Doug,
The origin of my leak was through the aft deck lazarette. The hoses that drain the lazarette gutter were deteriorated, did not extend past the stern exit holes & the silicon sealer at the stern around the hoses was in poor shape causing water accumulation and intrusion. I also had a couple of pinholes about a half inch from the bottom of the gutter which allowed seepage into the lazarette when the gutter filled. It is amazing how fast water in the gutter accumulates during a rainstorm. The port hinge on the lazarette was also leaking, but that was a quick rebedding job. Lastly, I put some additional epoxy inside the base of the small stern lazarette drain holes and forward a couple of inches in the bottom of the lazarette to insure a smooth water exit in the event there is future water leakage into the inside of the lazarette.
I did not want to remove or re-veneer the damaged aft bulkhead plywood because it passes under the 3 aft portholes and aft stay bolts. Additionally, like you, I was looking for an alternative, more attractive surface. After sanding off the water damaged veneer and plywood areas, I filled any low areas with thickened West System epoxy and prepared the entire surface with 2 coats of epoxy, followed by rough sanding to ensure good adhesion for the tile. I chose the adhesive & grout after extensive research because of the need to ensure it would withstand some flexing of the bulkhead and for the tile selection, since the copper rounds are only 3/4" diameter, they would conform to the curved surface. One box (11 sheets) of the tile was sufficient for coverage (with just over a sheet left over) and weighs less than 25 pounds total per box. The stainless steel edge trim was somewhat challenging because it, of course, does not bend or drill easily and I had to drill an extra screw hole in a few of the trim flanges to pull the stainless steel flush against the bulkhead where it was particularly concave.
Hope this helps,
Roy
