Bulkhead repair/replace

[Lance Jones]

I discovered some dry rot on the starboard bulkhead that is between the galley and saloon shelving. I had a leaking stanchion that I rebedded recently. Is this a structural/weight bearing bulkhead or simply a partition?

Is it hard to replace?

[Ken Juul]

a picture would help.

If it where I think it is, the galley shelves are attached on one side the salon shelves are attached on the other.  Be a big job to replace it.  Might be easier to scab a 3/8" or 1/2" peice on each side to provide additional support so the weight of the shelves don't compress/collapse the rotting wood.  Generously apply "GitRot" first to kill what is there.

[Lance Jones]

That's the spot Ken. The 110 Outlet is there and it amazes me that when the leak was ... leaking the boat didn't short out or catch fire.

[Stu Jackson]

We had the very same issue, Lance, when we got our boat.  The PO had wired the microwave to that outlet, too!  I read about the leaky stanchion bases, especially for the vented ones, in the old Mainsheet magazines.  We had leak evidence from the water stains on the ash battens outboard of the galley, so I did some detective work and found one soggy wet electrical junction box!!!  Yikes!

IIRC, there was a recent Mainsheet article (within the past two years) about a skipper who did a lot of work in that area of the boat (with those pictures that you like so much  ).  

Check the Tech Notes Online via the Knowledgebase, there were a lot of details in that article.

[Lance Jones]

That's it Stu! Thanks!!!! Here is the link. http://www.c34.org/mainsheet/pdf/May_2008.pdf

[Ron Hill]

Lance : The area on either side of the boat - under the vented stanchons is NOT structural.  What usually happens on the MK1 is that the ash battoning on the hull wall under the shelf get stained/mildue and looks like heck!!  The shelf plywood will start to separate.   A thought

[Lance Jones]

Thanks Ron, the shelf wood looks good. It was the ash battons and the vertical wood the suffered.

[gwp]

You might check chainplates and stantions forward of there for leaks too which could manifest there.  I just replaced that bulkhead, wire/plumbing chase, and shelf. Its a big job but a necessary one. Good luck