Cathederal Hull

[Jay Jay]

I have just bought a boat well virtually given a boat and deck was a bit flimsy so I ripped it out and underneath I found the original deck, what they had done was cut the side seats come storage compartments out and then raised the deck by about 2" with a frame and set the new deck on top so when I have ripped the deck out and the frame which was by now rotten anyway!!! now I can see through to the drain holes on both sides, what I would like to know is now that I am in this position there is a what looks like 75x75mm length straight down the centre of the deck fiberglassed into hull can I attach to this or no if I lay a new deck on top?, I am struggling to upload photo's so I will post another forum on a different computer with photo's

 

[Bajansailor]

Jay, please do upload some photos on this thread if possible - they will help a lot.

 

[Jay Jay]

Jay, please do upload some photos on this thread if possible - they will help a lot.

Thanks for taking time out, I actually uploaded photo's in a later thread but I will put them here for you now

 

[Bajansailor]

What is the general condition of the original deck (or what remains of it)?
Do you want to keep the deck at this level (re the repair work required) or do you want to fit a new raised deck (as per the rotten deck that you have ripped out)?
If what is left of the original deck is in reasonable condition, and you want to keep this deck height, then you could just lay some new sections of deck (plywood?) - re the void space on the centreline in way of that longitudinal 75 x 75 girder, you could bed the deck panel on to that.
Re the seats that were ripped out, are you going to re-fit new ones in the same fashion (ie same height and width)?
If not, will you install deck panels in way of where the old seats were?

 

[Jay Jay]

Thanks again for taking interest and helping, As you can see in this photo it's a bit cleaner and I was thinking of putting a slightly raised deck back in, but the one they had in stopped short at the end where the seat box remains are but I would like to go right to the stern of the boat and was wondering can I attach any part of the new frame to the bar in the centre as seen in photo's or can I just frame it up put ply on top and then the fiberglass will hold it down, as I have never owned a boat before I have no idea

 

[Bajansailor]

Re raising the deck, what is the reason for this - are you looking to make it self draining, with drain holes in the transom above the waterline?
If this is the case, then you might as well chop out the remains of the seats in the stern.
I would be inclined to also cut out the old deck in the middle, as it will not be doing much.
You could add another longitudinal girder on top of the existing 75 x 75 girder to support the new deck in way of the centreline.
You will also need to glue on some strips of (eg) timber to the hull sides for landing the outboard sides of the new deck on.

If you are not looking to make it self draining, then it might be much easier in the long run to just patch up the existing deck, rather than building a new raised deck?

 

[Jay Jay]

It actually has three drain holes one in the centre and one either side and the remaining deck seems very thin I don't know why, so I think I'll take your advice and rip out the remaining deck and lay fresh one taking out the remainder of the seats as well. Thanks once again for taking the interest and helping me out, Cheers now STAY SAFE.

 

[Bajansailor]

Righty ho - re ripping out the remaining deck, and laying new deck, will this be at the same level as the original deck, or are you still going to raise it up?

And do you know what make the hull is, or who the Builder was?

Here is a link to a thread about Woodson cathedral hulls on the Boat Design Forum in the USA a few years ago. I posted a copy of a catalogue I have; Photobucket messed it up on the first page, so I reposted the photos as attachments on page 3. It might be useful for general reference.
Woodson dual cathedral 18