[Public-List] Recoring Cockpit Floor Suggestions

[crufone at comcast.net]

Mel said........... 
Gord, 
Thanks for your description of recoring the cockpit floor. I have the   
same job to do on mine (as soon as the weather gets a good deal   
warmer) and your description pretty much matches what I plan to do   
(and reassures me that I am not completely insane for attempting it!) 

One question though: Did you brace the underside of the cockpit before   
making the repair? The reason I ask is that the underside of my   
cockpit has a noticeable sag to it. The cockpit itself has a   
depression where water pools rather than running down the drains. 

I also plan to get rid of the inspection port at the forward end of   
the cockpit (the ultimate source of the damage to the floor) and   
replace it with a watertight hatch which will allow access to the   
stuffing box. 

Any suggestions or things to look out for? 

thanks 
mel 
hull # 452 

Mel, 

I would suggest for you to shore up the lower skin of the sole (after you remove the upper skin and old core) to the camber you would like to see in the finished floor. If the camber that you desire is too great you might not be able to use one thickness of plywood for the core. You could either use thinner laminates of plywood or some other type of coring material which would conform to the camber. 



If you just wish to have the floor level and flat and no camber then one flat sheet of plywood would work fine. Also I would suggest that you layup the floor system in it's entirety first, finish it and then cut the opening for your new hatch. Trying to fashion the opening at the same time as laminating the new core and skin would be much more of a hassle and possibility lead to unsatisfactory results. 



If you make a template of your hatch opening frame you can produce a solid grass lay up (where the opening will be cut later) as you layup the recore your floor. This way you can place the template onto the finished surface and you will be cutting thru a solid area which will both strengthen the frame support area and also help prevent future water ingress into your new core. 



I have a recoring project on a smaller boat, a Typhoon, and plan to lay in solid sections of Coosa Board in any location where there will be penetration thru the skins. Thus whether it be a forward hatch a deck cleat, or the cockpit combing; the fasteners will be passing thru solid grass composite and no core. This works great with 20/20 hindsight because I know where the fittings will be installed. For future new installations I will need to remove even the new core and proceed as others have suggested with epoxy columns around the fasteners. I will use the traditional balsa core embedded in epoxy resin with new upper skins layed up with epoxy as well. 



Hope this helps, g ood luck on your project. 

Michael #133