505 foredeck in need of advice!

Water and Boil proof ply (WBP) is available at such well known boating outlets as Wickes and B&Q. If you want proper top quality ply (will look prettier and last longer, but good exterior plys are better now than boat building plys were 40 years ago) then Robbins timber in Bristol will deliver. I'd go for the WBP from Wickes, if you have one handy. I should think you will need 2 sheets for a 505 deck.

It might be possible to remove the gunwales back to behind where the foredeck reaches to, if the screws will undo, then plane back the edge of the new deck to that edge, and put the gunwale back. Your crew is less likely to get splinters going round the front, then! Or...cut the new decks to the shape of the old ones, and accept the fact that you will have to use epoxy filler between deck and gunwale where it doesn't quite fit.

My preferred way of fixing the deck is clamps, but you do need lots (screwfix is cheap) as you don't have to fill lots of little holes. You will need a pretty heavy duty staple gun to get through 4 mm ply, too. If you want a really quick job, screw it down, and leave the screws in...

Hope this helps, and good luck! The only difficult bit is making it pretty, so if you just want it to work, its pretty easy!

You could try asking one of the Five-Oh lists, and especially the American lists - they tend to keep much older boats going over there. http://www.int505.org/moreinfo.htm

Only do the gunwales if it looks like they will come off and go back on easily! That would involve the screws undoing easily, so you will soon know if the idea is viable! If it does come off, then glue and screws will fix it down again.

As for glue, either Balcotan (Robbins will post it) which is easy coz you just squeeze it from a tube, but needs a fair amount of pressure to stop the foaming pushing the joint apart, or Epoxy (SP or WEST) with filler (the place you buy the epoxy from will be able go guide you on which one you need) which needs mixing in fairly accurate amounts, but can be used for filling the gaps, too. I've used both, and neither have fallen apart, but as you will need epoxy anyway for filling (and possibly coating the deck) that is probebly the one to go for.

Don't forget to waterproof the UNDERSIDE of the deck! Either with epoxy, clear primer (UCP or woodseal) or clear pond seal (G4 or V4) available from garden centres! You can do the top of the deck with it, too.

Wood option takes less time than paint, really, especially if you go the pond seal route, as you can get 3 coats on in about 4 hours. Then you will need another coat of varnish (take your choice between DIY shop (blackfriars yacht varnish is good) or single pack polyurathane from a chandlers. If coating with epoxy, then something like ultravar 2000 2 pack varnish gives excellent UV protection, as epoxy degrades in sunlight. Wet sand back with 400 grit wet & dry between primer and top coats, and between top coats.

Try Northampton sailboats website (sailboats .co.uk?) for all the bits, they are pretty efficient, but most on line chandlers will have what you need.