So I'm doing a lot of projects lately, and was majorly bummed out to find the wall between the engine compartment and the lower foot of the port aft quarterberth has some significant rot. Frustrated because lately it feels like every project I fix, I find a new one. And this will be a big one.
Please see pictures here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxfHpwssU_6NNVBhbXpEZnhkUE0&usp=sharing As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. It's a 2-3 foot section of the port engine compartment wall, abutting the storage compartments under the port quarterberth. One thing I'm perplexed on is - how did this happen? There are no leaks dripping onto this area as far as I can tell. The cockpit is above this and it doesn't have any major penetrations on this side. And the top of the bulkhead is solid. Normally when wood rots I expect it to start from the top, where the leak is. The only clue I have is this bulkhead had two cuts / gaps in the bottom (probably to run wires through) and that's where the rot seems to have spread out from. So maybe the moisture got in through the exposed grain at the cut? There is high humidity in the engine compartment due to inevitable moisture in there. But also the rot is right behind the batteries (house #1 + starter), which I find suspicious. Is it possible the gel cells outgassing actually caused the damage somehow? >From the pictures do you think this might be "dry rot"? (a particularly evil kind of rot which apparently spreads by fungus even without an active water leak anymore) If it's spreading I want to cut out the bad portion of the bulkhead and glass in new wood asap. If it's not spreading I can put it off, or even ignore it since it's not structural. I could even just paint over it with new waterproof marine paint? If I have to cut it out, access will be tough - it's in the engine space, I'll have to remove the batteries, some wiring, and probably the exhaust lift riser, and the panel that covers the aft quarterberth storage compartments. The other thing is I can't even tell what kind of wood this was originally. It doesn't seem as strong as marine plywood or the wood used in other bulkheads. The bad wood seems sort of grey / bluish colored - I'm not sure if that's from the flaked off white paint or what. The other option is trying Git Rot injected into holes drilled into it. http://www.boatlife.com/git-rot/ At this point mainly wondering if any of you have experience with this issue, particularly in this area (non-structural, between engine compartment and aft qtrberth storage compartments) or how something like this can happen (rotting from the bottom up rather than top down)? -Patrick 1984 C&C LF38 Seattle, WA
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