Repairing a Pine Deck

by Paul
(Plymouth, UK)

I am currently restoring a 30 foot 1939-built wooden gaff cutter.

It doesn't need a great deal of work, it is generally in good condition and is perfectly capable of being sailed.

However, the deck is worse than most of the boat, and leaks quite badly.

At the moment, I don't have the time or the money to replace the deck, so would like to repair it in such a way that it lasts for at least a few seasons, when I might think again.

There's always lots of suggestions around for restoring teak, but not so many for pine.

The first problem is that there are many places where the dowels over the fastenings are missing.

Something needs doing to these fairly urgently as every time it rains (and I am based in SW England, so that is not a rare occurrence!) these fill up with water and will surely start to rot.

I don't want to replace dowels, I would rather use some sort of filler.

Any suggestions?

The boat lives in salt water.

I gather that something like red lead mixed with linseed oil is traditional but doubt that would be available nowadays.

Some sort of putty maybe?

After that I need to replace some of the caulking.

I might try pitch just to keep the cost down.

Finally, I would like to cover the whole thing in something waterproof.

Some people recommend using epoxy and a single sheet of woven glass matting but I do not have the skill to do that on such a large area of deck without ending up with assorted wrinkles.

I would like something I can brush on, preferably something quite thick that would help seal minor leaks.

I have been told that there is such a product, that it is varnish coloured and has good non-slip properties, and though quite expensive does a good job.

The person who told me this could not remember what it was called.

Ideally, I need to be able to buy stuff here in the UK.

Any suggestions gratefully received!