Hi guys, 

So Merlin 2578 arrived today but unfortunately during the travel the join between the side deck and hull has come apart? 

The wood doesn't appear to have cracked or split, on inspection it simply looks like the glue joining the deck and hull has given up - probably after being bounced around on a trailer for 3 hours 

There is a gap of about 3mm or 4mm where the deck has lifted from the hull, what is the best way to rectify this? 

I'm open to any advice people may have on the best ways to resolve this issue. Unfortunately with money being quite tight at the moment I'm hoping it isn't going to be an expensive problem. 

Kind regards. 

Do you mean the deck ply or the gunwhale?
 
You're dealing with 45 year old cascamite on a boat that may not have been sailed in quite some time. A certain level of glue failure is inevitable. It should be a case of clean out the cvrack and re-glue with epoxy. Best done with the boat upside down if its the gunwale inner edge - planking joint 

This does sound quite serious. I think the quickest, most effective method would be to get some epoxy and glass tape from someone like Easy Composites. Strip the paint or varnish either side of the join using a heat gun and scraper, then sand it a bit. Mix the epoxy in the correct ratio using electronic weighing scales, 30g  would do about 2.5m. Use a bit of washing up sponge as a spreader and dabbed for the resin. Getting some ‘peel ply’ cloth to dab over the glass tape makes a huge difference to the smoothness of the repair.
I would think the deck would need to be clamped or weighed down while this is going on.
If you put some pictures on the Merlin Revival Fleet Facebook page, I’m sure you would get more help. Good luck!

Please dont use glass tape - it can cause problems further down the line. Provided that the glue penetrates the crack properly its un-necessary. A strap around the boat will apply pressure, provided it is the gunwale coming away. Ply separation is a different problem.
 
Its an easy enough fix, and is not un common. 

Hiya, yes its the gunwale. 
 
I've been doing a bit of reading up on this since yesterday and it seems re-gluing it with epoxy is the most successful solution as you suggested. 
 
Thank you for the advice, its much appreciated! I have posted in the Merlin Revival Fleet page for a bit more help too. 
 
Thanks again! 
 
Elodie.