Pearson Boats - Common Systems > Deck Mounted Hardware

cockpit sole core repair

(1/4) > >>

Eddy:
When I purchased our boat the survey showed elevated moisture around the emergency rudder access plate. Sunday I removed the plate to inspect the severity and found quite a bit of rotted wood and some sort of caulking had been injected into the area which appears to have made the situation worse. The rot extends all the way to the binnacle and it looks to be all the way over to the edge on the starboard side. The port side is better but not by much. I haven't pulled the fuel level window in front of the binnacle yet but intend to do so. I've asked a few people about repair options and gotten two basic responses.

One is to use some form of tool to remove as much of the rotted wood as possible and then allow it to dry for at least a week and then fill with thin epoxy to wet out the existing good wood. Then use thickened expoxy to fill the areas where the wood is missing.

The second is to remove the skin from the cockpit and replace the wood with a foam that is layed over with epoxy and glass.

I did some reading on the second method and most that I read had removed the bottom skin and not the top. It looks to be very difficult to remove the bottom skin and manage to replace the core from the bottom. If anyone has made this sort of repair I would appreciate any information or tips on what you did and how it worked out. Thanks.

Rusty Pelican:
Never seen this type of rot before on a P323 before.. I would do the lower repair, a special tool is needed for this repair, This is a low cost unit  Black & Decker BD200MTB 2-Amp Variable-Speed Oscillating Multi-Tool. Cheap but a well built unit.  Can spend more
Remove the rot,  epoxy in marine plywood with West System. Re bed. Go sailing
Good luck

Bob G

Eddy:
Repair looks to be very difficult to do from below. What are the coins to doing it from above? I removed the fuel gauge  window and found end grain balsa as the core there. The binnacle and rudder had plywood as core. I do intend to do the nonskid in kiwi grip. I had not planned on that for this year but could do just the cockpit sole to cover/blend the repair. Thoughts? Thanks.

selene:
I think (speculate) people generally tackle similar jobs from below for two reasons: First, the top "skin" is often thicker, and will keep its original shape better, and second it is easier to conceal the repair.

I have never tried this repair, but on our boats I can't think of a way to do it from below, because of (as you said) lack of access.  I guess you could remove engine and fuel tank, but it seems like a heck of a lot of work.

I replaced the sole of a boston-whaler type boat a couple of years ago.  The biggest hurdle was getting up the courage to take on the job.  Removed all fixtures, cut around and removed the "skin", rebuilt.  Took longer than I thought, but is totally solid now.

Random thoughts on your project:

- How to support base of sole when you epoxy in the new ply sheet?  Screws from below where you can (filled later) perhaps, maybe also something (inflatable bag?) on the fuel tank pushing up, perhaps a temporary wooden frame/sheet for underside support.  The bottom fiberglass 'skin' will likely be fairly thin/flexible

- You probably don't want to tab up the sides (aesthetics), so maybe the gutters should be left in place for adhesion?

- Personally I would not use foam core - probably out of my ignorance - I'd replace the core with marine ply.  The cockpit sole takes a lot of abuse (people jumping up and down, etc) so it needs to be very strong.

Good luck!

Eddy:
I took the plunge and removed the top skin about 6" aft of the rudder access plate and about 4" forward of the binnacle. A friend on the dock had a complete book by West System on repairs and they covered this very thing in detail. On the sides I left enough room for the 12 to 1 feather when the two pieces of the deck are laid back down. I have no idea how someone would manage to do this repair from underneath with good results I am positive I could not do it that way and be satisfied with my effort. The binnacle mounting bolts are aluminum and mine were severely corroded I am very glad I took it all apart now. The forward end of the binnacle had sunk into the sole about 1/4". There was nothing left of the core underneath the binnacle at all completely rotted. I took alot of pictures and as soon as I figure out how to get them off of my new phone I'll post in here.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page