It seems I went out in a little more wind than my '76 O'Day 22 could handle, and ended up dismasted. Fortunately, with three young men on board, we were able to easily retrieve the mast out of the water, noone was hurt, and noone was in danger of much more than getting wet. We strapped the mast to the deck, dropped the anchor for an hour or so to regain composure and to ride out the wind. When the wind eased a little, we limped back to the marina. Once safely tied in my slip, I surveyed the damage. Besides my ego, the major damage includes the port chainplate ripped from the deck, and the mast step horribly mangled (see pics). The ruler is difficult to read, but the damaged area is about 3" square, and the crack is about 8" long
With the chainplate removed, and a piece of the deck with it, the root cause of the weakness has shown its ugly face - the wood core has practically rotted down to pulp. I am left wondering - what is the best way to repair the damage? Can it be repaired? I understand that you can cut off the top layer of fiberglass, lay new wood, and re-glass the deck. But what if the rot has spread too far? The boat is 36 years old. In theory, the rot could have spread throughout the entire deck. What do I do then? Can it be repaired in pieces? Is the boat even worth salvaging in this extreme case?
With the chainplate removed, and a piece of the deck with it, the root cause of the weakness has shown its ugly face - the wood core has practically rotted down to pulp. I am left wondering - what is the best way to repair the damage? Can it be repaired? I understand that you can cut off the top layer of fiberglass, lay new wood, and re-glass the deck. But what if the rot has spread too far? The boat is 36 years old. In theory, the rot could have spread throughout the entire deck. What do I do then? Can it be repaired in pieces? Is the boat even worth salvaging in this extreme case?
