You can always rent a 'Floor Re-finisher' machine to strip the top layer of gunk off the ply. I've used them to remove thick layers of paint from oak flooring and they work fast! You can then determine whether you need to replace the whole roof or can just re-surface it with Fiberglass. 🤔🤩

My father had a 1939 Chris Craft with a canvas roof. We took 2 years to pull it off and replace it with canvas so it was original. The guy next to us on the hard just fiber glassed over his cabin top in maybe 2 weeks. He had 2 years on the water and we had 2 years on land! Just replace the soft areas and then just fiber glass over everything and don't bother to rip off the good. You have a nice boat but it's not a museum piece. Make it look nice but don't kill yourself.

A 7" sander with a 36 grit disc will rip through that stuff in under an hour. Messy but effective. A true Weapon of Mass Destruction. Let's see how much core you have to remove then we'll consider fiberglass solutions. Cheers Peter! 🍻

If you can, start from a clean slate so you KNOW that it will be good when you are finished. Rip the top off completely to save yourself the time then plywood and fiberglass to finish the job. It will make hitting your June goal a bit easier. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mike Byrne here, husband to fuzzy slipper... I was so impressed with the deck/cabin top repair you pulled off for Lady Zephyress. Evacuating all the rot to solid wood, scarfing, scribing and otherwise creating and tying in dutchmen of various sizes and thickness' to solidify said cabin top/deck. Followed by fairing, filling and sanding and yes, ''fiberglassing" over the now solid cabin top. No need to remove everything. Work with the good. Your handy little hammer will tell you what needs to go and what can be saved! Cheers!

I would try a Speed Heather which is a suitable tool to remove that old treatment/paint on such a large surface. Do not rip the whole top-ply off; You going regret and get into bad stress, since the time frame in the shed. Even if you scar the plywood during paint removal, you can always fair it smooth before fibreglassing. The thing most important when fibreglassing wood or plywood is that it is completely dry. The fibreglass adds so much structural strength to the plywood. I really look forward to see this project completed! Your work is a great inspiration for me to get work done on my own boat! Keep up the good work!👍🍺💪

Magnet on a string should be on every boat for these exact retreivals !

@12:45 you stated the best and only way this repair should be done. Anything else would just be a patch and you will be doing it again in a few years. Also in a few years you will be older and less able to do things physical. Also you have a perfect working facility in the boat shed. Do it right do it once ❤

Get a cheap hand planer, set the blades very shallow and planed that stuff off. Get some cheap replacement blades because you will need them.

Time for magnet fishing Peter I have old speaker magnet they do come in handy🤣

I like the hand planer idea. They strip houses with a device like that.

Never say: " Whoa!!! " in a mud-hole. Do the cabin sides and install a new top all in the same go. Wood-rot don't stop and the longer you wait, the worse it will be. You may need to use a bit of fiberglass to seal everything, but I'm sure you will be happier when the job is done.

You could sell Poem and kill two birds with one stone, there being less work and getting money to buy a full length boat shed for Geordie to reside in! Keep up the good work! JIM ❤

You need to do some fishing using a magnet for a hook Peter.

I think it’s called “rot”. Peter, you are a saint for committing to this wooden boat refurb

If I was refurbishing the cabin top I would remove the rotten areas and replace the wood, then fiberglass over new wood and feather the new fiberglass into the old fiberglass on the cabin top. It looked to me that the plywood section of the cabin top was in good shape. That’s based on me only preserving the boat for another 20 years as I don’t plan on living much longer than that. Cheers!

You could get something like the Speedheater 700 Cobra Renovation Kit - Infrared Paint Removal System

Try to find a gelcoat peeler that you could possibly rent it has dust collection and can be set for a specific depth you will be much happier.

Peter, another very interesting episode. Have you considered using a gelcoat stripper? The tool is a bit like an electric planer but designed to strip gelcoat and underlayers of fibreglass when refinishing a boat that has blistering issues. I have never personally used one but I believe the depth of the stripping is adjustable.I wonder if it would work on your cabintop. Perhaps one of the boatyards has a tool that you can rent to try on MV Geordie and if it does the job then it will be worth a longer rental period or perhaps even another tool purchase. Whatever you decide to do I know we will all follow with great interest :)

The world's largest blade for your ultra tool and an industrial heat gun is my suggestion to get that non fiberglass off your boat. GL. 😮😮😮😂😂😂❤❤❤ Also, you need a fishing magnet to get your tools back. 😂😂😂

3D scan the entire area, transfer what you get into a set of female molds. Rent a few square meters of shop space (or ask a viewer to help out). Premould the entire thing as a fiberglass shell, and remove the whole section in one go, and dry fit it. It will have zero strength, so after that bond foam to the inside, remove the roof again, and once again in the shop, glass the inside surface. It'll now be very strong, and you can there return it to the boat, add the roof beams, bond or fasten, and repeat for the forward section. You can do this three times faster in a shop, which is where the original cabin top was made. And you can test the technique with a small section (probably the area you've started on. In the meantime, you can rout in wire chases, and anything else you need to give you a lovely interior with minimum openings. And of course, while most of the work is happening, the boat will be liveable and even navigable.

Hello Peter, as a yacht broker of 20+ years, I have seen many wooden boat disasters owened by delusional, optimists. If I had millions of $$$$ I would own nothing but a woodie. But in your case I am extremely confident considering your youthful age, and your high wood working skills that you will complete this refit of Geordie, long before the wood starts rooting out for the next optimist. Go for it man.

From what I saw, uour dealing with canvas,and resin. Consider a Multi-tool oscillating saw, with a scraper blade,. These tools are awesome. If the rot extends the full length of the cabin roof/deck. I would cut the old deck/roof off , and replace. This is probably the only way to ensure a solid leak proof roof and deck,that will last for years.

The cabin top is all convex radiuses, perfect for an electric plane, one set of carbide blades will do a lot of quite heavy fibreglass planing, a lot more than your cabin top. If the covering is painted canvas rather than fibreglass it’ll still fly through it. Also, with an electric plane you can hook up a vacuum cleaner as well, to minimise the amount you drop overboard, which is a consideration. I’ve just finished dealing with a bow to stern chronic case of osmosis on my 23’ keelboat and did all of the convex work with my 25 year old Makita plane, one set of carbide blades. That meant that I only had to rent a pukka gel planer for one day to do the concave sections. The Makita didn’t honestly work any worse. The thought of heat stripping or hand planing that area, whether it’s canvas or fibreglass, would fill me with dread too. You have my sympathy! Hope that all helps. Cheers, Rob. 😎👍🍻

One thing we did when i helped with huge tile/vinyl projects (think school) was use dry ice. We would drag a large slab of dry ice over the old vinyl tiles and pull them up after freezing the tile and glue. It worked a miracle.

If you burn a piece of the deck covering fiberglass will remain if it does contain glass. This is also a good way to determine a previous glass layup when doing repairs. Good luck with the job. If your glassing over the cabin top you won't need the structural properties of plywood.

Hi Peter, you need to get yourself a big magnet to retrieve all your stuff at the bottom of the water LOL anyway keep up the good work. Keep up the good work , Cliff from Logan City Queensland Australia 🇦🇺

After the hand planer, use the belt sander. Don't worry..you will have it done in a whip! It's the old-fashioned method for a ship's roof. Just paint the roof white lead paint, put the linen cloth into the wet paint and paint over it with the white lead paint. We had to paint a new layer every year on our old Dutch tjalk. Because the white lead paint pulverized you did not build up a very thick layer after a few years. Then in the eighties, white lead paint was banned and the problems begun. Normal paint is breaking, and then the linen starts rotting. So, a glassed roof is nowadays the only option. Or a White EPDM .060 inch-thick (1.52 mm) roofing membrane, only to adhere at the sides! (I think I would choose that option....no problems and no paint for the next 20 years and easy tot repair or modify) One thing...in Holland we used to put a layer of oil-paper (we bought this in a coffin factory I remember) between the wood and the linen...to prevent the problems you have now and to make it possible that the roof could 'move' a little under the cover.

Maybe you can use a Fein Multimaster with the carpet knife

I agree with those who say "rebuild". Offhand, I'd say after the tedious, very messy, and partially destructive job of getting that top layer off, then addressing rotten wood underneath (meaning replacing it, from the looks of that mess), you're going to pretty much have a rebuild job on your hands anyway. Maybe a few more man-hours, and many $$ spent on new wood, but it will be a less aggravating job overall and more certain to yield good, long-lasting results. You're a clever and efficient woodworker- no doubt you can come up with a design that will be easier and cheaper to execute than the original. Might even give you an opportunity to make desirable improvements to the design. Anyway, you can at least take comfort knowing that this episode made me feel MUCH better after I found yet more small rotten spots below deck on my wooden sailboat today...😁 You can also take comfort in knowing your baby is in a lovely boat shed, whereas I have to make do outdoors in the nasty winter weather.🙁

To strip that top, I’d go with a big 6” grinder with a semi- ridged backing disc and 36 grit paper. Messy? Hell yes, but it will blast off that fiberglass (or whatever) in jig time. Work your way athwartship until you find solid material, then hit the shower 😉

Sorry can't help. Stay safe and we'll see you next week.

you might look at renting a hardwood floor sander to go over all the flat plywood areas and knock that out fast

Peter, I have been putting a lot of thought into this for the last few since watching the video, each solution I can come up with requires tools you don't have there, and honestly, I think your best bet is just going to be to get a couple of new pieces of plywood and start over with the roof. You can kerf cut the plywood even to make it wrap over the edges, and I think doing so you will be able to complete this job in much shorter order and then be on to the cabin sides. Here stripping that piece may get you much further along than trying to mess about stripping it. If I am looking at that right you are going to be into two sheets of half inch plywood, or if you want to make it thicker, 4 sheets of 3/8 and then you can bond them with glue as you put them down. The up side of a replacement is you will then know going that the cabin top is good with no nasty little surprises hiding under it. While you have it apart getting the aft cabin sides done would be easy enough.

Funny material fiberglass. It is meant to keep water out, but it is also very good at keeping water in.

Use your router, take off 1/2" strips of the top the thickness of the canvas, or whatever... Take off additional strips until what's left will no longer support your router, then use a plane to remove what's left. Good luck!

The material on the cabin top resembles buterate dope and either canvas or cotton fabric. This was commonly used to cover vintage aircraft. If it is buterate dope, be careful with the heat gun, it is extremely flammable.

ALL new wood !

looks like (old) canvas and paint, not FIBERGLASS. I wish you the best of luck and recommend removal of Geordie's cabintop. Enjoying your work and the instructive nature of your series. Cheers, DKS

Just in time for my Sunday nap

Courage! I read the comments below and the rip off everything variety seems to be the bext. Short destruction time and fun to rebuild something new!

The chisel tool for the multi tool, vibrating, oscillating tool will help tremendously!

Slice the roof along it's length with a good circular saw blade blade 1" strips, about the depth of the unknown coating, then follow up with the wide paint stripping stanley blades kind of like planing it off in sizeable bites. Sort of like Woodyachttn just said. We recently had Some guy's removing the old 1960's marley kitchen tiles (small percentage Abestos) from our house and thats what they used the tiles had been fixed on the concrete with a bitumen. the blades were about 5" wide.

It's good to see you finally getting to work on Geordie, it's a little overdue. That little side project has set you back quite a bit, this is why people were telling you to not waste your time with it.

That sort of thing is exactly what led me to completely remove the cabin and then build a new one. The job took a bit over 4 weeks working more of less full time. When I first bought my boat the cabin top was a bit like yours with painted canvas. At that point I wasn't yet ready to build a new cabin house, So I removed the old canvas. The old canvas had cracked in many places because a previous owner had painted with a one part urethane paint, which was too brittle. Yes it was a labor intensive slog, but in the end it only took about 2 days (say 20 hours). I then repaired all the rot in the cabin top and put new canvas down. I set the canvas in alykd (oil) based paint. Seven years later when I rebuilt the house I used 10 oz fiberglass cloth set in epoxy.

Powerful belt sander with course, aggressive belt might help get you into tighter spots. Floor sander for bigger area.

sometimes, getting a heel bar under those flat head edges and prying up help jamb the nut on the under side and can make ones that just spin end up walking out, sometimes. . .

I'm sure others have said it, but that's not fiberglass. It doesn't degrade and become "hand" tear-able. I've always had to use tools to get enough grip to shear it, and I have to give a good grunt to make it happen. To me, it looks like fabric that's degraded from moisture ingress and has become fragile as a result. Perhaps the best way to remove the coating on the roof of Geordie would be using a directional heater propped up and rigged to keep heating even though it is on it's face. That way the area is being heated and you can work on something else while the heat starts to work.

Varnished or painted canvass was once a very common roofing material for boats & other applications, like the soldered steel panels over the front & back porches of my folks’ 120 yr old house. Assuming a taste for routine maintenance, or some cleanup & keying for another coat or two annually, it works well on surfaces that drain - & of course it’s a disaster in any location where fresh water is pooling. On the cabin top, to me that looks like one of those projects that starts w/ demolition or uncommonly aggressive surfacing at the least. It can be tough to wrap your head around it, but in the end you’re _far_ better off to stop trying to fix the old & get it out of your way. From there you’re just building out a new cabin, or something that’s well w/in your skill set.

"Well....Hello there and welcome to Travels with Geordie....In this weeks episode I sell all my boats for $1 a piece, load up my Land rover and head for Zihuatanejo Mexico!!!" "If thats the sort of thing you might find interesting......"

Peter as someone who only very occasionally travels and navigates a friend s narrow boat in England . I’m afraid to say all this fibre glass and rotten decking is not selling me the joys of wooden boat life…..but I’m pleased to say this type of jeopardy on your boat and repair skills is exactly why I tune in every week 👍👏

Time to draw in a crew of eager volunteers? Looks like 4 weeks can be quartered and joyous volunteers can be awarded with being able to help with Geordie, and showing off on the Tube 😊

well you have made half of us happy.....finally that pergola is off....please dont replace it with a fibreglass one.

I was going to say it's about time for some magnet fishing in the boat shed, but if you're going to tear the roof off the mutha sucka... you're going to be busy! You know you are only going to be happy if you tear off all that old wood, and plywood, and replace it with new fiberglass on top. A big project, yes, but this is no place to for half measures.

If you plan on replacing the plywood roof you might as well just cut strips across the roof and rebuild the roof from scratch.

I would try a power hand planer to remove the white covering and possibly remove the rot. Patch or replace accordingly. Good Luck

I like the idea of a hand planner to strip the fiberglass. Thinking outside the box, a floor stripper may also work?? Good luck it doesn't look like a pleasant job but I am sure you will do it up right. 🙂

Looks like hard work pal..... but you love it!

Speaking from actual experience... (I mentioned in a comment a while back) I completely rebuilt my back cabin a few years ago including deck beams.. very similar but larger.. 16 foot long .. and just before winter replaced my fore deck.. and slept below it as I did it.. I had plastic sheet (the type with the grid string that's used on scaffolding, new small pieces available in a skip/dumpster near you) below the deck beams (stopped most of the bits 🤔) and over the deck (to stop the rain) because of experiencing the light from above.. I made a decision.. I now have a 27" wide x 22" sky light using thick Perspex (from a skip) thought of making double glazed but I'm wondering if I need to as it's a lot warmer than glass... I'm going to make it opening when aka summer arrives.. above my bed in the forward cabin, which has transformed the room and I really like it. both with V grove T&G Larch, prevarnished and fixed with stainless steel screws. Easy once you get the old off and nails removed.. my weapon of choice was an old battery circular saw with an old blade as I hit nails.. use both hands as it kick's when it hits nails 🤕.. face and neck protection required and breathing filter. Price up V grove T&G compared to Ply.. nice floorboards and V with a router? Remove half the deck to just past middle.. generate centre line and fit middle plank bridging centre line.. apply T&G .. then do other half. Easy in the shed.. 2 weeks but allow a month.. and think.. it will be really nice when done.. Caulk gaps between T&G and sand .. acrilic goo seems ok and cheap. Alternatively rough up deck and block in bits and skim with word of week and get the cabin sides done .. which if you have the wood get that done first. As the roof is easy.. You could get both done easily in 4 months. I'm about to do my windscreen as bottom rail has rotted 🤬.

Hello Peter, if Geordi were mine i might think iwould remove the entire roof plywood as you stated. I might also use high quality marine plywood with both sides covered in epoxy and then fiberglass laid on top. I do think that work would be completed faster than trying to remove the existing mystery covering.

Maybe rent a commercial floor sander. That should get the job done in a hurry. And or use an angle grinder with an flap disk for the hard to reach areas along with a belt sander.

Although I think the electric planer and a heavy duty wire wheel are great ways. You already know what you have to do. Do it!

It is certainly worth trying the hand planer!😊

Harbor freight makes a handheld drum sander. Maybe a coarse grit coupled with one of these will work.

Not sure I can add anything to the above but I know a day o4 two thinking will get you to the right answer for you. Best of luck and£ thanks for the video. Keep safe.

Obvious solution would be to use a muti-tool to strip the top layer, going to be quicker in the long run. But if that plywood is coming off anyhow then run a circular saw across the TOP of the roof in 1 foot strips with the blade set to about 3/4 of the depth of plywood. The multi-tool would then make quick work of removing the plywood and its covering in one go allowing for precision around and beams, wiring etc. No need to work from the inside of the boat at all and you could possibly be removing and replacing sheets of plywood one a a time so no worries about ending out of time with parts of your roof missing

Electric Hand planer worked for me but a little barbaric there is an electric tool that resembles a planer but pricy, to remove gel coat and maybe some fiber glass. Have to say dropping the bit in water had a little chuckle. Thanks for the video!

Hey Peter! I myself am in the middle of a large fiberglass job as well.. the small boat I bought for my family has completely rotted stringers and transom so I am doing a full rebuild… I am all too familiar with unexpected daunting repairs… but being halfway through the project I can say it can be done, and I know you will pull through this as well, and I have no doubt you’ll enjoy the process! Thank you for the incredible videos, and inspiration to just tackle these issues head on, no matter how overwhelming it may seem! Cheers!

Hello Peter, fiberglass, it is old canvas. The way you pull it off is, i hate to be the barrier of bad news, replacing the top is the best way of getting to the question of rot! Clean cut the top and start again. Sorry, that is what i whould do. Cheers

I recently had to deal with a cockpit sole that had some rot, I just removed the top two layers of the ply veneer with a big floor scraper. I then treated with thinned epoxy and followed with Fibreglass with epoxy resin. Might save some of the heartache of a full strip out and in reality as another mentioned if you are glassing over it will be bullet proof anyway and you won't see any areas that you may need to splice in some new timber where it is super rotten. Your right re the material you are pulling off, just looks like canvas..

You should try a material called stamoid for you Bimini/canopies. It is amazingly durable and completely waterproof. Last forever!

That cabin top reminds me when I did the major jobs on my Cavalier some (now nearly ten…😮) years ago. It certainly makes a good supply of flower soil!😁

I was wondering about the switch from beer to bourbon, but then again, if I was facing the daunting task of the cabin roof/fiberglass removal, I too would be right there as well. Cheers!

I would try a tiger torch if that don't work remove all the plywood, on the cabin top! replace it, and use yellow cedar to do the curved edge. Just get to it, I think you can do it, on time. Provide you get into at a steady pace.

Peter Peter where is your cabin top stripper. I love Wooden boats too but I bought an old fiberglass sailboat after I saw your first show. But my brother didn’t and he bought a 1942 45’ monk that our grandparents in Olympia built. The MV Yankee Doodle is snug in a boathouse and he spends all his spare time fixing the boathouse! Laurie Hillyard SV Sealore

if you have a sawzall, they make a scraper you can put in it . 3" wide, you get the in&out motion that works really well in those tough scrapping jobs. they also have a kit with different heads for different types of jobs

I’d go with a hull planing tool designed to shave off gel coat (called “marineshaver”). Kinda pricey, but it will make quick work of removing whatever the heck that crud was (clearly NOT fiberglass)! Maybe patrons can help defer some of the cost.

That's canvas; possibly original. There was probably something sticky laid down before the canvas, and then paint afterwards. It seems like it comes apart from the ply fairly cleanly but not in large chunks (too brittle). I'd experiment with some paint remover to see if it softens up and comes loose a little better. I've read that you can use a metal light shade as a 'hood' for the heat gun moving it along as you scrape with a sharpened putty knife.

Lots of good ideas in the comments. I've known a 7" angle grinder with #16 grit disc to do wonders in removing material quickly. Much faster than a belt sander, I believe. Enjoying my T-shirt. Glad to see you back to work on the "Flagship."

I’m just about to start fibreglassing my project boat hull so interesting what you will come up with! Big sander with very coarse paper would be my weapon of choice.

Peter, you made me laugh today; I read the title of your video and blurted out loud: "oh shit!". (...to be clear.. I laughed at myself).

1. fishing magnet. 2. hand planner or sanding (belt sander). 3. Time. good luck. (I have confidence in you Peter)

I like the Circle saw idea best. that's what I was thinking before you said it

My renos are done outside of a boathouse year-round in Nanaimo using 2x2s bolted together with clear tarp stapled to make a waterproof cover over the top deck. Two layers of tarp, one outside, one inside. Result is a 12x8' workspace good in all weather surviving even this year's winter wind and snow. I'd attach a pic but KZfaq won't let me.

i'd take a floor sander and 36 grit belts and go to it . finish edges and detail with 6 inch diameter hand sander - probably have to tent the boat with 1x and polyethylene sheet

The heavy duty sander idea would definitely rip through everything, including the mystery fiberglass. It’s a messy task but faster then you might think. With that cleared off, you may not need to cut it all back. Good choice for bourbon this week!!

I had the same prhoblem with my boat, a 1987 Monk design, fiberglass over plywood on the roof. The forward corners were soft but not from above, it was from moisture slowly wicking up from the drip rail along the bottom. Fortunately, I was able to deal with small sections of rot and used marine plywood and yellow cedar blocks, which I carved to the rounded profile. Next, I have to do the port deck. Moisture from the stanchions. Argh!

All I can suggest is a Gelcoat peeler plane or maybe something from a hire company that peels flooring? Maybe leave the middle and just repair the curved rot this innings?

Looks like a Cascover roof Peter. It is a canvas that I believe was laid and saturated with some sort of paint. Traditional wooden boats in my neck of the woods are /were done this way. ( Monkstown in Cork Ireland). Anyhow dont lose sight of your long term plans to go travelling across the world. Time is your most precious commodity now. Consider travelling and making repairs along the way. If you wait too long and for the boat to be ready, well it might be too late.

As always enjoyable segment. If you are set on removing the once thought to be Fiberglass top, one option that might work, build a steam box that is maybe 20 cm x 20 cm, and heat up the fabric and paint at the same time, the steam will soften the bond, and keep the dust down while you scrap the stuff off. Once the covering is off then you can get a better idea of how much wood you really need to replace.

Do a burn test of the fibreglass if it is fibreglass you will be left over with black glass strands .glass doesn’t burn1 We use to do burn tests to see how the multi layers of glass are orientated .take a 3 inch circle and burn it in a tinfoil cup or similar.the resin will burn off and you will be left with charred glass matt

Check out a Gelcoat Peeler to help you strip the roof

When I took the fibreglass off my boat it was quick with a heat gun but that canvas doesn’t seem to respond the same with heat. I would second the suggestions to try some paint stripper to soften it and see if that makes it peel easier

Make checkerboard shallow saw cuts creating a grid of edges that can be pealed off 😮 JIM

Try a drywall router, set to ~1/16 depth, (they use these for cutting out electric outlet holes). These are lightweight and easy to control. Possibly cut roof covering into small squares and then putty knife off the squares. The fein multimaster mentioned elsewhere would also be excellent for power removing of squares.

Oh Peter, i so felt your pain as that screw driver bit went overboard! Been there done that.

Flabbergasted, non fiberglass damage. Expect I will find canvas under paint as well the day I do the dirty.

This doesn't help with the demolition, but look into PMF (poor man's fiberglass). It uses canvas and wood glue - you could probably up the game and use epoxy primer) to make a more period appropriate and less expensive top coat.

This is why I like to watch wooden boat (re)builds but don't own one ; ) In any case I am sure it will look wonderful when you are done. Note: I have actually built two plywood boats, 16 and 8 foot long... actually no, I built another 8 foot plywood boat before that, so three.... but I don't count that as wood, I am just using plywood where others use "structural foam" :)

Great entertainment as always, maybe repair what needs doing and fibre glass over everything? If all is cleaned properly it will only make it stronger surely.