sole

I was very disappointed with the mastic. Directions said that it would take 24 hours to cure, during which the boards
had to be clamped or weighted into position. I found that it took about three days for the adhesive to set, and it
never really dried. I think it was too cold in my basement for the glue to cure in a reasonable time. This wouldn't
work for the main cabin floor, since heating the boat during a New England winter is a problem. I decided to hunt for
alternative adhesives at Home-Depot. After reading the labels on most of the floor and construction adhesives, I
settled on Liquid-Nails Projects, a general-purpose wood adhesive that is packaged in caulking tubes. This adhesive
sets in about a half-hour and is not supposed to ever really harden. It is waterproof, recommended for flooring, and
works on wood-wood joints. I purchased ten tubes at $1.59 each. This worked very well. After two years of use,
there is no sign of any strips that were glued with this product delaminating whereas those that were glued using the
flooring mastic have required rebedding with Liquid-Nails.

I first removed the old finish using a belt sander. The floor was uneven where plywood panels met, so I leveled it out
to my best abilities. I removed both companionway ladders and the ladder post sockets from the aft cabin. I then
vacuumed up as much dust as practical. Starting in the aft cabin, I cut and fit alternating teak and holly strips over
each corresponding piece in the existing floor. I would typically cut and fit three or four courses of boards, the glue
them in place. I would then clamp or weight them using bricks to hold them in place until the glue set. There are
numerous angles, making it necessary to custom fit and cut almost every individual piece. Each cut involved climbing
out of the boat and onto the adjacent deck where the miter-saw was positioned. If I needed to shave a plank or
make a delicate cut, I went down a flight of stairs and into the garage where the table saw was located. Since I made
hundreds of individual cuts, my legs and back got quite a workout. It took about 16 hours to cut and glue the sole.

Click on the photo below for a larger image.