Went under the hull today to grind out an area near the transom on the keel and it soon became apparent this would now become a full, deck off restoration. The area to be fixed had already been "patched" once and as i ground into the patch looking for weakness water began coming out. I wasn't surprised at this, i knew the patch was not done properly and that is what led me to get into it in the first place. This water told me that there would more between the skins in the core. I then went inside the hatch, marked out a square on the floor over the keel in the rear of the boat and cut out an inspection panel. There was 2 inches of standing water in between the inner and outer skins! What did surprise me is the core balsa material. It was separated from the outer skin but stuck well to the upper skin, apparently because of the water standing so long inside but the wood itself, although completely saturated was not really rotten. I was amazed that any wood could be this soaked and not crumble. Anyway, i now know that I am removing the deck, replacing the core and new skin on the inside. Oh and sliver of the keel came up with the skin and balsa wood, peeled a section right off the top of that 2x? in the center. anyway, now the mice have an inside swimming pool! My wife asked " isnt water supposed to be on the outside of the boat"?
You will need to carefully and accurately support the hull when the deck and inner skin are removed. Lack of support could cause it to lose it's shape and seriously effect performance. jim
