Putting it back together

[Doyle]

I stripped everything that I could out of my 14'Wolverine cold molded runabout. I basically have been working on an empty hull. I have sanded the hull, inside and out, down to bare wood.

As I start to re-assemble the parts, do I just screw the parts back together, or do I epoxy it back together? (I do plan to CPES all the parts before I re-assemble it)

The way I see it, using epoxy will make sure that nothing will ever work its way loose.

On the other hand, if I ever have to make any repairs, or if someone 44 years from now wants to re-do my work, it will be hard to dis-assemble to work on.

[Art Read]

I'm assuming they weren't epoxyed down to begin with? Maybe had some sort of "putty" like stuff in there? In any case, unless the "parts" require epoxy to provide "structural" rigidy as per the original design, I'd think a good bedding compound, (goop in a tube or "Dolphinite" type stuff) might be the way to go. You don't want an easy place for water to migrate in and collect, but epoxy or really "strong" adheasive "goop" (as in 3M 5200 or it's like) would be overkill and a major headache if you or anybody else ever wants back in there.

[Art Read]

While we're on the subject, (Sorry to "highjack" your thread, Doyle...) I've been thinking ahead towards actually installing these plywood decks I've been working on for the Dark Harbor. Looking at the "Haven" builder's book, they show the deck layed down with screws and 5200 at the sheer plank/deck joint and nothing on the deck frames but the screws. Is this "standard" practice? If, (God forbid!), that deck ever has to come off, is the 5200's extra "holding" power worth it? I guess having to carefully separate that joint, if it ever comes to that, would be a small price to pay if avoids leaks down the road from using something less "bulletproof" such as Sikaflex? How about the deckbeams? I'm thinking a little "Dolphinite" between them and the plywood makes sense. Thoughts?

[Dale Harvey]

If your Wolverine is layed up anything like my buddies' Whirlwind, man does that bottom MOVE! Going down the bay at about 40mph the other day, the substancial bilge stringer was deflecting a good 3/4". If he hadn't heavily epoxy/glassed the bottom I wouldn't even ride in the thing! In a hull that flexes this much, tieing something structural in the interior down with epoxy may very well create a "hard spot" that will lead to subsequent breakage. Use only flexible adhesives and/or original methods that have not broken. Give serious thought to exterior STRUCTURAL glass or even Kevlar if you intend to run her fast.