23' Tsunami small deck core repair ?

[abl1111]

My 1975 Tsunami needs some core work where my windlass mounts. Pulled my surface mounted windlass to repair it and was surprised to see that water penetrated into the (3) through deck mounting bolts ( I shouldn't be surprised at this anymore ! ). They had been mounted with Caulk Life 12 yrs ago.

I removed all the wet wood via a drill and allen keys and am letting it dry out. I want to fill all, including the large oval hole where the chain and anchor line enter the deck with epoxy and then re-drill all again ( potting ).

QUESTION - What is the best way to assure that the epoxy wets out and fully fills the hollowed out core ? I was thinking I'd drill bolt holes wider, tape bottom of these holes as well as the large oval hole. Then, ID low point, aft probably, and start to syringe in epoxy there with minimal, if any cabosil added, to maximize flow. Then, cover the large oval hole with plastic, tape well and syringe epoxy through that until it flows out the mounting holes forward of this access spot.

Let harden and re-drill all.

Does this sound about right ? Advice if you have it appreciated.

NOTE: Under the entire windlass area, windlass and anchor roller, is a pc of 1&1/2" plywood (2) 3/4" pcs glassed together for support.

[abl1111]

?

[shine]

That is basically how I would do it. I would use milled glass and pour the epoxy in stages. The milled epoxy will give the plug a lot of strength, but it is not thixotropic so the epoxy will still flow and fill all the crevasses. You could even add a little chopped glass if the hole is big enough. Pour in some epoxy, then take a sander (with no paper) and vibrate the area to let air bubbles work out.

[abl1111]

This for the insight. When you say milled glass, I think of cabosil - yes ? In the past, I've added cabosil to the thickness of syrup through to mayonnaise - I just want to be sure that it flows and fills in all the voids as this is a very high stress area.

I really like the sander idea - good call. As soon as the weather warms a bit, I'll do this project - just getting the 'how to' part set in my mind.

[Briguy]

Pix would help.

[shine]

No, not at all set thing. Milled glass is ground up fiberglass, very dense. Silica will make the epoxy thixotropic so it will not flow and fill voids

[abl1111]

OK, I'll grab some of the milled glass. Easy enough - thx for the clarification.

Sorry, no pix as of yet. It's pretty straightforward though - I should have 'potted' this whole area initially. I have come to NOT trust any form of silicone, polysulfide etc. in a cored area.

With this repair, and I guess a similar repair would be repairing small sections of a delaminated floor, my concerns are making sure their are no voids in my repair. I will adjust the trailer to make the boat as level as I can, then a little taping underneath and then I'll slowly inject the epoxy/glass mix in and let it flow to the voids and fill as needed - until it won't fill no 'mo. Then, I'll let it cure and drill through the bolt holes and the large, oval hole where the windlass dumps the chain and line into the locker below.

The only other cored area on the boat that I didn't pot and I will soon, are the (4) transom bolts/nuts holding the top of my full-transom length swim platform brackets in place - I potted the (4) bottom bolt/nuts that are under water...