uh oh. i found wood rot. what now?

B

bbarquilla@gmail.com

New Member
Feb 16, 2007
51
While taking apart my foot controls for the windlass (to clean contacts) i noticed that the wood inside the deck is rotten. Sure enough, the foot controls were not properly sealed. What now?
boat is year 2000 290 AJ

advice appreciated.
 
Well, it's not the end of the world by any means.

First you'll need to get it dried out. I've used a Halogen light to do this. Be careful, and be sure you're not getting anything too hot. Scoop out all the loose wood you can.

Once it is, good fix would be to get some epoxy resin (West System or MAS), use one of their fillers to thicken it, and inject the area using a syringe with it. I'd probably fill the screw holes too, and drill them back out later.

Put tape on the back side of the holes to keep the resin from falling through.

Take your time and think it through, and you'll have a nice repair that is stronger than it was new.

Good luck.
 
I found the rot from the holes drilled for the windlass foot controls. They are about 6 inches in diameter. It would be impossible to dig it out due to the angles.
How do i know how extensive the damage is without making swiss cheese of my deck?
 
I'm not sure I'm understanding; surely the holes for the foot controls aren't a 6" circle, maybe 3"?

Take a right-angled tool of some kind and pick at the wood to see how soft it is. If you can get to the underside of this area you can drill small holes through the bottom layer of fiberglass. This is what I did on the overhead in my old 340. You'll fill them later.

Now, if you can get to the inside of the anchor locker, this is a good place to put that heater or light to dry it out.

If you post a photo of the area it would help.
 
i have a couple of pics but I don't know how to post them here.
I took a coat hanger and dug around. At this point, i am letting it bake in the sun.
I might just fill and hope for the best.
Any advice on filler?
 
Here ya go...

boatrotjpg.jpg


boatrot2jpg.jpg
 
It's a fairly common problem. The epoxy is the way to go as it will not absorb water. Other resins will allow some water penetration, especially on a flat surface on the bow. It's good that you caught it early, can dry it out, repair it and prevent a reocurrence. You should check the other deck hardware in that area. You probably have the same thing going on with those as well.
 
Get a Marine Surveyor on this to find out the extent of the "issue", I don't know what year your boat is but don't be afraid to pull in your dealer or SRay. They may be able to help but I would do it BEFORE I started shooting 2-part into the problem. Good luck.
 
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