I have a 1976 h25. I have noticed the cracking around the floor to wall of the cockpit sides.I am sure there is water getting into the core of the cockpit floor. Does anyone have an idea how to attack this problem and get the floor back to new condition, or at least,get back to a strong floor again. I am not taking about cauking, that was done. I am talking about restoration,or close. This is a cockpit that holds water most of the time. I know the drains could be improved.
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No coring there
There is no coring right at the 90 degree bend from vertical to horizontal. Look below and you can see where cockpit floor becomes thicker where coring exists. Cracks are probably just gel coat. If coring is wet, it needs to be dried out, holes drilled, epoxy injected, and floor resurfaced. West System epoxy has publications that cover this topic quite well. Various sailing mags have covered this topic as well. Good luck.
There is no coring right at the 90 degree bend from vertical to horizontal. Look below and you can see where cockpit floor becomes thicker where coring exists. Cracks are probably just gel coat. If coring is wet, it needs to be dried out, holes drilled, epoxy injected, and floor resurfaced. West System epoxy has publications that cover this topic quite well. Various sailing mags have covered this topic as well. Good luck.
How are you sure?
Jim: How are you sure that water is getting into the core? As Rick stated the corners are fairly thick and the chance of water getting in there is not too probable. If we assume that the is not a problem and that this is just a cosmetic problem, you should be able to clean it up. There are several posts in the archieves about this problem and the most common solution is to use a drammel tool to clean out the fractures. Then you would chemically clean them out. Next you could inject some epoxy into the cracks. Sand it down and either apply gelcoat or paint the area. If this is more serious you can just drill hole in the cockpit sole, let it dry out and follow Ricks solution. There is also a third method. You can cut the entire sole out of the cockpit along the edge and lift the entire piece of sole out. Then the core would be exposed and easy to dry out. Then you would replace the piece and seal it up. As I remember the sole on the H'25 may lend itself to this method without too much trouble. You could then increase the size of drains regardless of the method that you try.
Jim: How are you sure that water is getting into the core? As Rick stated the corners are fairly thick and the chance of water getting in there is not too probable. If we assume that the is not a problem and that this is just a cosmetic problem, you should be able to clean it up. There are several posts in the archieves about this problem and the most common solution is to use a drammel tool to clean out the fractures. Then you would chemically clean them out. Next you could inject some epoxy into the cracks. Sand it down and either apply gelcoat or paint the area. If this is more serious you can just drill hole in the cockpit sole, let it dry out and follow Ricks solution. There is also a third method. You can cut the entire sole out of the cockpit along the edge and lift the entire piece of sole out. Then the core would be exposed and easy to dry out. Then you would replace the piece and seal it up. As I remember the sole on the H'25 may lend itself to this method without too much trouble. You could then increase the size of drains regardless of the method that you try.
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