H40.5 Line Organizer Repair

[Rich Stidger]

Last year I noticed that the aft port corner of my organizer cover was soft. I have the later version organizer cover that is in two pieces. And I also had a rain leak into the area over my dinette light. Knowing that the four corner screws that hold the organizer are suspects for the leak, I pulled off the cover this Spring.

I found that the organizer had a crack along the aft edge and that was likely to be the reason for the softness. I taped over the four hold-down screws and hosed the area- no water leaks. So I know that one of the hold down screws is the culprit for my leak.

I brought home my organizer cover and I thought that I would just have to open up the crack and fill it with thickened West System epoxy. Now the fun began......

A cut into the bottom edge showed that the wood core was saturated with water. So I made some test holes to see how far the water has gone. Long story short, the wood was saturated from the aft edge up to 10" from the forward end. I could push on the wood and water would squish out! So after cutting out the bottom fiberglass covering I used a vibrating multi-tool to cut underneath each of the wood blocks. I will repair this cover with new wood blocks and West System epoxy. Around each of the screw holes I will fill with epoxy so that water cannot get into the wood core from the holes. I will cover the wood blocks with fiberglass cloth and more epoxy.
Does anyone here have any tips for me?

 

[justsomeguy]

Well, it's too late to disavow any knowledge of the situation, so I can't say "sell it now!".

Your plan sounds fine. Clear the rot, repair the rotted substrate and fiberglass.

Edit- Wow, what a parquet patchwork!

 

[Rich Stidger]

I think the patchwork is because the cover is curved, not flat. You can't tell from these photos but the aft edge is about 1" higher in the center than at the ends. I will replace them with new pieces cut the same size. It appears to be just plywood but I am wondering if it is something special - like plywood that has no internal voids. I would presume that it is a marine grade which may be a better quality somehow than exterior plywood. I will have to research that one.

 

[justsomeguy]

Marine-grade, schmarine-grade.
There's 3/8ths stuff available, which should be able to be laminated.

 

[CloudDiver]

I would use foam to create the new core.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Divinycell foam is your friend

 

[Rich Stidger]

I never worked with foam. Is this foam strong enough to support 200+ pounds of a person walking on the cover? I'd hate to rebuild this using the foam and then find out that it is lacking in strength.

And would it be used in a single sheet or cut into blocks like the wood? Has anyone actually used this Divinycell foam personally?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Island Packet used divinycell material in their decks in lieu of balsa or other wood throughout its production run.

 

[CloudDiver]

Divinycell foam, and similar core foam material (there are a few choices out there) have a high compression and shear strength once it has two sides of glass and epoxy laminated to it. 1/4" sheets will be easy to flex and laminate into the curved shape you need, then easily shaped and sanded as required until you can epoxy the skin back on.