Soft Foredeck

[Bob Vasile]

I have a Catalina 22 that is in great shape. Someone did a poor job installing an 18 inch hatch on the foredeck which has resulted in a somewhat"spongy," feeling when you walk near the hatch. I'm thinking about making a bigger hatch and cutting out the soft area. Is there a way to beef up the remaining glass in the foredeck without cutting the whole foredeck out? Is there a place to buy a pre made hatch? Thanks Bob Vasile

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

Good idea

If you're planning on it, do it. I'm struggling with this now in a minor way. When you cut out the appropriate area, dig out as much of the surrounding coring as possible as it's probably wet too. Fill the void with epoxy filler. If you don't want to completely replace all the wet coring (as in ripping out the entire deck), you can inject penetrating epoxy that should help some. It's not the "right" fix but is much easier than ripping the deckout. LaDonna

 

[Randy]

Spongy deck--wet or weak

Bob-- When I read your post I began to wonder if the spongy deck you referred to was due to water penetration, or due to weakness of the deck because of the 18 inch hatch hole that was cut out of it. If that's the case, a larger hatch could make it even weaker. Is the problem moisture entry, or was the original structure weakened by the poorly installed hatch?Good luck to you with the repair.Randy