Core repair

[wpc691]

Moving to survey on soon-to-be-mine 1985 43MY week after next. Among the thousand details to be dealt with, the port bow quarter of the foredeck is rotten, the result of faulty pulpit and windlass switch bedding. The area is defined by a 44" line from the bow along the pulpit and between the switches, a 50" line from there to the port rail (actually ends short of the toekick), then back to the bow along the toekick). I'm thinking about repairing this myself, but it would be the biggest fiberglass project by far that I've ever tackled - I've read what I could find here and elsewhere; it seems fairly straightforward, but still a lot of work for an area this big, and a very visible area to risk less than perfect results. So, it might make more sense to have a yard do the work; assuming the boat's hauled, I would also probably have them install line cutters and a chartplotter/sonar combo (boat doesn't have one, owner uses iPad for nav; I want a bottom machine to facilitate occasional wreck fishing detours while cruising, so might as well do cp/sonar combo then have iPad for nav backup). Long story short, does anybody have a recommendation for a reliable yard to do this work on the west coast of Florida, anywhere from St Pete to the south? Alternative might be to have the work done on the way home between SC and FL , but that would make checking on the work in progress kind of a pita. Thanks in advance.

 

[Fair Well]

I can say one thing the rotten area is probably larger then you think. I thought there was area about 12" around the davit pipe that was rotten. You can see from the pics what we ended up with. The repair is completed now all but painting, we are painting the whole boat so that well be done at that time. I well try to up load the completed pic later. Its on the camera that I left on the boat. Good luck. I well have to up load in two or three replies can't get it to down load more then three pics.

 

[Fair Well]

Pics # 2

 

[Fair Well]

Pics # 3
Trying to keep It dry.

 

[BOATER BOB]

Be sure to brace under before cutting top out.
Bob

 

[rwappleton]

Mike, If you do decide to do the job please take a lot of pictures. I have at least two areas I need to fix also one of which is in the same location. Good luck! Russ Appleton

 

[Dan Mapes]

I am thinking your job will extend aft of the bulkhead that defines the anchor locker. With that being the case, this job is larger than the one I did on our boat. The headliner will probably have to come down so you can support the lower laminate. If the damage is in front of the bulk head, have a look here.

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/showthread.php?24498-Galley-Maid-Windlass-removal


One yard insisted on doing the job all of the way back to the wing doors. Gulf Marine Ways wanted 20K+ to fix ours. I did it myself and saved a BUNDLE.

 

[sgharford]

Having similar issue as described on my 43 DC with leak coming from bow pulpit and what appeared to be maybe a 24" x 18" section, turned out 3/4 of the front deck was in fact rotten. Big job, the head liner underneath did have to come out to support lower laminate. Everything between gunwhale and upper fly bridge had to be primed and painted to make it look right. PM me for the cost if interested. I would walk away from a boat with this problem if I were to do it again, unless the price more then compensated for the work.

 

[Dan Mapes]

+1

Especially if you intend to do this yourself. I did it from the bottom up and spared myself the aggravation of matching the deck finish.

 

[wpc691]

Uhhhh....YIKES! Thanks for the responses guys. Seems like I'm cruising into way more trouble (spelled $$$$$$$) than I envisioned. I appreciate you sharing your experience.

 

[wpc691]

Just a data point for the collective wisdom, I spoke to the very helpful folks at van Wagoner Boats in Tampa. Their preliminary estimate, $25,000, as long as nothing else is wrong.

 

[saltshaker]

Just a data point for the collective wisdom, I spoke to the very helpful folks at van Wagoner Boats in Tampa. Their preliminary estimate, $25,000, as long as nothing else is wrong.

This type of work will be very pricey if you pay a yard to do it, and very time consuming if you DIY it. the rot almost always goes further than anticipated unless you have good experience with this type of repair. Sounds like this one is pretty big. Proceed cautiously and get a few estimates. You don't want to get into something too big or walk away from an otherwise good deal without accurate info.

 

[Finalee]

Mike-Pate has a nice 43 MY you might want to check out. Used regularly and last I saw it looked nice.

 

[SEVEN]

Pics # 3
Trying to keep It dry.

Sorry I thought your post said to ask for price. After re reading it I see I asked the wrong person. Thanks

 

[MVCaprice]

Wow! That is a serious repair. Look forward to seeing more pictures as this comes along.

 

[magnawake]

Mike-Pate has a nice 43 MY you might want to check out. Used regularly and last I saw it looked nice.

Fred, this is my boat in question he's taking about. Everyone is scaring the crap out of him. I don't think the area is as big as Mike described. I have had several quotes of 2-3k to fix this soft spot on the bow. It's been like this for almost 6 yrs of my ownership. I've been working and cruising so much I haven't been able to fix it. If you step on the soft spot it's soft about like an area of a little larger than a basketball. Not way past the bulkhead. We had a good fiberglass guy give us a quote of 5-6k to fix from underneath. I'm sure the surveyor will find more stuff too. I hope we can make the sale though, it's a really nice 43 as most of ya'll know. I guess I'll need to buckle down and fix this bow or I'll never sell this boat. By the time this thread is over it will Prolly be a 100k repair.

 

[Dan Mapes]

On this boat, I will submit having been there and done it, from the bottom up is the way to go. Press coosa up into it a piece at a time and overlap the layers. Then lay up a couple of layers of glass. Don't pull the pulpit but you must remove the windlass and drill out the holes, fill and drill again if they look bad. If you don't seal it up good the windlass will take a beating all over again.

 

[kjcampos]

Moving to survey on soon-to-be-mine 1985 43MY week after next. Among the thousand details to be dealt with, the port bow quarter of the foredeck is rotten, the result of faulty pulpit and windlass switch bedding. The area is defined by a 44" line from the bow along the pulpit and between the switches, a 50" line from there to the port rail (actually ends short of the toekick), then back to the bow along the toekick). I'm thinking about repairing this myself, but it would be the biggest fiberglass project by far that I've ever tackled - I've read what I could find here and elsewhere; it seems fairly straightforward, but still a lot of work for an area this big, and a very visible area to risk less than perfect results. So, it might make more sense to have a yard do the work; assuming the boat's hauled, I would also probably have them install line cutters and a chartplotter/sonar combo (boat doesn't have one, owner uses iPad for nav; I want a bottom machine to facilitate occasional wreck fishing detours while cruising, so might as well do cp/sonar combo then have iPad for nav backup). Long story short, does anybody have a recommendation for a reliable yard to do this work on the west coast of Florida, anywhere from St Pete to the south? Alternative might be to have the work done on the way home between SC and FL , but that would make checking on the work in progress kind of a pita. Thanks in advance.

hi Mike....if you are still looking for a GOOD and Honest yard to do your work check out the guys "Fernado" at Cortez Cove Marina they are truly amazing ...they are in Cortez Village near the CG ...i take my boat there and have never had any issues with them and they stand by their work they can do anything you need....

 

[wpc691]

Just an update. The surveyor concurred with my assessment of the apparent area to be repaired, approx 3 1/2' x 4 1/2' on the foredeck, and a basketball size area on the side deck surrounding an unrepaired crack. Maybe I've found the perfect use for my 40 yr old little bronze hammer. At the yard where we hauled out, I happened to meet the freelance fiberglass guy who quoted fixing the deck. Exactly fifteen seconds into our conversation, he said the dreaded words, "it's always bigger when you open the deck". I expect his final cost will end up being much higher than his initial estimate.

 

[rsmith]

Ok so the purists are going to scream but a friend of mine bought a 53c back a while ago. The deck in front of the bridge station was soft. We drilled a bunch of 1/4" holes then took a bent nail on a drill and scarfed out the material below the holes. We then shot great stuff in the holes untill it came out the other holes. After it dried we filled the holes in with thickened epoxy and painted the deck. He charter fished the boat for 5 years after that and the deck never got soft. Not a 50 year fix but it worked.