Mourne Lass

by Frankee
(Devon)

The 'Lass' is a an ex-MFV, which we are working on in an attempt to give her a new lease of life in her retirement.

We need to replace the 60 year old deck, but we can't afford (time and money) to do this for a few years.

However in the mean time we are (as with almost all wooden boats) having difficulties with drips through the deck.

The hull is sound, so no worries there.

We wondered whether anyone had any advice on how to cut down on the drips.

Even with all the rain we have had lately the planks haven't swelled enough to stop the leaks.

Whilst we know that what we should do is strip it back and re-caulk, we don't really want to do this if we are going to replace the whole thing in a few years time.

Any advice on how to reduce the amount of pots, pans and take-out containers scattered around down below would be gratefully received!

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Thank you for your suggestions
by: Frankee

Mike and Hugo,

thank you so much for your suggestions, I will certainly look into both, and may come back for some further advice.

Best wishes,
Frankee



Deck sealing
by: Hugo

Many years ago I stripped all the old canvas and fittings off the pine decks of a prewar yacht, dried the timber out, and slapped a coat of rubberised deck paint over the lot.

The product was called DECOLAY, and I find it's still available (just google it).

It bonded perfectly to (then) 40-year old T&G, and looked very well too.

The makers maintained in their blurb (if I remember rightly) that it was made for fishing vessels, and would give a non-slip, hard-wearing surface.

I put back all the brightwork such as toe rails and rubbing strakes, and cabin coaming quadrant, over the top of this, and never had a drop of leakage.
Mourne Lass
by: Mike

Hi Frankee,


On anything other than an MFV, I’d say erect a ‘tent’ over her, just a roof open at the sides so there is plenty of air circulating.

However, that’s going to be difficult with all the deck gear, superstructure etc.

Whatever you do it wants to be above the deck to keep the rain out; that fresh water will end up causing rot.

So, how about covering the decks with painted canvas, that used to be quite a common deck covering.

It’s reasonable hard wearing, non-slip and should last a couple of years.

The only thing is that the paint will soak through on to the planks, is that going to be a problem later?

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