Thread: hartley vixen deck repairs

Sounds like a good pickup
I wish you good luck with her

Now, some questions.

What's required in replacing the rotted timber?

You may find that returning her to original is relatively easy (and the designer had good reasons for making them that wide).

You may also find that if you cut out the rot, you can just add another plank to replace what was removed.

Is the rot general or just in one area? If only in one area, cut out the rot only and scarf in a new lump ie, not entire plank, just a small piece.

And now the biggie - how do you know the rot doesn't go any further than you think at the moment?

Richard

Hi Richard, The rot only is about 2" wide but I thought I would add an extra 1" or so to make sure I got it all. It goes nearly the full length of the deck up to the front deck. It was under the front of the cabin near the nav lights both sides right thru to the stern.

see pic attached

Hmm, I might annoy Aberdeen about this - I'm pretty sure he's got the plans for the Vixen.

Richard

I sanded the deck back to bare timber and the rot doesnt appear to have gone any wider

Originally Posted by aussietrueblue

I sanded the deck back to bare timber and the rot doesnt appear to have gone any wider

Start poking around with a knife or spike, you'll soon find any other rot.

Richard

Yeah poked around and didnt find any more so am allowing another 1"wider tahn I need to in the cut.
It was confined to under the timber work on the inside of the deck that extends from the front deck to the rear of the boat. The deck that was exposed had been coated in epoxy which protected it a bit

Hi Aussietrueblue,
Congratulations on a fine selection of a design..... just a shame the rot has set into parts of it...

As for the side deck, from what I gather of your posting you want to make this decking a little narrower than original.....

As Richard mentioned it shouldn't be difficult at all to rebuild those bits to near original specifications.... my attitude would be to give it a go.

Should this for some reason be a problem then a couple of inches narrower (in my opinion) wouldn't be significant. The old girl has probably been around for many years and thus the shape would be well and truly set. Other than the unlikely event of getting rammed from the side, the existing frame work (unlike those spinless stitch'n glue things) would maintain much to the status quo. This no doubt would be further enhanced if there is additional items such as seats, storage, bulkheads or whatever down her sides.

9" decks are probably more of an advantage if one requires to walk along them to access the bow area re anchor etc. and to keep a bit more water out....the Vixens tend to be rather good at deflecting the wet stuff...... other than that probably no great benefit. A chap up in SE Qld has been building a Vixen for a while.... he doesn't even have any side decking, having opted for a sleek modern design look.

IMHO I think you could go either way, being a bit 'traditional' I'd like to keep as close to original design but wouldn't baulk at a minor alteration as you are contemplating....

All the best and hope to read a post once you have progressed on the restoration.....

Aberdeen

having not built a timber boat before what would be best timber to use to replace the deck if needed. I was thinking of replacing the timber around the inside of the gunnels with a piece of 100x20mm timber instead of trying to rebuild the original plywood and timber section

I have a love for Tasmanian Oak, lovely to work with and not too pricey.
Marine ply, say 6mm would be the way I go for the top of the deck. Using solid timber could be more of a problem re movement etc..... there are different types out there.... again my preference is to use Hoop Pine, but cheaper ones such as Gaboon are okay.

But REMEMBER - whatever you use make sure it is well sealed with a few coats of Epoxy.

A boat travelling through water is subject to plate action from waves & floating debris. Marine Ply is designed to absorb these forces due to the fact that this plywood is the closest to solid wood. In fact it is better than solid wood – defects have been graded out.

Marine ply is manufactured using the highest quality grade of veneers. These veneers don’t have defects & thereby eliminate core gaps when the sheet is cut. As these high grade veneers are used in every layer, marine plywood is dearer than other grades such as structural plywood.

Aberdeen neglects the caveat that the -only- guarantee in Oz that you have
of your plywood being this good is if you buy AS-2272 Marine Ply. This is
because "Standards" are only enforceable in their own countries. Any old
rubbish may be stamped BS-1088, which is, in many respects, a lower grade
of marine ply anyway.

AS-2272 (sold in Aust) must be of the highest possible quality veneers all the
way through, not just the outer faces. You pay a substantial premium for
this quality of plywood. (Be seated when you ask for prices...)

However, as far as your deck goes, a good quality BS-1088 meranti may well be
adequate -provided that- you do as he recommends - enbalm it in epoxy.

cheers
AJ

The other thing I want to ask is, what size outboard would suit? I was thinking around the 115hp mark. Currently there 2x50hp blue band mercs on the back one wont turn over while the other does but i havent tried to start it until I get the water pump replaced so I will upgrade to one outboard when the boat is ready to go into the water


cheers Bob

Back in 1980 I owned a 17'Vixen -Glass Fibre with centre console set up.I fished this boat for years off the south coast of SA and she was a great,safe dry rig.
This boat was powered by an old 60HP Chrysler-sadly.However, it did hundreds of hours and was adequate for 3 crew.115 hp will be great on your boat.
Hendo

115 HP would make the old girl get along nicely.... then again being a super careful and always prepared for the worst case scenario .... at least having 2 x 50 would provide wonderful backup should one fail for any reason...... yep, I live by the adage if something can go wrong it will at the wrong time.....

I have a 10hp auxilary I can put on the back if needed but will be taking an 45lb thrust minnkota for using up the creeks for crabbing.

bob