Having not seen the craft and the extent of the damage I can only guess that
25 years ago someone thought the way to save it for a while longer was to
encapuslate it in ferrocement.

Today people are taking older craft and coating them in epoxy.

This might increase the longiviety for some period but the initial problem
has only been covered up to resurface later under a new owner.

UNLESS YOU CUT IT OUT AND BURN IT ROT SPORES WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST IN THE
WOOD ONLY TO BEGIN THEIR CYCLE OF DESTRUCTION AT THE FIRST
OPPORTUNITY.!!!!!!!!!! ANY CRACK IN THE COATING IS A MEANS FOR MOISTURE
AND AND A WOODEN BOAT MOVES MAKING CRACKS AND THE COATING ONLY
PREVENTS THE MOISTURE FROM EXCAPING. GET THE POINT.

Terry.

Hi

"terry" wrote in message ...

Snip

UNLESS YOU CUT IT OUT AND BURN IT ROT SPORES WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST IN THE
WOOD ONLY TO BEGIN THEIR CYCLE OF DESTRUCTION AT THE FIRST
OPPORTUNITY.!!!!!!!!!! ANY CRACK IN THE COATING IS A MEANS FOR MOISTURE
AND AND A WOODEN BOAT MOVES MAKING CRACKS AND THE COATING ONLY
PREVENTS THE MOISTURE FROM EXCAPING. GET THE POINT.

Terry.

You are quite right, ----- but you must remember that there are spores
everywhere. It is not only the presence of spores but if the
inviroment make them possible to grow that count ; rot where there are
several species often feeding of eachother is acturly quite fragile
organisms , ------ they need oxygen, they need except e few species
water (unf. one of the most dangouras species the yellow house one
produce it's own water ) They need to live within a cirtain temperture
; remove one of these tree factors and the rot will encapsulate itself
untill the right inviroment is there again.
But except from that I agrea ; this boat had 25 years more, and it's
age and type indicate that it is worth saving even you would end up
replacing the whole lot ; now that can be seen as a big problem, but
when you look around and check what antike boats is around, you find
that most of them hardly carry one single piece of the original wood.
I seen a few amatures with absotlutly no experience, end up with the
finest vessels , but the time span when you spend all free time, all
vacations and all your friends and a lot of your money, is around 7 or
8 years when the boat is under 38 feet, you learn a lot and is still
a part of the boating community and underway you make a lot of
bargains and meet a lot of nice people, -------- it's worth all the
trouble.
But with the boat described a better ventilation system that acturly
dry out the boat ,and as pointed by others making sure no leaks occour
is the first step anyway.

Btw, ------ I don't hope this spark a long discussion, but salt do
not, and I must repeat "Do Not" prevent any sort of rot ; it's been
tested in and out, goverment fonds paied experiments that ran for
decades ,it is not a bacteria and rot go into oil soaked mashin rooms
and wood that been "salted" , taking it just as a plesant spice if
there is salt crystals ------- please there are already much salt in
the water and realy wood that you think is preasure treaded is only so
a millimeter into the wood, realy wood is quite a remarkable material
that protect itself even against preasure treadment a known fact. In
the old day's they salted herings and thought salt would presave
anything, it don't and best prove is, that in those times engineers
and scientists went mad becaurse of the public oppinion that salt
could presave wooden ships when everyone could se that thruout
"salted" ships , those acturly carrying salt as cargo , rotted as fast
as any other vessel.
------- But you know herings will last, then wood shuld to ; sure
soaked in water so no oxygen was around but not becaurse of the salt
that just made the nails and bolts rust away in a third the time.

P.C.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cyber-Boat/