Glassed or bolted/screwed?

[roythomas]

Your diagram is accurate. The DFO had extended the boot stripe a few inches at the stern. My conclusion is to hide the scum line from sitting too low in the water at the stern. It makes sense he had lots of water in there.

[SkipperJer]

Roy,
Take this with a grain of Chesapeake Bay salt but here's what I think happened. This comes from my personal experience with Commanders and seeing others over-engineer boats.

These boats were designed to be driven by a 2-4hp outboard that was to be removed from the well during sailing. Each boat came with a plug to fill the well and fair the bottom under sail. Lots of contemporary skippers want a bigger motor, more speed under power, and don't want to deal with the in-and-out. They put in a motor between 9 and 15 hp with electric start and including batteries and big gas tanks (more of that "boom" potential) in the lazarette. This significantly overloads the stern. From a sailing point of view this also seriously messes up the dynamics of the sail plan. My guess is that something like this happened to your boat.

Here's the important point. VERY IMPORTANT! Water still cannot get from the lazerette forward into the bilge even if the boat is seriously wallowing. The bilge is walled off by one solid bulkhead unless it has been breached. What can happen is that the top of those scupper thru-hull tubes can get below the waterline. In normal flat trim the tops of the tubes are above the water line (the one for the galley is not). That can allow the hose joint to leak all the time not just when the boat is heeled. I think that is where your water came from over time.

How to fix? Get a lighter outboard. Rope start is good exercise. three gallons of gas can take a sailor far. Replace those hoses since they are likely to be old and exposed to a lot of water/ice who knows what. DOUBLE CLAMP THE HOSE JOINTS. Then, and only then, put GitRot on the plywood. That rot is not in a structurally significant place. I might not even bother. The rot is an indicator of a potentially boat-sinking leak. Finally, go to the library and get a copy of The Art of Zen and Motorcycle Maintanence. The author beautifully makes the point that one cannot expect machines to be something they were not designed for. The designer of these boats saw motors as a necessary evil to get a sailboat out of an unnatural environment: a marina. Once in open waters he intended the owner to put up the sails and sail. I was on a mooring for a while and used to sail off. What a joy. Get the boat safe. Go sailing.