WET AREA
![Image](http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor1.jpg)
For those of you unfamiliar with the boat, there is a section of cored hull on the starboard side of the keel attachment to strengthen the hull. The port side is adequately supported by the dinette and locker bulkheads and liner. The coring extends sideways from the 'bilge' to the edge of the galley, and bow to stern from the raised floor in the head, aft to about 6" behind the rear cabin bulkhead: a section about 2 feet by 6 feet overall.
This is a common problem area on these boats, and if let go too long, allows the keel to waggle to such an extent that the fairing at the hull-keel joint cracks and falls out, not to mention giving the boat interesting sailing characteristics.
A few 2" holes through the inner layer of glass revealed wet and rotten core material in the forward 4 feet of the floor, so I have cut that section out, back to the area of solid dry balsa coring.
After the initial cleanup it looks pretty good.
CLEANED FLOOR
![Image](http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor3.jpg)
As usual I'm wrestling with finding the best way to fix this. My intention is to put it back the way it was, as that lasted over 30 years and only failed because of water intrusion.
I can't re-use the old piece of glass floor as it came apart where the core was undamaged. Boy, that stuff was stuck on there really well!
ROTTED FLOOR SECTION
![Image](http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor2.jpg)
For the small area I have to repair (2 feet by 4 feet) I've decided to use strips of 3/8" plywood 2 1/2" wide glued lengthways fore and aft with thickened epoxy as an adhesive.
PROPOSED NEW CORE
![Image](http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor4.jpg)
and braced from the cabin top while the epoxy sets.
BRACING DRY RUN
![Image](http://www3.telus.net/sailing/floor5.jpg)
Covering this, I plan to use 2 layers of 18 oz woven roving, one layer at 45 degrees to the other, then a layer of 9 oz cloth as a finish layer. The roving and cloth will overlap the surrounding floors as much as possible for a strong joint.
I suspect the repair will be stronger than the original floor ... at least I hope it will. I'm using a Canadian epoxy called "Cold Cure" which is useable down to about 36 degrees F. Even so, I'm going to wait for some 50 degree weather to do the job, and maybe provide a bit of additional heat to help the curing process.
I haven't gone beyond the prep stages yet, and am interested in ideas and opinions from my fellow forumites on my repair method.