1/2 done decks...

[GilStump]

Hello all. This be my first post. I bought a 77 S&S 36. Sweet Boat, but my surveyor missed a big bad spot. When I peeled the headliner back from my storm berths I discovered that the owner before the previous owner had started deck repair ala Don Casey, from below. He gutted the core, glassed one side of a chunk of plywood then slapped it into the void. He didn't bother to reglass the wound leaving the underside of the berth exposed with severe chainplate leaks resulting in delamination of the patchwork...

I have a plan, is it good?

1. Re-epoxy the delaminated patch to the top skin.
2. Glass in the wound from below using hat type supports to add rigidity
3. go in from the top with Git Rot for bad spots and filler laced epoxy for the few voids. Then sand, fare repaint and Sail the heck away.

Is this doable? Am I an idiot? Am I crazy?

Any advice will be rewarded if ever I meet you with Booze and Jokes. That's all I got.

Cheers,
GilStump
s/v Luna Sea

[soulesailor]

Hoping to get my hands on the booty I'll offer a little advice:

Don't forget to stop the chainplates from leaking so this repair won't need to be repeated.

Don't use the delaminated patch to fill in the area, make a new one.

Sail to Maine and liquor me up. I'm the one with the trail of empty PBR tall-boys in my wake.

[lharmon]

Conceptually it sounds like you are on the rightr path. First thing though is to stop the leaks and check ALL materials for delamination and rot. With chainplates a failure can result in rig loss or damage. West Systems has an excellent booklet #002-550 "Fiberglass Boat Repair & Maintenance". Armed with it and the leaks addressed you'll be fine.

I'm sorry your surveyor missed this. Sounds like he/she should have found the delamination. But I'm sure this is something you can accomplish.

Regards,

LH

[Freesail99]

I drop a letter to your surveyor with pictures and ask where do I send the bill to ?

[copacabana]

How about some photosof the refit Gilstump? By the way, does the S&S 36 have a model name?

[sailingdog]

After doing what Freesail says... You should probably find out where the leaks are. You should also remove the PO's work and start from scratch, since you'll then be starting with known good materials.

[GilStump]

Thanks so much for the answers. I am going to peel off the patch and grind out the old gunk cut a new chunk of wood and move onland for a week while the fumes dissipate. Argh. Me hates land. Makes me puke. I'll try to take pictures with my free hand of the process...

[Lion35]

Hi GilStump, I know you're already heading this direction but I'll put another vote in for tearing out what the PO did and starting from scratch. If the plywood has been wet enough to delam gitrot will not restore the strength of the plywood at all. Given the quality of what you can see of the repair, I would question what grade of plywood the PO used, and how well it's epoxied to the upper skin (what voids lurk between the plywood and the upper skin? was the upper skin properly prepared before epoxying?) I think you'll sleep better knowing its done right.

You were probably going to do this anyway but be sure to check your chainplate carefully were it passes through the deck for crevice corrosion.

Bummer this wasn't caught in the survey

When you start to go back together you may want to consider using balsa instead of plywood, I assume the deck was originally balsa cored.

Good luck and keep us posted.