By John Clemens (jclemens@eskimo.com) T22 #1323 "Pogmahone" -=+=- Seattle, WA

Last summer I went through an extensive rebuild/refit of the "Pog"(after the previous owner's neglect of any maintenance for severalyears!), including replacement of the bulkheads.

The material is plywood, 1/2", with teak veneer. Once you removethe solid teak surround, you'll be able to see the edge of the plywood.Although I replaced the bulkheads with the mast up, I recommend doingit with the mast down, to reduce the load on the deck and cabin timber(the 'glassed support at the top of the cabin that the bulkheads attachto).

Removing the bulkheads requires you to remove four screws at thetop, aft (on mine, the screws are square-heads) and four screws atbottom, forward (same kind as the others). Of course, if you have anylamps, fire extinguishers, radios, etc., attached, do remove themfirst. The chainplates will also have to be removed (which is why Irecommend the procedure with the mast down).

Use the old bulkhead panel as a pattern to trace onto the newplywood. I suggest leaving a wee bit extra on the edge (1/32" or so),just to allow for filing to fit the curve of the cabin liner.

For a finish, I used several applications of Watco teak oil stain,followed by several coats of marine polyurethane varnish. Perhaps thisis overdone a bit, but if you saw what water leaks through the sidelamps caused, you'd do the same! The panels had become delaminated inplaces I couldn't readily inspect, so when I was sailing in a lightbreeze on starboard tack, the tension allowed the chainplate to pull upthrough the wood! After my heart rate went down and I made it back tothe marina, I vowed to cover the replacements in nearly-waterproofcoatings.

To fit the chainplates, first install the bulkhead panels with allattaching screws. Then insert the chainplates down through the deck, nofurther than they had originally been (the caulking line on thechainplate will guided you). Mark the holes, remove the chainplate,drill the holes, and reinstall the chainplate and attaching screws.After that, reinstall the teak surround and anything else you hadremoved before.

Recaulk around the chainplate with a good marine caulk (I used apolysulfide, LifeCaulk, but a polyurethane would also be good; thesilicone caulk doesn't seem to hold up well, though). Also check theside lamp openings for the possibility of leaks (might as well rebedwith polysulfide, too!). The object is to keep water off the edge ofthe plywood panel.