Yesterday I started removing the old cabin floor which started to disintegrate. I could not find any prominent rot so I concluded that the plywood simply could not survive the strain of constant wear and tear. This is because the underlying structure did not adequately support the cabin floor.
Above: The old cabin floor, looking into the bilge.
Below: The bilge after the cabin floor was removed. Note all the dust and gunk that accumulated below the floor.
Below: Some plywood that was removed. The large piece is from the starboard bunk and is still in good condition.
Below: The old engine bay, with the position of the old engine mountings still visible.
I hope to sand the bilge and floor this week after which I will give it 2 to 3 coats of hard-wearing enamel paint. Additionally I plan to build up the supporting structure with plywood and epoxy after which I will install 18mm marine ply for the new cabin floor.
Sailing Ontology 
Good work !
Are you going to put in new bilge pumps – hoses and all ?
Paul
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Hi Paul,
Currently I am not planing on replacing the manual or automatic bilge pumps as they are still in good working order. I would like to replace the manual bilge pump with one of those gigantic whale pumps (117lts per minute), but unfortunately that is still outside my budget.
Gerrit
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Thanks for the reply, Gerrit !
Can I ask – with the electrics, are the wires easy enough to get to, and are there many, looking at pictures there only seem to be 8 fuses ?
Paul
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Paul,
The electrics is a mess! I have not yet investigated the electrics since I’ve bought the boat earlier this year. Some fuses are being used and some not. At the moments I have only got the bare essentials working, i.e: automatic bilge pump, tri-colour and VHF.
I hope you find this informative.
Gerrit
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Very thank you !
I am looking forward to your next rebuilding post – and good luck with it all.
Best,
Paul
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