While poking around in the boat today, I found some plywood core rot under the starboard stern cleat. Evidently, water was coming in through the cleat bolt holes. I've cut out the inner lamination, and scraped away 2-3 layers of rotted plywood laminate layers. The wood above that, up to the underside of the decking, appears solid. The total depth of lost wood/inner fiberglass laminate is a little under 1/4". The cleat still appears very solid, and the fiberglass layup under the cleat must be fairly substantial. The rot goes from the stern cleat, forward, up to about 1/2" shy of the starboard stern pulpit post, which appears still solid, but very close to the edge of the rot.
The amber colored extrusions in the photos are some type of epoxy, added by the previous owner to fill some old through holes.
I was thinking of smearing some silica thickened 5 to 1 epoxy into the void caused by the 2-3 layers of plywood laminate that rotted out. From there, layering on a number of layers of 12 oz. biaxial fiberglass cloth, and extending the cloth over to the side of the hull on the outboard side, and around the inside of the combing on the inboard side. I'm new to fiberglass work, and not sure of the best weight of fiberglass cloth to use, or if this is the best method of repair. Given how shallow the damage is, it would seem difficult to insert a 3/16"" core replacement of the plywood itself.
After finishing the fiberglass repair, I was going to add a G10 backing plate for the cleat, and another for the stern pulpit post bolt holes. Does anyone have any comments? I'm open to criticism-
The amber colored extrusions in the photos are some type of epoxy, added by the previous owner to fill some old through holes.
I was thinking of smearing some silica thickened 5 to 1 epoxy into the void caused by the 2-3 layers of plywood laminate that rotted out. From there, layering on a number of layers of 12 oz. biaxial fiberglass cloth, and extending the cloth over to the side of the hull on the outboard side, and around the inside of the combing on the inboard side. I'm new to fiberglass work, and not sure of the best weight of fiberglass cloth to use, or if this is the best method of repair. Given how shallow the damage is, it would seem difficult to insert a 3/16"" core replacement of the plywood itself.
After finishing the fiberglass repair, I was going to add a G10 backing plate for the cleat, and another for the stern pulpit post bolt holes. Does anyone have any comments? I'm open to criticism-
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