noleaclover
New Member
- May 26, 2019
- 14
- Boat Info
- 330 Sundancer, 1995
- Engines
- 2x 454 Mercruiser , V-drive
I had a friend with a 99 340 who ended up selling it because his deck started getting soft spots. He had a leak on the port side deck window when he 1st purchased the boat and fixed it but it was too late. After he sold the 340, the new owner was at the same marina and last I heard the whole deck started getting soft. It seems to be a common issue on the older 340s to get soft decks due to either windshield screws or hatches leaking.I'm living the dream like the rest of you. Working on my 1999 340 with this same situation on Starboard forward hatch. Cleaned out most of the rotted balsa and have been looking for ideas. Thought about either doing what you did with balsa or using Injectadeck by pulling corner of headliner if needed, drilling holes and injecting the foam. Your pictures and write-up is much appreciated. One note, the port hatch is perfectly dry while the Starboard is wet. Looking at the hole cut for the hatch it is painfully obvious the *person*(insert favorite other word here) cutting the hatch holes simply cut the starboard side too large which caused the screws to pull loose (no holding material) and allowed the hatch seal to leak. What a shame a "people problem" causes an otherwise good boat to have a leaking issue which could have easily been avoided.
If I were you and the deck is soft in a big area, I would go from under and cut the balsa and replace the wood. I'd try to avoid doing anything from the top unless you have a good gelcoat guy.