On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 11:56:47 -0500, Michiel
wrote:

On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 16:28:09 GMT, Jim wrote:

(...)
It would cost you less, and be far less work, to buy a better boat.

Do you really think so? Do you have rough estimates or "guesstimates"
and a suggestion for a different boat? It seems that fixing it
wouldn't be so expensive and not even that much work, just messy and
nasty.

I've done this in a small area (port side genoa track, so about two
metres by 15 cm.) and there's no denying it's a messy job. The expense
is in the time to you, because between shuttling back and forth for
supplies, and the raw labour, and the further labour to correct your
mistakes, could eat up the better part of your season.

On the other hand, you will have a stronger, more secure deck. I
suspect the reaction here is to the fact that it's a 20 foot boat and
thus very cheap on the open market, where everyone seems to want over
35 feet. You can pick up a bulletproof Shark (24 feet) for $5,000,
throw in a sleeping bag, a sandwich and a six pack and go sailing.
It's a good time to buy a well-found smaller boat, but repairing boats
is as expensive, or more so in the cost of core materials, epoxy and
so on, as ever.

So it comes down to how much you like this particular boat.

Fix it because you have to in order to restore the structural
integrite of the deck. One solution I haven't heard is to consider
taking off the entire deck and inverting that. In the long run, that
might be easier, but as I'm unfamiliar with your boat, I can't say.
Another option is to cut in from above, removing panels of gelcoat,
dig out the core, replace the core, bond the deck panels back in and
fill the cuts with thickened epoxy. Fair well, and cover the entire
deck with two-part paint to hide the "scars". Or, frankly, just
gelcoat it for protection. If you DO sell it, it's perversely nice to
show the next buyer that you've done the horrible necessary job
already and have the deck scars to prove it...G

A good core is marine grade plywood encapsulated with epoxy for places
where deck hardware is through bolted. On larger, empty stretches, I'd
use synthetic cores for strength and lightness. A sandwich of inner
skin, core and outer skin--when bonded in an epoxy matrix--is stronger
than solid fibreglass itself.

Get some of Don Casey's deck and hull repair books to see if you want
to tackle this. They are simple, full of diagrams and illustrations,
and have the standard techniques for majour renovations like this.