110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
With long board and sander, I sanded the first layer of fairing compound as necessary; the long board highlighted the various low spots that would require additional fairing compound.
Afterwards, I cleaned up and applied the second round of compound, using a broad knife to feather the material from the lows to the highs.
The next area of the decks to open up for recoring was on the port sidedeck alongside the cabin trunk, near the forward end. This area proved to be frustrating, since the only area with damaged core was directly next to the cabin trunk, but in order to access and repair this area effectively I had to open the decks several inches outward, exposing core that was in good condition and well stuck.
In fact, the only reason, it appeared, that there was an wet coring in this area at all was because there was a band of plywood that seemed to run around the edge of the cabin trunk and to the center of the foredeck, and this band seemed to have channeled the moisture extremely effectively down the length of the area. It was becoming evident that the use of plywood in these decks was, in part at least, from the original construction, as these areas forward did not appear to have ever been opened up before.
Eventually, I cut the decks a little closer to the cabin trunk than I'd originally planned, since there was no other way to have hope of removing the saturated, blackened plywood from the 2" strip next to the cabin trunk, and also found a need to extend the cuts at each end to reach sound core. I removed the core from the field areas, and incorporated a block around the old holding tank deck fill since I'd have to repair that hole anyway (the core was actually sound around this opening), but left the plywood beneath the inside edge for now; I'd ream it out during another stage of the operation in the near future.
Moving on, I opened up the foredeck. Unsurprisingly, the area with the damage was cored almost entirely with plywood, with a wide center band that obviously extended all the way to the cabin trunk (and, apparently, around the cabin trunk and down the sides), plus additional plywood one each side for the forward two feet. The damage and wetness stopped almost immediately at the boundaries of the plywood, and the plywood was barely bonded to either top or bottom deck skin. I removed it in large pieces with no effort.
I extended the cuts on the starboard side a bit further aft, though the opening turned out to be a bit larger than strictly necessary since much of the core on the inboard sides was dry and sound; the wetness extended in from the edge in a random pattern. It's easy to tell where the plywood ended and the more effectively-bonded balsa began: areas that were bonded appear "furry" since removing the core also removed a bit of the fiberglass, leaving torn fibers behind.
For the moment, I reserved final judgment (and action) on the fate of the center width of plywood that continued aft towards the cabin trunk, and left the edges of the newly opened area for reaming another time.
Total Time on This Job Today: 7 hours
