Bow cap coring rotted - 20 Seafari
 

I'm not 100% sure what the area I'm referring to is called. Here is a pic:


http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/.../RottedCap.jpg


I was going to patch the existing hole and reinforce with some plywood underneath. Ended up discovering that the whole area is rotted out. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have started cutting from the top that extensively without getting advice first.

I know ideally I would remove the whole cap and fix it that way, but I would rather not if I can help it.

I was thinking of cutting the fiberglass skin off the effected area, removing the bad core, replacing it with new core, and then fiberglassing over the whole thing. Does this sound like the right way to do it? Would 1/4" Starboard be a good choice for a core?

Coring
 

First do yourself a favor go to the very first post in the repair section...Here we go again.

Spend sometime in there before you do anything else. I mean it .


After you have read through that then ask as many questions as you want.

One short answer No on starboard.

If you feel up to it, then click on my rebuild link and check out response # 49 that should also answer some questions.

Where are you located in FL.?

The affected area is not on the boat.

I'm in south Fort Myers.

I did a bunch of searches for different combinations of "rotted bow cap replacement" and the search filter kept omitting all results with "bow" and "cap" in them. Made it hard to find anything relevant. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Not sure what you mean by this.

Right now you are very new to all of this.

Introduce yourself and tell us about your self and your friend!

Nothing sticks to starboard.

Read here we go again. And again.

Plan
 

After reading through both the recommended threads, and a few others, I came up with the following plan. Hoping for your guys opinions or recommendations.

First, I'll brace the underside of the cap(crown?) to support it so that it keeps its shape.

Next I'll cut out all of the rotted wood, leaving at least a 3" lip around the edges.

I'll bevel the edges 12:1 and prep the inside of the bottom skin.

I'll install a balsa core with cabosil and then layer 1708 over the whole thing.

I need to score the balsa so that it will conform to the shape of the hull correctly, right?

I did some fiberglass work today(First time), I think it turned out pretty good, I will post some pics tomorrow.

Well done. maybe not balsa. Keep reading grasshopper.

Cheers,
GFS

synthetic?
 

Are you referring to a synthetic like divinycell?

I had considered it, but balsa properly taken care of should last a good while... hopefully by then I'll win the lotto and be able to completely restore the boat.

I'm going to do the project today, I'll sand it tomorrow after it cures, slap a coat of paint on it to protect the epoxy(I plan on painting the whole boat after I redo the transom this winter) and then install all of the anchor hardware on Tuesday morning.

If everything goes according to plan I'll be putting her into the water on Tuesday morning. I'll keep you guys updated and post some pics. I appreciate the advice.

Balsa Core
 

You should be able to buy the balsa core already scored.

I like the idea of balsa most everywhere else, but I would consider the area under a cleat to be similar in stress to the transom. So something a bit more robust. I don't like plywood in general, but right under the cleat might be good. I am not sure if there are different strengths or densities of divinycell, but if there are, I would get one of the stronger/higher density versions for the ~square foot or do under the cleat. Or put load spreaders between the cleat and cap. Basically a construct a reinforcing plate so that the loads on the cleat dont make it locally break the fiberglass under the edge of the cleat "feet". I suppose THOSE load spreaders could be starboard and added after the fact and be beveled to look pretty nice.