Read up on Tinboats. There is a process that allows wood to last much longer, and it involves putting several coats of spar urethane on the wood before building. I have never done it but lots have! Jeff. Quote. Link to post. Share on other sites. (='_'=) 77. Posted June 25, 2012 Hi, I am knew to the forum, but have been poking around for awhile because of my own interest in boat building. I am interested in fiberglass boat design and am curious how the plugs work for boats with complex curves. For example, the Chris Craft Carina has a curved back making it hard to lift straight out. This Chris Craft no sea . Buy enough half-inch or three-quarter-inch plywood for all the parts of the new deck, and enough epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth to coat both sides of all the deck parts. Marine-grade plywood is best, but in some areas, MDO or AB/AC exterior plywood is good enough. The boil test is the proof: if a scrap of the plywood starts to peel. Re: putting a deck on a jon boat-anyone done it? just swung by the local boatyard and skeeter has some jon boats that were decked out with sheet aluminum. pretty thin, but felt pretty solid. They used a thicker guage to deck the front of the boat for a casting deck