In for a penny in for a pound!

Apr 13, 2016
29
Catalina 22 Fort Worth
Well I had a large soft spot in the deck I I finally convinced myself to take care of. It looks like there was a void along where they ran the wires the the bow and water got in and ran down the length. I was hoping to finish this in a couple of day but I doubt it now.
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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Aren't boats fun. :) Good to fix it before it got worse, in spite of the pain.
(I'm semi-ignoring some old instrument thru-hulls I should remove and fiberglass over)

Looks like the deck's inner fiberglass layer stops before the bow on the original c22 ?
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
Mad props @Rusty Keel: good on you for getting after it! Keep us posted as you bring her back to better than new. and Yes @Leeward Rail the whole foredeck is a strange disconnected wasteland.... just discovered that as well. Literally wondered outloud where my second set of wires was running away to--

Any Idea where the water came in at? -- almost looks like it was getting in up front and running along the wire between the ply? wacky...
 
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Apr 13, 2016
29
Catalina 22 Fort Worth
Yes @Leeward Rail the inner fiberglass ends at the foredeck bulkhead. @pclarksurf I saw your foredeck fun post and mine looks about the same. I’m going to have to do something similar with mine so I will be following. I had a rough evening with the repair progress today. First I got a little to aggressive cutting and chiseling out old plywood and resin and created a couple of minor cuts/tears in the inner fiberglass liner. I think I can tape it up and when I epoxy the new plywood core and will just be able to sand and paint it but a bummer non the less. The other setback was that I got 1/2“ marine ply to recore and it is way to thick. I’m going to have to go back and see if they have 1/4”. There is only one place I’ve found in Fort Worth that even carries marine grade ply!
 
Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
The other setback was that I got 1/2“ marine ply to recore and it is way to thick. I’m going to have to go back and see if they have 1/4”. There is only one place I’ve found in Fort Worth that even carries marine grade ply!
Have you considered a synthetic core material?
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
Yes @Leeward Rail I’m going to have to go back and see if they have 1/4”. There is only one place I’ve found in Fort Worth that even carries marine grade ply!
As you discovered -- Catalina used an interesting sandwich of two layers of ply -- view of the end grain from my cockpit floor, but I've found this construction everywhere. Which BTW is the cause of a lot of the spider cracks and non rot related soft spots. Bad laminate that sounds like a a rot void when hammered:

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Apr 13, 2016
29
Catalina 22 Fort Worth
@Hunter216 I did look into Coosa board and would have sprung for the extra cost but the shipping was unbelievable. I couldn’t find it Anywhere in the DFW area.
 
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AaronD

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Aug 10, 2014
723
Catalina 22 9874 Newberg, OR / Olympia, WA
@Hunter216 I did look into Coosa board and would have sprung for the extra cost but the shipping was unbelievable. I couldn’t find it Anywhere in the DFW area.
Jamestown Distributors carries a variety of foam core materials, but I don't know about their shipping cost - you might find it outrageous as well.
 
Apr 13, 2016
29
Catalina 22 Fort Worth
Well I managed to pick up some 1/4 marine ply and clean up the fore deck cavity. Even dry fit the plywood and old skin. But one step forward, two steps back. I will need to remove more of the side deck as it still has soft wet wood back there. You can see at the end of the plywood. I removed a small portion already.
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Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
Somewhat assuming you are already going there-- so apologies for the cap'n obvious moment: Definitely coat that ply with penetrating epoxy all way round, multiple coats ( like 3). I wouldn't count on your unthickened epoxy bond to water proof that slab "enough". one shot at making it bulletproof-- worth the investment.

and gorgeous already....
 
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Apr 13, 2016
29
Catalina 22 Fort Worth
I was defiantly going to epoxy coat all of the ply before attempting to bond it to the fiberglass but I was just going to do a couple of coats of unthicked epoxy. I hadn’t considered “penetrating” epoxy. I assume it’s compatible with the standard unthickened epoxy followed with a tickened epoxy to fill small voids when bonding the ply down to the inner skin? I’ll do a little research on this. This is the first large scale fiberglass project I’ve taken on so thank you the tip and anyone else who sees any room for improvement to this process feel free to jump in.
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
The theory on penetrating epoxy is that you completely encase the wood's cellulose structures-- essentially filling the the very cavities that if soaked-- would lead to to dry rot. You are most correct in that a good coat of thickened epoxy will indeed seal the surface-- but most our our dry rot comes from designed penetrations and lateral spread/pooling.

I always have a quantity of Smiths on hand -- Home of Smith's Original and Genuine Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer there are certainly others--but i have always used Smiths-- they basically invented it.

I mentioned multiple coats-- took a picture for you this weekend to show why: it's a pain of course, but you can see that the marine ply is soaking up the epoxy at varying rates relative to the hardness of the grain. when I pre-coat all my bright work especially, but even with ply-- I use multiple coats until the shine comes up and the wood won't take any more. Completely compatible with all epoxy resins-- fillers-- and varnish loves it, paint sticks to it better than primed wood. Definitively worth some research--

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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
and varnish loves it
Since you will likely be doing more work on the boat, I should expande on this.

Penetrating epoxy is a great way to repair/protect exterior wood, before you varnish it. Epoxy yellows over time from UV, but a layer of epoxy, with some top coats of varnish you get the varnish look with much better durability.

Some people use Cetol, other use varnish, but the epoxy + varnish method works well. Especially good for heavy wear areas like the companionway threshold. + trim, and the hatch slider rails.

The only drawback for brightwork use is that once it soaks in, there is no simply sanding it off.
 
Jul 13, 2015
893
Catalina 22 #2552 2252 Kennewick, WA
The only drawback for brightwork use is that once it soaks in, there is no simply sanding it off.
it is a no going back moment for sure-- but if you like traditional-- nothing prettier in my book, and it is nothing short of bulletproof when done-- keep up on the outer coat of varnish (3 to 5 ) and you'll never have to touch it again.

original with sanded / buffed with scotchbrite after 3 coats penetrating/ finished(5 coats epifanes with wet sand in between coats)

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Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
I agree - when I re-did all the teak - I did the same thing. 2-3 coats of thinned epoxy - until it was fully saturated, then spar varnish. It's held up great for 2 years of exposure, and still looks new so far.