Galley Maid Windlass removal

[Dan Mapes]

Jim that is a great point. Thinner layers offer you the opportunity to overlap edges and thus create a stronger structure (I would think). That and flexibility of a thinner layer allows it to flex into position better.
Good point!

[bobk]

So Most if not all of the damage is forward of the bulkhead. This is great news. Perhaps the starboard cleat has an issue but that will not make itself obvious until the area is exposed one way or the other.
There are three basic approaches to this deal.
1) peel up the deck and lay down new coring along with a new foredeck (expensive)
2) peel off the lower laminate in the locker, clean it all out, install new coring going up and restore the lower laminate (cheaper I think)
3) peel off the lower laminate, clean up, restore lower laminate and pour expoxy with bubbles in, then repaint the deck (Swiss cheese the deck and restore).

I am thinking of Fasco-110 putty and chunks of coosa board stuck up to the foredeck followed by a restoration of the lower laminate.

Warnings, advice and alternatives are welcome.



Attachment 16122
Attachment 16123

My advice, per your request.... and some rumination to which I'm entitled as one of the older (est?) HOF members

Dan, Your damage sounds like about what I had. I caught mine early before it spread beyond the anchor locker bulkhead so the repair was done with out tearing into the top deck. Walt wasn't as lucky. Anyway, my mechanic pulled the pulpit and rebuilt it at his shop. He sawed in some big holes underneath the deck in the locker and simply dug out the rotted wood until he reached solid balsa then cleaned it up. After drying, a thin sheet of fiberglass was screwed up over the holes to close them over. He back filled with a thickened epoxy into the various holes from above. The mix flowed well and didn't get too hot when it set. Following this, the mounting holes were re-drilled and everything was put back together.

This kind of fix eliminates two of the original bad design issues that leads to this problem on our boats. 1, it replaces a compressible core with a non-compressible core. 2, it seals the core, and 3 it beefs up the bottom skin which would have probably been OK if 1 & 2 were done right in the beginning.

If you have foot switches for the windlass, remove them, seal the core or replace as needed, replace the rubber covers and re-bed it all carefully. These are also sources of leaks and rot.

Under the 'anal' category, I had my guy weld extensions to the bottoms of the chain and rope pipes so that any water entering the big holes would be directed all the way to the locker with no chance wetting the core. We also insured a tight match to the spacer block that is directly below the windlass.

My job did not require repainting the deck but I had it done with Algrip/sharkskin which I can highly recommend.

I have a few photos that I can add if any one wants to see the details (maybe I posted them at the time?? CRS?) Anyway, the work was done three years ago and is holding up well.

Bobk

[Dan Mapes]

Hey Bob thanks for the input. I think I found your thread on this last night?

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/sho...-and-Fore-Deck

Our damage seems to stop about 8 inches in front of the bulkhead but, it goes all the way to the sides, and may go to the stbd cleat which is at the bulkhead. I have not torn anything down nor punched enough holes to get a good idea of the complete scope of damage yet.

Right now I am going to build a platform I can work on across the rope/chain divider.

If anything comes to mind send it along!

[bobk]

I just looked up my cost. It was just under $3000 including repainting the fore deck and side walks. I 'helped' as needed instead of bringing in a paid helper.

The only other picture that might add something is of the 1/8" fiberglass skin that was fastened under the area before back filling.

Bobk

[Dan Mapes]

I just did a volume calculation and it looks to be about 2000 cubic inches. If 7 micron glass beads mix with resin I wonder how much has to be mixed to come up with a decent ratio that provides some strength yet still flows well.
At 231 cubic inches per gallon it could get very expensive to pour a mix in unless the beads reduce the amount of resin significantly.

[Colwyn D]

The beads do massively reduce the amount of resin. When I went through this I decided the mix wanted to be thick enough so it didn't slump away from the top skin. This might not be the case if you fill from above in layers, I went from underneath filling through drilled 1/2" holes after the larger holes used for rot removal had been repaired. Throw away caulk tubes and a caulking gun did a good job of injecting the stuff but pretty messy job overall, have plenty of rags handy and mask up everything you don't want epoxied.

[Dan Mapes]

They are talking about putting the boat in the slings to take advantage of gravity. In other words, they will lift the bow to get the flow going aft, do a pour, then repeat with a lift on each side, and then the transom.

[Colwyn D]

If the transom is lifted just be sure no water can get back up the exhaust to the engine.
Slow hardeners and thicker mixes help keep the epoxy from exothermic reaction, self heating.

[Dan Mapes]

Good point on the transom lift!

I think I would rather see them pull the pulpit and open it up forward with a bow lift. There is some rot in the plywood under the pulpit above the deck as well. It's not bad, but it is a concern.

[Dan Mapes]

This is getting bad. I am seriously considering a DIY bottom up job. I built a small platform to ride on the divider between the chain and braided rode sections. It allows me to lay on my back comfortably as well as re-install the winch by setting it on the platform and pulling it up into position.
Today I looked over some screw jacks as a solution to pushing coosa up into the deck while the putty sets. They make a 24 inch scaffold jack that can be cut down a bit or extended with pipe if I need to.
Right now I am thinking if the last contractor gives me any grief I'll wind up doing this myself.

If I do, it will probably be using two layers of 1/2 inch coosa with overlapped sections held in place with Fasco 110 fast set epoxy putty followed by a re-installation of the lower laminate. The notion being to cut out a section at a time and restore it before moving on.