dulcibella
Well-Known Member
My boat has a thwart seat across the aft end of the cockpit that can be unbolted to provide access to the open space underneath (where the life-raft is stored). This thwart has a core of 15mm plywood onto which are glued and screwed a top made of caulked teak strips and teak side-strips. The two ends of the thwart rest on ledges.
When I bought the boat there was some sign of rot at the ends of the teak, clearly due to water that collected between the support ledges and the thwart. Over some years this has got slowly worse. I have removed the entire plywood core and cleaned it up before fitting a new core made from good-quality marine ply. I can see several ways in which I can prevent the ends of the thwart from sitting in water, but should also like to do all I can to protect the ply. What would be the best treatment for the cut edges of the ply before fitting it (and indeed for the other surfaces too)?
When I bought the boat there was some sign of rot at the ends of the teak, clearly due to water that collected between the support ledges and the thwart. Over some years this has got slowly worse. I have removed the entire plywood core and cleaned it up before fitting a new core made from good-quality marine ply. I can see several ways in which I can prevent the ends of the thwart from sitting in water, but should also like to do all I can to protect the ply. What would be the best treatment for the cut edges of the ply before fitting it (and indeed for the other surfaces too)?
