Rotten core on forward deck, how would you fix it?

[uncleboo]

Just a reality check...I had an area approximately 8" x 12" on the starboard side of the console that was soft. surrounding areas were still solid. Yet, this is what I uncovered.

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...1&d=1543346697

[Enyar]

Ask and you shall receive

[Enyar]

Originally Posted by uncleboo

Just a reality check...I had an area approximately 8" x 12" on the starboard side of the console that was soft. surrounding areas were still solid. Yet, this is what I uncovered.

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...1&d=1543346697

No doubt! I had a similar situation with my Whaler. It was a side console boat and the deck felt rock solid. I would have painted right over it if I didn't convert the boat to a center console. In order to do so I had to dig a rigging tunnel in the foam and once I started digging I found rot. Ended up replacing the whole deck on that one!

This boat has much thicker top/bottom skins and actually still feels solid. I was planning on pulling that pie plate and just glassing any exposed wood and then sealing it back up. It wasn't until I got in there when I found the rot.

Anyone with one of these older boats with original transom/deck/stringers is kidding themselves if they think they are rot free. That being said, they are still surprisingly tough even with the rot.

[Vezo, Part II]

Haha! Second BW Sport 15 refurb here. Classic ‘82 overbuilt in custom 5/4” Mahogony. All stock configuration, to scale, however all SS hardware unseen, MAS epoxied and covered in 12 coats of Spar.

‘88 pulled interior, created rigging tunnel, given a cc from a builder in Charleston, pre-‘08 crash, mahogany front door, like 1.5” thick base, to be hinged, custom fuel tank and fuel cell. Everything but a livewell. Couldn’t fit it.

Ever stand up and drive a 15? Absolutely sick. Continuous wave member, Tower of Power with like 120 hp to prop. I didn’t drive it because I could not stop laughing! Like hanging ten on a surfboard, but never stuffing!?! Unexplainable. Trying to find a low hour Yam 90 2 stroke and manual jack plate, same as ‘82 with F60. Too much Fun!

Vezo

[kmoose]

OK Enyar, I like u but it’s time for a reality check and this is not to be mean or disrespectful.
Your boat has deck cancer and it is way worse than you think. There is only two options. One is to live with mash potato deck which is perfectly fine or two, recore/replace. No amount of band aide repair will make the slightest difference and there is no need to spend anymore time or money until you are ready to replace the whole deck. Sorry, that is just the way it is as sure as the Eagles are not going to the super bowl.

You have a cool vintage boat that is likely worth restoring as long as you want to keep it long term. If not, use it for as long as you can without sinking any more money into it and then sell it.

[Ed]

Enyar-

See the photo below for my recommendations.

Basically, I would cut the top skin only for the foredeck according to my highlighted brush strokes. The key is to leave yourself a 2 or 3 inch border all the way around so that you have something to glass back to. Grind the gelcoat off the 2 to 3 inch flange.

Once you have the top skin removed, if it is in good shape grind off the gelcoat on the inside edge of the cut roughly 2 inches all the way around. Set it aside.

Dig out the soaking wet core. When very clean and dry, scuff up the top side of the bottom skin and place a piece of 1.5oz mat over the bottom skin. Wet it out and then use an air roller to make sure there are no air bubbles and the resin is distributed evenly. When it turns green and is starting to set up, you can bed in a new core (either marine plywood or a composite like coosa of the appropriate thickness--slightly thinner is my recommendation because you can always add more glass on top) with core bond or thickened resin. Place something heavy on the core to ensure proper adhesion. You may want to even drill some pilot holes in the core so the air and resin underneath have a place to go.

When that core sets up....now you need to determine how much glass you need to add on top of it that so that when you set the original skin back on, it is at the same height of the flange you left during the cut out.

Ideally, you would wet out another piece of 1.5oz mat on top of the new core and while that is wet, lay the original skin on top of it. The bottom of the top piece of the original skin should be clean and scuffed up. Right before you set the original skin down, you should roll some resin on to the bottom of it and then set it on the wet 1.5oz mat that you laid on top of the core.

Now, put some weight on the original skin and let it set up overnight.

When it is cured, grind any resin that overflowed out of the seam. Then cut to size (maybe 4 inches wide) fiberglass (or buy a roll of it) and wet it out and lay it over the seam that you cut in step 1. Once it is cured, you will need to grind it smooth, apply fairing compound, sand smooth and regelcoat. If you are neat and play your cards right, you will be able to save the interior portions of the molded in non-skid and the only area that will look new or different, is the 4 inch wide smooth band that you fiberglassed and regelcoated.

Obviously, this is a very, very simplified description but should get my point across. There is more than one way to do this but with some guidance, this is manageable size project for someone without a lot of experience.

[Ed]

PS - if the rot stops in that area - great! If not, you would need to follow the same process for the two area to the left and right of that big fish box.

[ricknewman]

I would remove the top skin and save.Exposing the rotten core and leaving the bottom skin.Clean all the bad stuff out (usually small squares of ply) and replace coring with epoxy and reattach the skin.

[Capt Terry]

Originally Posted by ricknewman

I would remove the top skin and save.Exposing the rotten core and leaving the bottom skin.Clean all the bad stuff out (usually small squares of ply) and replace coring with epoxy and reattach the skin.

This is basically what I did to repair the rotten balsa core in my Seafari stepdown several years ago; still less deflection than when it was brand new. Made a shallow cut to the top skin with a 1.5” cutoff wheel on a Dremel. Used a flexible drive to keep the Dremel motor away from the fiberglass dust so I didn’t ruin it- lesson learned!

[Enyar]

Are you guys repainting the top skin afterword or how are you making this look nice?

Also, this would be a good place for using Carbon Core (honeycomb) as a core right? No screws/ everything would be through bolted or glassed.