Core repair

[wpc691]

Moving to survey on soon-to-be-mine 1985 43MY week after next. Among the thousand details to be dealt with, the port bow quarter of the foredeck is rotten, the result of faulty pulpit and windlass switch bedding. The area is defined by a 44" line from the bow along the pulpit and between the switches, a 50" line from there to the port rail (actually ends short of the toekick), then back to the bow along the toekick). I'm thinking about repairing this myself, but it would be the biggest fiberglass project by far that I've ever tackled - I've read what I could find here and elsewhere; it seems fairly straightforward, but still a lot of work for an area this big, and a very visible area to risk less than perfect results. So, it might make more sense to have a yard do the work; assuming the boat's hauled, I would also probably have them install line cutters and a chartplotter/sonar combo (boat doesn't have one, owner uses iPad for nav; I want a bottom machine to facilitate occasional wreck fishing detours while cruising, so might as well do cp/sonar combo then have iPad for nav backup). Long story short, does anybody have a recommendation for a reliable yard to do this work on the west coast of Florida, anywhere from St Pete to the south? Alternative might be to have the work done on the way home between SC and FL , but that would make checking on the work in progress kind of a pita. Thanks in advance.

[Fair Well]

I can say one thing the rotten area is probably larger then you think. I thought there was area about 12" around the davit pipe that was rotten. You can see from the pics what we ended up with. The repair is completed now all but painting, we are painting the whole boat so that well be done at that time. I well try to up load the completed pic later. Its on the camera that I left on the boat. Good luck. I well have to up load in two or three replies can't get it to down load more then three pics.

[Fair Well]

Pics # 2

[Fair Well]

Pics # 3
Trying to keep It dry.

[BOATER BOB]

Be sure to brace under before cutting top out.
Bob

[rwappleton]

Mike, If you do decide to do the job please take a lot of pictures. I have at least two areas I need to fix also one of which is in the same location. Good luck! Russ Appleton

[Dan Mapes]

I am thinking your job will extend aft of the bulkhead that defines the anchor locker. With that being the case, this job is larger than the one I did on our boat. The headliner will probably have to come down so you can support the lower laminate. If the damage is in front of the bulk head, have a look here.

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/sho...ndlass-removal


One yard insisted on doing the job all of the way back to the wing doors. Gulf Marine Ways wanted 20K+ to fix ours. I did it myself and saved a BUNDLE.

[sgharford]

Having similar issue as described on my 43 DC with leak coming from bow pulpit and what appeared to be maybe a 24" x 18" section, turned out 3/4 of the front deck was in fact rotten. Big job, the head liner underneath did have to come out to support lower laminate. Everything between gunwhale and upper fly bridge had to be primed and painted to make it look right. PM me for the cost if interested. I would walk away from a boat with this problem if I were to do it again, unless the price more then compensated for the work.

[Dan Mapes]

+1

Especially if you intend to do this yourself. I did it from the bottom up and spared myself the aggravation of matching the deck finish.

[wpc691]

Uhhhh....YIKES! Thanks for the responses guys. Seems like I'm cruising into way more trouble (spelled $$$$$$$) than I envisioned. I appreciate you sharing your experience.