Deck Core Saturation

[mike.lewis]

I'm looking at buying a '71 Vega and was handed a previous survey
that was OK apart from three small (6" x 4") areas of the deck that
have softened. I'm not sure how saturated these areas are, this is
all the info I have. The broker called the surveyor for me and was
told by him that the soft areas would not make the vessel unsound
for offshore use but core samples should be taken to be completely
positive.
What do you guys think? Would you just completely walk away from
this boat or do you think it's minor enough to be dealt with?

 

[papasbackhoeinc]

Dear Mike,

I have a Vega 1687 and the deck did not look nice any more . I decided to
paint it with monourathane paint, not she looks in good shape again. Its a
lot of work.

That does not answer your quenstion. I do not have softened spots on the
deck. That has to be
repaired first of all with an expoxy putty. Any hardware store of
shipchanler is selling this.
It a two component material.

If the price is reasonable (how much?) you can repair this easily
yourself.

Good luck,

Henk Jansen

 

[bbach1949]

Mike: The Vega deck is mostly cored with foam, but there are a few places
where there are plywood cores to back up deck hardware. I assume that some of
those may have gone soft due to moisture penetration. The fix is not that bad,
certainly nothing compared to some other boats that have fully saturated
balsa cores. The Vega handbook (still on line, I think, on the defunct American
Vega page), shows the location of the plywood cores. West epoxy injected into
the soft areas, or in extreme cases cutting from the underside and replacing
core, are pretty simple and final. I too have a 1971 Vega (V1071) and don't
think this should dissuade you from buying the boat. Bill Bach