Soft cockpit sole....

[Allan S]

After spending the winter changing the engine stop cable, removing some ancillery pieces from the engine (Mainly the exhaust manifold and expansion tank), sand blasting and re-painting them with high temp paint, changing the cooling and lube oil hoses AND doubling the size of our two battery banks we have a spongy cockpit sole.

I just have to remove the steering pedestal and cut away the sole. I have exploratoried drilled to find out the extent of the wet balsa core, which was not half as bad as I feared.

I just lament the use of balsa as a core.

That's it. I just wanted to blab a bit about the boat.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Allan S

I just lament the use of balsa as a core.

Me too. Organic materials and water just don't mix.

[DeepFrz]

Do you know for sure it is balsa cored? I think most builders used plywood core in the cockpit floor.

[hellosailor]

Don't blame the tools for a poor workman.

There's nothing wrong with balsa coring, when someone has taken the time and expense to properly bed it in epoxy, which makes it impossible to saturate the coring with moisture since each piece is then separately surrounded and entombed in epoxy and the water simply can't migrate anywhere.

Similarly, if the penetrations in the deck are properly constructed and sealed, water won't get in in the first place.

Plywood and hardwoods rot too. If you've never chased rotted wood all the way down a bulkhead in the bilge because someone didn't maintain the chainplates properly and now you've got six feet of rot, no balsa needed...It isn't the wood's fault. One could also argue that most chainplates are a lousy excuse for a good design, because they make these leaks so easy.

Now you've got the chance to build a proper cockpit sole, from honeycombed frp. Light, waterproof, strong...And of yeah, its gonna cost you. (G)

[Allan S]

DeepFrz, you are right, I don't actually know what the material is. This comming weekend I'll begin the sole deconstruction. I could do another season in its present state but I don't want to.

Hellosailor, you got that right when you said it's going to cost me......and I will have a bullet proof sole when I'm done, well not actuall kevlar bulletproof, but you know what I mean.