Unfortunately this may be a problem for Ranger Tugs of this vintage We had the same problem and recommend others check to see if the have the same issue. Unfortunately our boat had a lot of gear in the storage compartments and the problem was not found during the survey. Tip to anyone buying this vintage Tug: be sure these compartments are empty as possible and that your surveyor thoroughly sounds and inspects the floorboards.
First to answer your questions directly:
Did you remove the plywood? Yes, and used the old plywood as a template for the new plywood. The plywood is beveled at he out board edges and will require a bit of skill to recut the new piece to match the old.
How was it secured and did that prevent you or make it more difficult for you to remove? The outboard edges are not secured with screws. The inboard and lateral edges were secured with same size screws generally in the same location as the original floorboards.
What did you replace it with? The original plywood was 3/4 inch. Did not appear to be marine grade. Replace with 1 inch marine grade plywood, generally available at lumber stores. Original floorboard was not painted or sealed on the bottom side. I painted the new floorboards with three coats of bilge paint. I could not find marine grade plywood at Lowes or Home Depot but also did not ask. Caution, I was lucky in that I could remove the genset sound shield with the extra thickness of floorboard. Take this into consideration if you use a thicker than original floorboard.
How did you deal with the all the equipment already installed - temporary removal? Did you relocate or revise where certain pieces of equipment now reside? Removal of the old plywood was a total PIA because you had to remove the genset and hydraulic pump for steering and hatch lift on the starboard side and the water heater and battery bank on the port side. We did not relocate any of the original installed stuff to save on rewiring, and re plumbing .
It appears that design flaws and leaky cockpit storage compartment latches are the causes.
First the leaky latches: The hatch latches are a low point in the hatch. They have a recess that accumulates water which leaks into the storage compartments which seeps into a long bilge well below the plywood. I have removed and resealed the latches. That helped a bit but still get leakage. My next step is to replace the seal on each latch.
Next the design flaw: Over time water seeps through the hatch latches, accumulates in the bilge well under the plywood because the weep holes that should drain the water into the main bilge are higher than the water accumulation. Over time this accumulation of water under the floorboard causes the rot. When you remove your floorboards you will see the collected water can be several inches deep before it can escape through the weep hole. PPD. I did not find an easy way to fix this design flaw. I tried a wick through the weep hole to see if that would work. It did not. I finally landed on drilling a three inch hole in the plywood in two locations on each side above where the deepest water collects so that you could inspect and vacuum the collected water out. On the port side one of these inspection holes is under the battery bank and requires periodic removal of the battery to inspect and drain. Not the best solution and if anyone has found a way to fix or mitigate the poorly designed weep holes I would be more than grateful.
John & Della
Sunny Tug
2012 Ranger 29S
Berthed Naval Station Pensacola
