Anchor Pulpit Rot

About 18 months ago, I fitted a piece of 2 X 10 to the bow of my boat as a place to store/deploy/retrieve the anchor. I gave it several coats of paint and sealed all the fastener holes with silicone. I usually would have put a coat of epoxy on before the paint, but this seemed like a very stout piece of wood and the boat would be under cover on the trailer.

 

I hinged it at the back so I could swing it up when the boat was being trailered otherwise the anchor could hit the back of my van on a sharp turn.

Several months ago, I noticed a small crack in the wood that was fastened to the deck. I thought I might have stressed the wood when I tightened the 1/2" bolts holding it down. But recently I learned otherwise. The back end of the board as well as the part bolted to the deck were rotted.

So I learned something about wood. It doesn't take long for it to get soft.

Another piece, this time with a couple of coats of epoxy? Naw, I'm not doing wood again.

I got a piece of Starboard cut to size - 1-1/2" thick, 9 1/4 wide and 35" long. I cut 4" off the end for the mounting block.

I love working with this stuff. It cuts so nicely on the radial arm saw and is very cooperative under the drill press and trims nicely with the router.

 

And no more rot to worry about.

Yea - I had a brain fart and mounted the winch on the wrong side to begin with... and I stepped on the 40 year old hardened dorade vent over to port and pulverized it.