Deck Repair

Before

So I took a deep breath, removed the teak plywood grab rail, then using a roto-zip (small router), I cut the inner shell from the forward window opening over to the toerail, then made the second cut at the middle window, removing about 42" of fore to aft length of fiberglass. I stripped the balsa, plywood splinters, and glue remains off the removed headliner. In the process, it became several pieces - opps!

Peaking under the headliner

Much to my surprise, I found a combination of 3/8 plywood and 1/4 balsa. The plywood was full width (about 11") against the outer deck. It appears they glassed in the plywood, then added a 6" wide strip of balsa on the inboard edge, dropping to 3" aft of the shroud landing, making a slight lump in the headliner. The balsa is in a fully enclosed glass envelope, or at least it was till the shroud and genoa track penetrated it.

About 42" of damage

It turns out my 42" wild guess wasn't too bad. The plywood was sound for the last few inches on either end, and the balsa was sound to the aft and damp forward. Since the mast is on the boat, I opted not to explore further forward, since the bulkhead appears to be in good shape (no water marks, etc.), and simply dry out the balsa. This is probably a little negligent, but I guess I'll deal with it next time the boat's on the hard.

Glueing in the marine plywood

Anyway, I bought a piece of 3/8 ABMarine plywood (not all that easy to get here in the backwoods of Selma, OR), cut it to size, and epoxied it up against the outer deck. I just used short wooden props and door shims to hold the plywood in place. I found a place in Los Angeles that sells small sections of Balsa, so I glued six inches of balsa along the inner edge, directly to the plywood, again following the original lead of dropping to 3" about half way back.

Adding the balsa

After curing, I redrilled all the eventual holes (shroud, stantion, and genoa track) from above, then oversized them to 1/2" from below using a hole drill (not penetrating the deck). This would allow me to pour epoxy into the holes from above after the repair was complete, making sure any future bolt leaks stayed out of the core.

Glueing the headliner back up

I added a tapered strip of mahogany plwood (floor sublayment) to tune the fit of the pieces of headliner I had cut out at the start. After epoxying the glass panels in place, using the original holes as a vice, I fiberglassed the kerf removed by the router. I then tape the holes shut and poured epoxy (mixed with strengthener) into the holes from on deck.

Glassing the kerf lines

I also fabricated a copy of the original grab-rail that runs under the repair area. The original was 1/2 teak plywood that had warped a bit due to water damage. Since I couldn't find 1/2 teak ply, I laminated a piece of the 3/8 marine plywood used earlier to a piece of 1/4 teak plywood, which the local lumber store had in stock. I figure a little more stiffness was a good investment. The grab-rail itself was re-uable, and I had an old broken dining chair with which to make teak plugs.

Finished job

This is by far the most serious repair I've had to make. Not counting the waiting time for the balsa stock, the whole job took a week of easy days, mostly waiting for one thing or another to dry (balsa, or epoxy, or fiberglass).