"Bart" wrote in message

You know how core gets wet, people tighten things up
crush the core more and it just keeps spreading. I decided
to cut up a 24" and 28" piece of 3/8" fiberglass panel to
replace the balsa core under all deck fittings. The idea
being, this will prevent any ingress of water into my balsa
core. I will not use any bedding for any deck hardware,
and of course you should never bed the bottom, as you
want the water to find it's way though.

Isn't this the way things should be done in the first place, Bart? Why do
manufacturers--Catalina and Huneter, for examples, put wood--generally
ply--under hardware attach points? Why not solid fiberglass, or even rigid,
closed-cell foam? Do any manufacturers do it that way?

Max