I often think about boat owners who either need or choose to have others perform maintenance and repairs on their vessels. It can be quite expensive, and another challenge is finding someone to do the work. After hauling our Symbol motor yacht this past fall, I created a list of
repairs and upgrades that needed attention. One task was rebuilding the salon door leading to the deck. Over time, moisture had seeped in, causing the interior plywood skin to delaminate. Freezing had also caused the fiberglass outer shell to buckle. I preferred not to handle this task myself and tried to find someone to do it, but had no luck.
So, I removed the door and took it to the shop. My initial thought was to build a new door, but after removing the wood skin on the cabin side, I discovered the frame was actually aluminum. The exterior was a fiberglass shell that had been gel-coated and wrapped around the perimeter. After removing all the rotted wood and sanding the surfaces, I was able to glue 1/4" luan as a base and seal it with epoxy, repair the perimeter with Marine Tex epoxy, and fill some of the minor cracks. A final layer of 1/4" cherry to match the interior woodwork will complete the interior side. I will prepare the gel-coated exterior and apply Awlgrip paint to match.
Some photos below of the "work in progress". More to follow as I complete the project.
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