One of the remaining areas of wet core I needed to address on our boat was the helm seat. The emergency tiller access plate was installed on the slightly curved helm seat. When you tighten the flat access cover (which has an o-ring to seal out moisture) against a flange that is not flat, you do not get a watertight seal. I believe this was the source of moisture ingress to the rudder core which I dealt with a few years ago, and also into the balsa core in the helm seat. Since I am recovering the cockpit non-skid with Isiteek anyway, and because the rudder post makes a repair from below difficult, I cut the top off the helm seat to replace the balsa core. I took this opportunity to fill the area around the rudder post with thickened epoxy, and build up the sloped sides around the access with some layers of mat. Now the housing fits flush in the hole, and the plate should seal well. This weekend I got the Isiteek installed on the helm seat and propane locker lids, but I am waiting for warmer weather to caulk around them.
