THE ACHILLES HEEL of Newporters is untreated end grain. I am pretty sure everyone on this site knows that. A lot of boats rot not from salty bottom water but from the fresh water leaking in above the waterline.
A leak is never a good thing, and unfortunately a leak often happens at end grain areas (like port lights). From what I have seen the original constuction of Newporters did not include sealing the end grain of plywood, but did fiberglass the plywood surfaces, which means you get bowl of waer when the end grain leaks and cannot get out. SO OF ALL THE PRACTICES I WOULD RECOMMEND SEAL THE END GRAIN IS THE NUMBER ONE.........THEN A LEAK, WHICH IS BOUND TO HAPPEN, IS JUST A LEAK AND NOT A DISASTER -IE THINGS INSIDE tHE BOAT MAY GET WET, BUT THE INTEGRITY OF THE PLYWOOD IS MAINTAINED BECAUSE THE END GRAIN HAS BEEN SOAKED WITH EPOXY AND THEN SURFACED WITH THICKENED EPOXY. Of all the lessons I have learned traveling and studying numerous Newporters (not to mention total rebuild of my own) sealing all end grain, at every opportunity, is number one!
leaks and plywood end grain
by bob mitchell
May 28, 2020
THE ACHILLES HEEL of Newporters is untreated end grain. I am pretty sure everyone on this site knows that. A lot of boats rot not from salty bottom water but from the fresh water leaking in above the waterline.
A leak is never a good thing, and unfortunately a leak often happens at end grain areas (like port lights). From what I have seen the original constuction of Newporters did not include sealing the end grain of plywood, but did fiberglass the plywood surfaces, which means you get bowl of waer when the end grain leaks and cannot get out. SO OF ALL THE PRACTICES I WOULD RECOMMEND SEAL THE END GRAIN IS THE NUMBER ONE.........THEN A LEAK, WHICH IS BOUND TO HAPPEN, IS JUST A LEAK AND NOT A DISASTER -IE THINGS INSIDE tHE BOAT MAY GET WET, BUT THE INTEGRITY OF THE PLYWOOD IS MAINTAINED BECAUSE THE END GRAIN HAS BEEN SOAKED WITH EPOXY AND THEN SURFACED WITH THICKENED EPOXY. Of all the lessons I have learned traveling and studying numerous Newporters (not to mention total rebuild of my own) sealing all end grain, at every opportunity, is number one!