Swiss Cheese, More Deck Rot & How Rainy Days Impede Progress
Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer
Sunny, warm, blue skies… I’ve got some CPES mixed up and it’s going in the swiss cheese, I mean, new holes I drilled at the forward Cowl Vent Deck Hole. I used System Three Rot Fix on these holes originally. But I thought the cure time was rather fast, and had suspicions the penetration wasn’t as thorough as I had hoped. So I decided to give CPES a try… it’s advertised to have superior penetration due to its high content of solvents and a long cure time, between 4-12 hrs. I poured some into the holes yesterday evening before I left for the night. Thought I’d give it the night to cure… too bad it poured cats and dogs about an hour after I left.
More Deck Core Rot
With the roaring success of my first attempt at CPES, I decided to give it a shot on the Mast Partner, where there had been some minor rot, and screwdriver/lever gouging from the laborious and expensive mast removal procedure. As I began to dig out the mast partner, I discovered more rot that I had anticipated. Sucks. I’ve gotten pretty comfortable digging out my deck core. And even more so at drilling holes into my deck. To better access the mast partner, I removed the starboard deck box… which of course means 8 more holes drilled in the deck which are then “Dremel tooled” and filled with Epoxy. As I dug into the rotten core around the partners, without fail, the worst spots were those around the screws holding the aluminum mast boot support thingy. I’m beginning to think EVERY screw hole in my deck has rotten core surrounding it. I could spend the next month or so routing out my deck, drilling holes and filing with epoxy… but I’d rather go sailing.
Rain
Sixteen holes later, almost as if on cue, the clouds darkened, the sun went dim, and the rain began to fall. The sixteen virgin holes in my deck were just waiting to be filled with rain water… The mad dash to put away power tools and cover up the naked core ensued… it’s a race I never win.
Fiberglass Bobstay Casting Pattern
I trimmed and sanded yesterdays efforts, and re-mounted it on the bow to begin to finalize the correct shape. I think this is going to work out just fine. A few more strips of mat and some thickened epoxy will supply the necessary strength and rigidity. Bondo will fair it up.
To Sum Up Today…
I’m good at puttin’ holes in my boat, rain sucks, I spend alot of time mixing epoxy.
