Re: complete deck and transom re-build
I also considered a totally flat deck but decided against it when I did my 23’. I re did the entire deck and the transom and removed the cap to re do it from the inside. I also re did the transom from the inside as like you are considering. You can look at some of the pictures under Ken Mcgovern 23’ and also the finished pictures under general/fellowship pics. I decided not to do a flat deck for a few reasons one of those reasons is I liked the amount of below deck space on the original design of the 23’ and another was the amount of work it would take for the re design and dealing with deck hatches that were big enough and would not leak. I have one major concern about your re do project and that is where you are planning to cut for doing your deck. I cut the deck about 1” away from the liner to remove the top layer of glass to do the deck. I see no advantage to removing the liner, the amount of space you would gain is very little plus the amount of fiberglass work to cosmetically finish the ruff fiberglass work under the liner, and the structural stiffness of the hull could also be another problem. The cap is screwed through both layers of the outer hull and the liner by removing the structural stiffness of the liner you could have problems with the cap flopping around with the waves this boat would hit while running 20-30 MPH through them. The liner does help in providing stiffness all through the hull another problem could be in cracking that could occur at the deck where the outer hull and the deck connect because of the additional flex to the hull and deck connection you could have cracking all around the deck and hull.
Well enough said if you are that ambitious remove the cap, then separate the hull from the inner liner get a block and tackle or a crane and remove the liner & deck flip it over and work form the inside or underside of the deck/liner at the same time you could flatten the deck and check the entire bottom of the hull, stringers, tank, etc. By doing it the right way it would not take you any more time and would look and ride a lot better.
Fellow-Ship [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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