Foredeck Repair (Part 3)

February 4, 2019

Over the course of the last few days I had been making good, steady progress on repairs to the foredeck.  Currently, I am focused on getting the foredeck sealed up to then begin fairing work.  For that matter, I am generally focused on getting the entirety of the Allied 24 sealed up from the numerous holes which are the result of fasteners, control boxes, poorly executed previous repairs, and wet core requiring removal and replacement.  So, in the previous work session I was able to apply another layer of 1708 biaxial cloth to the bottom skin of the foredeck repair, and to install the new balsa core material.  I removed the peel ply fabric from yesterday's work, and wiped the surfaces with a solvent to further clean them.  Sanding would not be required since using the peel ply.

The rigidity of the repair thus far was a huge improvement over the previous attempt that utilized big box store grade plywood and sloppy glass work.  The top surface of the new core material was perhaps a bit shallow to its surrounding deck surfaces than I would of like to see, but this will be corrected by laying up additional layers of 1708 biaxial fiberglass, as well as properly bracing from down below.

I carried a couple sheets of plastic to the foredeck and made templates for layers of 1708 biaxial.  The size of the repair area would require that I split the layers of glass into a port and starboard side.

I traced the templates onto the fresh fiberglass, and removed them with a sharp pair of scissors.  

As mentioned earlier, I braced the work area from below to help take up some the gap between the top of the new balsa core and the surrounding deck surfaces.  This bracing application would also impart a bit of camber into the foredeck, something that I had planned to accomplish in the fairing applications.

It was a bit of rush, rush, rush in getting the glass on, so I was not as focused on the pictures as I normally would be.  I first applied 'neat' epoxy (epoxy without any thickeners added) to the balsa core and surrounding deck surfaces, and then came back with a thickened epoxy mixture spread across the balsa core to fill some irregularities and voids, minor at that.  I returned to the shop and began to wet out the first layer of glass - two pieces, one to port and one to starboard.  This first layer would be set within the repair area - not overlapping onto the existing deck area.  The pieces of heavy glass laid down nicely, and I worked out all trapped air bubbles.  I returned to the shop to wet out the next layer of glass.  The size of these two panels required me to work them individually.  I worked the starboard side on first, and then followed that with the port side.  By this time I was working with a headlamp.  I wanted to ensure the surrounding deck surface was firmly in contact with the new 1708 biaxial cloth, so I both weighted that area from topsides as well as increased the bracing from below.  I applied peel ply fabric once again to the repair area, anticipating that I will want to add an additional one or two layers of 1708.  Excited to get the foredeck closed up!

Total Time Today: 3.75 hrs