I began with a round of sanding on the sidedecks and foredeck, sanding the first round of fairing filler and new laminate, respectively, as needed.  At the foredeck, I also sanded flush a small raised molded area that had housed a centerline cleat, as the owner told me he didn’t plan on reinstalling the cleat, so I could now fill the holes.

Once the boat was cleaned up, I had to choose what direction to go.   Earlier in the week, I’d been thinking that as soon as I got the sidedecks more or less back together (which they now were), I’d get on deck and start the core repairs on the coachroof, mainly one moderate section on the starboard side.  But now I felt I was on a roll with the sidedecks, and that it would be best and most efficient to continue with the work at the after ends, so I turned to patterns for the decks outboard of the cockpit.

I planned four layers of new laminate here:  two initial layers to cover the core, bring it up to the proper level vis a vis the adjacent decks, and wrap over and tie into the inner coaming surfaces and the short toerail section where the old winch island had connected; then two additional layers to extend onto the prepared edges of the adjacent decks and complete the repair.  I began with the patterns I’d made for the core earlier, and with them laid out in place made some notations and modifications so I could cut fiberglass to wrap over the edge and up the side of the toerail.

Next, I made paper patterns of the larger pieces for the top, tracing the outlines of the previously-prepared deck edges as needed.

I knew there was too much work to cut the fiberglass and laminate these large sections before the end of the day, so before I got to the fiberglass cutting I decided to go ahead and apply a second round of filler to the sidedecks, and a first layer on the foredeck repair, which kept the work moving on those areas, and opened up the whole next day to focus first on finishing up the material cutting and installing the new laminate on the quarters.  On the sidedecks, this fairing round focused on the known low spots, mainly at the deck edges inboard and out and a few areas around some of the structural repairs.  First, though, I filled the bolt holes on the foredeck with another epoxy mixture, as I’d done elsewhere on the decks earlier.

Now I could spend the rest of the day cutting fiberglass for the large sections near the cockpit, starting with the first two layers on each side.  I cut each layer into two more manageable sections, staggering the seams well between the layers.  I test-fit the pieces on each side (only the starboard side shown in the photos) and made some minor re-cuts as needed for a better fit.  Next time, I hoped (and planned) to finish cutting the final two layers, and install all four on each side.

As per usual, I began my day with the sander, working on both sidedecks to sand the new laminate and clean up the edges along the adjacent decks as needed.  I also sanded the nearby nonskid areas, starting at the aft end of the foredeck, to reduce the molded nonskid texture and prepare the decks for additional work and fairing in the repairs.  The molded nonskid pattern was heavy and deep, and sanding it completely smooth would have removed far too much material and taken eons, so I sanded it heavily to remove most of the texture, but stopped well short of the decks being completely smooth.  I’d skim-coat and fill the remainder to achieve a reasonable balance.

The skidmark-looking things on the deck are just that–skid marks from the bottom of my vacuum, which feet had worn through the cloth I maintain over the bottom to avoid damage.

At the same time, I prepared a few areas for additional repair work, using a grinder to remove material around a pair of deck fill openings on the port deck, and to prepare the forward part of the obsolete port track fasteners for a strip of fiberglass over the top.  I also lightly sanded the one layer of fiberglass on the bow repair that I’d started last time.

Next, I made preparations to fill most of the fastener holes in the sidedecks.  I’d already opened up most holes with a 5/8″ Forstener bit, removing the core within, but now I went around and drilled out a few holes I’d missed before, and used a large countersink to ream the tops of the holes a bit to increase bearing surface for the filler.  Inside the boat, as needed I masked over some of the holes to prevent any epoxy from dripping through into the cabin or lockers.  After final preparations, I went around the sidedecks and filled all these holes with a mix of epoxy and high-density filler, leaving this to cure over lunchtime.

With the epoxy gelled sufficiently, I installed fiberglass patches over the deck fill openings, and one layer of fiberglass over the jib track holes (and a nearby test hole).  Then I patterned and cut and installed two layers of fiberglass on the foredeck repair.

During the sanding session in the morning, I’d fine-tuned the cuts at the small sections of toerail on either side of the cockpit, where the original winch islands had tied in, cleaning up the cut lines at the top edges and bringing them back enough to accept a layer or two of fiberglass later, which would bring them back to the necessary width to match the other areas.  The open area within was quite shallow and also uneven, with tabbing (now exposed on one side) pressed into the space in uneven ways.  Over the past weeks I’d been considering how to proceed with these repairs, and now I filled the shallow voids flush with a thickened epoxy mixture, troweling it smooth to the top edge and a line I struck at deck level, which lines I’d masked to to ensure a clean line when all was said and done.

My plan was to bring the first layer or two of fiberglass up and into this now-flush space to tie the toerails back in and return the inside edges to their more-or-less final shape (fairing notwithstanding).  I expected to require two layers of material over the core, to bring up the height properly, before installing a final two over the whole area plus the adjacent deck edges, but that was for a time in the immediate future, just not now.

Finally, I applied a coat of epoxy fairing filler over both sidedecks, including the adjacent nonskid and all repaired areas, to begin to smooth and tie these areas all together.  I stopped a bit short of the aft ends to allow room to tie in the material outboard of the cockpit later.  This skim coat mainly filled the existing nonskid and new repair laminate, as well as began to incorporate the molded deck edges (the nonskid pattern stood proud of the molded borders), but the overall profile on both sides was largely fair in an overall sense, with no significant hollows to fill.  The epoxy in the fastener holes, and even the fiberglassed repairs on the port side, had gelled enough by this time that I could fair right over the top as needed.

The first order of business was to remove the weights and plastic, then wash and lightly sand the newly-cored areas to prepare them for the next steps.  Along with basic smoothing and scuffing, I spent some time to round over the coaming edge outboard of the cockpit to later accept new laminate wrapping over from the deck onto the inside coamings.

After cleaning up, I pressed on with the sidedeck and foredeck patches, leaving the areas outboard of the cockpit for later attention.  Before I could laminate the new top skin, I had to take care of the chainplate slots in a couple areas, as I’d left the core out from around the slots and now needed to fill the areas with an epoxy mixture.  I prepared and installed plastic chainplate analogs to keep the slots intact during the epoxy work.

Afterwards, I lightly skim-coated the core on the sidedecks, which had the effect of wetting it out before the fiberglass, and filling any small voids here and there leftover from installing the core.

While that cured slightly, I cut the first layer of fiberglass for the patches, using the core patterns I’d made earlier as the first layer would sit directly over the core without overlapping in order to bring the core and environs up flush with the adjacent decks as needed.  Then, I wet out and installed this first layer.

Once that was done, I continued cutting two more layers of fiberglass for the sidedeck repairs, using the paper patterns I’d made last time.  As needed, I prepared staggered joints between the layers so no joint ended up above another.  Then, I wet out and installed the two additional layers in epoxy resin; at the ends of the jib track repairs, forward of the cockpit, I held the new material back as needed so the eventual laminate outboard of the cockpit could overlap as needed.  I hadn’t yet made a pattern for the foredeck repair, other than the first layer, so even though it was ready for the next two layers I waited that for next time.

I removed all the clamps and sandbags from the core and other new work, then water-washed as needed to prepare for sanding.  I used a chisel to lightly scrape away the hot glue and support sticks from my inner-skin patches, but unfortunately the patch at the port aft tank fill opening failed; it was clear from its appearance that it had never stuck to most of the area around the opening in the first place.  I made alternate plans to cover this smaller hole.

Next, I lightly sanded the fresh core and other areas just to remove any hard spots or epoxy ridges and to prepare the cored areas for eventual fiberglass.  I cleaned up the fiberglass patches over the round holes with a small rotary sander, and then, while I was at it, used a grinder to remove gelcoat and taper the laminate inside the cockpit in way of the edges of the old winch island areas, preparing these areas for eventual laminate.  My plan was to wrap a couple layers of the new top skin over the inside edge of the cockpit, tying it into the laminate below.   There’d be a bit more work ahead on this corner later,  once the core was in place.

To finish off my sanding of the moment, I prepared the exterior side of the three through hull holes in the counter as well.  Then, I cleaned up the boat and shop to give me good working conditions for the rest of the day.

Once I’d cleaned up, my first order of business was to pattern the core for the two small after sections, just forward of the transom.  With that done, I could go ahead and fill the patches flush with the surrounding inner skins, and lay a strip of thin fiberglass over the 2″ tank fill opening from the top; there was ample room in the space for the fiberglass without affecting how the core would sit.  I also filled flush the similar repair at the stem, though I apparently didn’t take a picture.

While that material gelled, I worked to finish up the prep on the new core for the areas outboard of the cockpit.  I dry-fit the pieces once more to ensure they fit properly with the new fiberglass edges now in place, then marked the winch locations on the starboard core, as I’d done before with the port, so I could omit some of the core where the winch stands would land.  To ensure a consistent measuring datum, versus using the cut line from the old winch islands’ removal, I determined these positions with the tape held against the bottom of the molded coaming block at the forward end for later duplication.  Then, down on the bench, I cut pieces of 1/2″ prefab fiberglass to appropriate sizes, and cut out the core in the various areas to accommodate the fiberglass, including sections in way of the forward stern pulpit bases on the two smallest aft pieces.

After final preparations and cleanup, I installed the new on both sides outboard of the cockpit, along with the piece on the foredeck.  I happened to need to change my gloves during the process, leaving me clean and able to take a few pictures right after epoxying the core in place and before covering and weighing down.  I didn’t have enough sandbags to  cover the foredeck section, so I used whatever weights I could conveniently find.

To round out the day and week, I finished up by making paper patterns for the fiberglass laminate over the previously-cored areas on the sidedecks.

While I was working nearby, I happened to notice this oddity of note at one of the old snap locations for the existing dodger on the side of the cabin trunk:  a cheap plastic drywall anchor.  I’d seen many things over the years, but this was a first in my experience.

I got started by cutting the core for the starboard sidedeck.

Afterwards, I made final preparations to both sidedecks, then installed the new core in the sidedeck repairs and inboard genoa track areas.  One section at a time, I wet out both sides of the core with epoxy first, then the decks themselves, then applied epoxy adhesive to accept the core, weighting it down to hold in place while the epoxy cured.

The bow repair, along with both after sections near the transom,  required patching of the inner deck skin in way of now-removed round deck plates.  With poor or even no access from beneath, I chose to use small sections of 1/8″ prefab fiberglass sized to fit through the holes from above, then epoxied in place.  I installed a temporary screw to use as a handle, and, once I’d inserted the epoxy-buttered pieces through the openings, used stir sticks and hot glue to hold them securely while the epoxy cured.

Next, I laid out some solid fiberglass edge pieces in the areas outboard of the cockpit coamings, along the inside edges against the cockpit, and beneath the open section of the toerail where I’d cut away the original molded winch islands.  At the inboard edges, the 1/2″ thick, 1″ wide material would establish the proper shape and height for the new work, and somehow it just made sense to me to install solid fiberglass against the edge beneath the toerails.  I didn’t take photos of the dry layout (photos of the installation further below), but did mark the inner skins at the edges of the solid pieces, which I could use to pattern the balsa core for the remainder of the open area.

With patterns complete, I cut and dry-fitted the core, showing the gaps at the edges where the solid fiberglass would go.

Now I measured one of the original winch islands to relocate the winches on the new core.  The original locations were centered 7-1/2″, and 51″, respectively, aft of the forward edge of the islands (at deck level).  I transferred these marks to one of the sidedecks for now so I could determine the approximate locations, then laid out the newly-arrived bronze winch stands upside down for now to simulate the installation.

Using a 12″ long test winch handle (intentionally a very long handle to maximize clearances), I roughed out the clearance required for the forward winch; the after winch had no clearance issues and I intended it to stay in its original location.  But to make room for dodger wings at the forward end, it would behoove things to move the forward winch aft a bit, to increase clearance and keep all options open as much as possible.  However, a further limiting factor was at hand:  the stanchion base, located just a bit aft.    I didn’t want any conflicts between the stanchion and proper use of the winch handle, so, with the handle mocked up to estimate sound clearance, I repositioned the winch stand as far aft as I could, which turned out to be about 5″ further aft, or 12″ from the leading edge of the original winch island.  I drew arcs on the core representing the approximate throw of the long winch handle to illustrate clearance.  The new location forged a balance between clearing the stanchion (critical) and the dodger wing (important, but more flexible).

Satisfied with the placement, I used the winch islands, held in place in their proper orientation, to mark the core in way of the deck bases, which was ultimately the purpose of this exercise now.  I’d remove blocks of the core beneath these marks in order to replace it with solid fiberglass.

But for now, I set the core pieces aside and turned my attention to the fiberglass edges, which I wanted to epoxy in place before the end of the day.  Along the inboard edges, I could use clamps to secure the fiberglass in its epoxy bedding, though the clamps only worked in the orientation shown.  Along the outer edge, beneath the toerail, clamps didn’t work–I’d thought they would–so I hurried to come up with some hot glue blocks and wedges as needed to hold the fiberglass into the curvature as required, and to hold it flat when it wanted to twist up at the inner edge near the after end.  I left this arrangement to cure overnight.

After delivering another boat to the outboard dealer first thing in the morning, I got to work on preparing the decks around each of the areas currently being recored,  With a grinder, I removed the gelcoat and tapered the adjacent laminate as needed to accept new fiberglass patches once the core was complete, providing a roughly 2-3″ wide area for tying in the new material.  I also sanded the  exposed inner skins of all areas, leaving just some corners and detail work to deal with shortly.

At the same time, I prepared the edges of several other areas to be repaired in the cockpit, including the instrument holes on the bulkhead, the engine panel opening, the pedestal opening, and an obsolete locker opening at the port aft side, plus the inside of the hull in way of three through hulls in the counter that the owner had removed (I’d prepare the outsides of these three holes later).

With some plastic pattern material leftover from one visit or another from my canvas contractor, I made patterns of the sidedeck and foredeck core openings.  For now, I focused on these areas forward of the cockpit, as I hoped to button up the sidedecks as soon as possible so I could get to work on the coachroof repairs, and there were some minor inner skin repairs to be completed on the areas outboard of the cockpit, plus other details that I’d get to once I had core in the sidedecks.

From these patterns, I spent the rest of the day cutting 1/2″ balsa core to fit, getting all the core prepared for the port side (forward of the cockpit) and foredeck before the end of the day.  At the foredeck patch, I cut out sections of core and prepared 1/2″ solid fiberglass material in way of the two bow cleats.  Next time, I’d cut the core for the starboard side, then get to work installing the sidedeck core.

Before continuing work on the sidedecks, I inspected the coachroof all over, sounding with a steel hammer to locate any questionable areas that might require attention as well.  Most sections seemed to be sound, fortunately, but I did find an extended area with evidence of damaged core leading aft from a Dorade vent opening on the starboard side.  I sketched out the rough outline of the damage on the deck for later attention.  I wouldn’t start work on the coachroof till the sidedecks were repaired to the extent that I could work on deck without tiptoeing between the open sidedeck areas, but I wanted to order replacement core and needed an idea how much additional I might need for the coachroof.

Next, I worked on cleaning up the deck areas already open for repair, focusing on removing the final bits of plywood from the areas beneath the winch islands, and cleaning out the deck flanges around the openings to get rid of the last bits of old core and prepare these areas for new work.  Cleaning up the broader field areas of each repair would come later when I got into bulk sanding and in conjunction with some minor repairs needed to sections of the inner deck skin, mainly to cover unwanted holes and, in a few areas, to repair some inner skin damaged during the core removal.  I used various chisels and reamers to rid the hidden edges of excess core, and used a wire wheel attachment on a drill to take care of the rest in the narrow slots.

Afterwards, I thoroughly cleaned out the slots as needed, with brushes and compressed air, and solvent-washed with acetone.  On the port side, where one of the repairs surrounded a chainplate slot, I cut a piece of plastic to fit the slot and keep it open while I epoxied around it.

During the rest of the day, I mixed many batches of thickened, strengthened epoxy and installed it beneath the deck edges all around, forcing the mix all the way to the depths of all the openings.  At three of the exposed stanchion locations, I added 1/2″ prefab fiberglass blocks beneath the bases to strengthen the installations and later accept the fasteners; only the midships base on the starboard side remained partially visible after installation, as the two after locations (outboard of the cockpit) were buried deeper and surrounded with more of the thickened epoxy.  I chose to fill these edges at this early stage and before grinding the adjacent deck areas to prepare for new fiberglass because I’d often found that the flanges, if ground first, tend to “curl up” at their inboard edges as the thinned material loses its overall integrity, and this can complicate core and laminate installation later.    In any event, this bulk sanding event was next on the agenda once the epoxy cured, the final prep required before new core installation.

I picked up where I left off on the starboard deck, starting with the large area I’d previously identified roughly amidships, near the chainplates.  Since the damaged area extended near or through some of the chainplate slots, I noted some measurements of the slots for future reference.

Then, I cut off the top skin along my lines I’d marked, exposing the core beneath.  I immediately expanded the cutout at the outboard aft corner, as the wet core clearly extended further in that area, and found clean, well-adhered core almost immediately, which was good news.  In other areas, my original cuts exposed sound core at the edges.  Most of the rest was saturated mush, which I cleaned out now.

On the port side, when I brazenly cut out the entire slot in way of the inboard genoa track, I’d found there was much more sound core in there than I’d thought, as the damage was surprisingly confined near the fasteners, and removing sound, well-stuck core is a real chore that I preferred to forgo if possible.  So on this side, I took a more piecemeal approach, though first I drilled out all the fastener holes with a 5/8″ Forstner bit, as before, which exposed some of the core and gave me insight into the conditions beneath.

Hoping that perhaps the core damage here was similarly confined, I turned to a 2″ hole saw to expand a couple of the holes as a test.  This didn’t give me enough confidence, so from each end I began to incrementally remove a 3″ wide strip of top deck and core, which inevitably led to me opening the entire slot once more, but only because it was necessary and clearly obvious once I removed each section.  Most of the core along the edges of the cutout was sound, though I reamed out portions and would return later for additional work, along with all the other areas currently exposed for rebuilding.

Just forward, at the chainplate area, there was a section of plywood core, which extended from the large chainplate against the cabin trunk.  I’d removed most of this, but the portion still beneath the remaining deck flange at the cabin trunk was well-stuck, though completely dark and wet, and resisted efforts to remove.  I tried various tools in my arsenal to little avail, and eventually drilled out the four bolt holes through the plywood to help loosen it and give me a chance.  This helped, but there was still more to be done here.  In the meantime, I reamed out the damaged core as needed from beneath the exposed flanges at the other edges of the opening, removing the bulk of the old material pending some additional detail work later to clean out the rest.

With my 5/8″ bit, I went around the boat and drilled out all the fastener holes left in the sidedecks and foredeck, including stanchion bases, cleats, chainplate fasteners, pulpit, and other hardware.  Mostly, this revealed core in sound condition, which was good news, other than the midships stanchion base (P3) in the port side, which was already in an area currently opened for recore.  The stanchion bases appeared to be plywood-cored beneath for added compression strength.  Later on, I’d fill all these holes with a thickened epoxy mixture.

I’d now addressed all the most significant areas on the sidedecks requiring inspection and repair, so I finished up the day and the week by cleaning up a bit.  With some messy work ahead in the immediate future–especially grinding and sanding–I took a moment to close off the deadlight openings to prevent as much dust as possible from getting inside the boat.  At my suggestion, the owner had earlier masked over these openings from the outside, a down-and-dirty (or would that be clean) way to keep out dust during the early parts of the project.  This had worked fine, but now the tape was coming apart a bit, and in any event I’d soon be sanding the cabin trunk in these areas, so I used paper and tape to cover the openings from inside, which would do the job required till much later in the project when it was time to start masking for paint.

 

With a hammer, I inspected the sidedecks and foredeck, sounding for core damage or significant voids from debonding, latent construction flaws, or other issues.  In this way, I identified and marked several areas requiring additional attention on both sidedecks, including small sections just forward of the areas where I’d removed the winch islands.  There was also a large section at the forward end of the foredeck, though for some reason I didn’t photograph the markings.

Preparing to expand the open deck area on the port aft deck, both behind the winch islands (where the core was visibly damaged) and forward as well, I got off on a tangent when I started to make some measurements and notes regarding the position of the stern pulpit mount, which I wanted to note so I could add solid fiberglass beneath it when the time came.  As I made the measurements, I realized it would be better to make a simple pattern of the hardware and its fastener pattern, and this led to me making patterns of all the necessary hardware on the sidedecks.  At a minimum, I planned to fill all the fastener holes as a matter of course, and then mark these locations with small pilot holes so the hardware could be easily relocated after paint; in other areas, deck repairs would cover or eliminate certain hardware locations as well.  I also didn’t have the hardware itself on hand for marking fastener locations later, so taking the time to make the patterns for all salient hardware served a number of useful ends.  As needed, I either registered the patterns with something indelible on the boat nearby or, in the case of the stanchion bases, made rubbings of the molded bases in the deck to help relocate the holes correctly.

Before continuing work on the port aft deck, I removed a water tank deck fill that was in the middle of the space, a relatively quick diversion.

Now, as needed, I cut the top skin of the deck away on either end of the port winch island area, leaving sufficient flanges in the adjacent decks for tying in the repairs and digging out the old core all around.  At the forward end, the water damage extended a couple inches through what remained of the plywood core, and slightly into the balsa core that began several inches forward of my original cutout.  I opened this area enough to ensure sound core all around.  I cut around the molded stanchion base, leaving enough of the deck for the new work to tie in later.

Continuing, I moved forward to a section of the sidedeck that seemed to be compromised because of some of the genoa track fasteners near the cabin trunk.  Already a large-ish area, I found once I opened the top skin that the damaged core continued towards the deck edge (toerail), so eventually I had to expand the opening further towards the toerail, again choosing to cut around the little molded stanchion base to preserve its shape, which was molded at each location to ensure the stanchions stood straight and upright.

With a 5/8″ bit, I drilled out all the fastener holes from the long inboard genoa track.  The owners didn’t plan to replace this track, as they had other plans for the sheet leads, so at a minimum I’d be filling all these holes, but all the holes aft of my core repair showed damaged core, while most of the holes forward seemed to display sound core.  Ultimately, I decided to remove a strip of the deck encompassing all the holes along the aft half, leaving me a 3″ wide strip to recore and repair.  For now, I left the forward half as is, but would expand the openings into one or two holes that seemed to be dark with moisture infiltration a little later.

The next spot requiring attention was outboard of one of the chainplate slots alongside the cabin trunk.  Here, I eventually followed the damaged core in a narrow band from the slot towards the toerail, expanding my opening only as needed to remove the damaged material.

Just aft of the stem, the pulpit, large round opening from a deck plate, and forward cleats had turned the core to mush from extended leaking.  I cut out a couple square feet of the top skin, then found I had to extend aft another few inches to capture all the damaged core.

For now, this completed the major demolition work on the port side, though there was more work ahead to complete the preparations in each of these areas, and a few smaller question marks to investigate.

I moved my operation to the starboard side, and began work around the starboard winch island, both forward and aft much the same as on the port side.  I had enough time before the end of the day to make the necessary cuts, remove the old core, and ream out the edges as needed.  I’d continue with the rest of the starboard side deck next time.