the sticker...

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