Soggy decks

[LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners]

This is oh-so-hard for me to write...Finally had decent enough weather this weekend to start work on replacing my chainplates. Bad news. The coring is wet. It's not like it was completely unexpected but it's still a bummer. Luckily no apparent delam.I drilled the holes out at least double size & filled them with epoxy but have also been thinking of Git Rot, etc. If I let the deck dry out, it'll be fall before I can do anything with my boat! So my thought was to install the chainplates in epoxy then at the end of a long dry spell, inject the Git Rot. Any comments or suggestions?This should be a heads-up to all you older Catalina owners out there. There wasn't a speck of sealant on those chainplates, nor on any other single piece of factory installed hardware. REBED YOUR HARDWARE!LaDonna

 

[Melody Miller]

What a Bummer

Hi LaDonna:I hate to hear that . . .you're such a concientous owner. I went on Sail-net to find something relevant to your situation and noticed an article on their Gear and Maintenance section about dealing with a soft core (the write-up is about a fellow wanting to restore a ketch.) I think you could post to Sail-net and get some good responses. Only thing else I can think of is why does one have to wait until a dry season to inject the Git-Rot? I've also heard of injecting acetone to dry out wood (one has to cover the area to protect from elements) then let the open holes sit for a while to dry out. I wish I could help.Good luck Melody

 

[LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners]

Doesn't seem rotten yet

Hopefully it's just wet & not rotten. Seems fairly solid. I just feel like a bad mommy that I'm not going to do it "right"! LaDonna

 

[Tom]

See the Rot Doctor

see http://www.rotdoctor.com/glass/GLcores.htmlThe section is a nice description of how to deal with the problem. Assuming you don't want to do Method #1 (ripping out the deck), Method #2 does include using acetone or heat through drilled holes in the deck (not in conjunction with one another). I've also heard about sealing the drilled deck area with a plastic bag, after setting a Dri-Z-Air device within the bag to maintain very low humidity.I also purchased their CPES penetrating epoxy, as they claim it's the best (their comparisons to the performance of other products probably includes Git Rot) but I haven't used it yet. They have a cold temperature version that will work better than Git Rot in the forever cool climate of the Pacific Northwest.Rot Doctor is in Seattle, give them a call for more info as they like personal calls too I hear.

 

[jchealey]

LaDonna ,The manufacture that makes Git Rot also makes a wet epoxy which can be used with wet core,I dont know any of the details of it or how it works.Good luck,Nutcracker c-30 #614