Deck Canvas

[markbrookes]

I recently bought a Lysander which has canvas covered ply decks. The ply (checked from underneath) seems fine, however, the canvas has a few areas where it is lifting - in the form of bubbles - and is fraying at the edge. What is the best method of keeping this going for a couple of years before I can get round to a major refit? Any advice appreciated.

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[john_morris_uk]

Canvas decks are traditionally painted.

If there are bare patches, or very worn areas, you can trim the canvas back and tack a patch over the affected area. Traditionally one way was to bed the patch on runny paint and then paint over the top with several coats when it was dry. You can still buy deck paint.

Recanvasing decks isn't that hard and it looks the business when they are new.

I confess to epoxying glass matt over my last wooden boat because I knew that they would never leak again that way!

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[BobPrell]

In the mid-80s I bought my first plywood trailer yacht, a 21ft Hartley, and found myself needing to repair the decks, which were painted over red lead primer. The ply had developed quite a few cracks and I have never been able to get paint to fill cracks. I then happened to read a PBO article about canvassing decks so I thought I would have a go. I used pink primer and unbleached calico, both being cheap, and the calico lighter than canvas. After all my boat was not a traditional heavy type. I used no tacks or staples.

This seemed to be successful in all respects, waterproof and quite hard wearing.
I left it in place for about 5 years. Then I did a more serious refit and this time I used epoxy and calico. Everything I have ever read says that epoxy and cotton dont work together but mine has stuck down beautifully, and the epoxy raised the nap of the calico giving the beginning of a non-slip surface. That covering was still in place when I sold the boat about 7 years later, by which time I had also covered the bottom of the boat with calico and epoxy. That needed a coat of epoxy and micro balloons to smooth the surface.

The only problem I found is that if the calico is creased, it is very difficult to get the creases out. I have since worked at a proper boatbuilders using epoxy and glass over wood and can't really see any great superiority as a surfacing system. If the glass is required as part of the designed scantling, then that is what must be used.

In your case I would probably cut the bubbles out and inspect under. Rout cracks with a small bit and fill with epoxy sawdust mix (thats's my solution to filling cracks). Then put an epoxy and calico patch over what's been removed. My experience is that a bubble is very difficult to get flat onto the substrate. Sometimes they will look OK and then pop up hours later. Then once the epoxy has set, they need to be cut out again.

cheers Bob


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