110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
The last couple square feet of coachroof that I needed to remove took a short time, thanks to the poor bonding of the plywood core to the substrate. At all edges of the large opened area now existed sound balsa core.
I'd kept the cutline intentionally several inches from the edge of the coachroof, to allow tying in the new fiberglass later, but this overhanging edge left some core material beneath, which I now dug out with a variety of tools. Where the core in these areas was sound, I left it be, but most of the long lengths outside of the large section required reaming. Several other photos I took of these areas didn't come out.
After removing the debris, I made some measurements and ordered new core and other materials I'd need to repair the area. Then, from inside I built a very simple support structure beneath the widest part of the coachroof, at the forward end of the main cabin, to ensure that the bottom skin (and therefore the entire area when repaired) retained its shape during the coming steps. The areas forward of the main cabin were beneath the molded interior headliner, and with a 3/8" space or so between the liner and bottom of the deck, as seen through the Dorade vent holes, there was no point in attempting to support the inner skin from beneath. However, the several bulkheads running through this area would prevent much movement of the deck skin while installing the new core.
Next, I prepared all the edges of the areas to be recored by grinding away paint and gelcoat, and creating a tapered edge that would allow the new fiberglass to extend over the adjacent areas, tying it all together. At the same time, I sanded the surface of the inner skin to remove resin and core bits and otherwise prepare it; there'd be some additional sanding and preparation steps ahead leading up to the new core installation.
Total Time on This Job Today: 5.5 hours
