Re: catalina27-talk: Deck fix

[Rudolph S. Behar]

Mike, I do have one resource: I have an accurate, I think, non-contact moisture meter, which currently tells me that the deck up to 14" away from the mast center has 17% water content, vs, e.g., 6% elsewhere in the deck and also  in my wooden chairs at home.  I'm reasonabably sure the source of the leakage is 27 years of being in the weather letting the ring under the mast soaking out.  But I will keep your suggestion in mind.  One thing I'm going to do for sure is to soak a piece of waterproof plywood until it reads17% moisture.  No harm in knowing what I'm dealing with. Rudy B. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I tried the same type of dry out plan on my 75 C-27 for many months and it didn't work well enough for the epoxy to cure correctly, it may be partly due to the Michigan climate I live in. I ended up removing all stantions and deck hardware in the wet area of the deck, cut the top glass and removed it, removed the wet rotten core, installed new ply-wood core, put the original top piece of glass back in then put a layer of chopped strand mat glass over that. It is a time consuming job but I feel confident that it was done correctly. The method you are going to use may work fine but it is really hard to know how bad the damage is (or how wet it really is) without really being able to see it. When I pulled that top piece of glass off I was completely shocked at the nasty mess undernieth. Also don't forget to make sure you find the source of the water damage, stantion, cleat, etc. etc. or you will end up doing it again in a few years. If you decide to recor e let me know a! nd I wi ll e-mail you as much information on how I did my deck as I can plus I can guide you to a web-site I used for very usefull information. Kind regards, Mike Andrews C-27 #1801 Runaground Sue.Rudolph S. Behar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello C-27 people and other knowledgeable sorts. I am finally getting around to fixing my deck near the mast and near the bow. My no-contact moisture meter reads 16-17% in those areas (vs 6-7% elsewhere). My plan is first to cut 3/8ths inch deep holes of ca. 2 inch diameter in the underside of the wetter sections as dryout locations, and to run an Italian style oil-filled heater in the cabin to help the dryout. I'm planning on 6 or 8 holes, the ones in the cabin to be covered neatly with vent covers. Next I plan to drill many 3/32 holes down into the deck , tape the undersides, and run epoxy down the holes. I write this in the hopes that people who know about these things will comment, first, and to offer the use of my meter to people near my location and on this site. Rudy B. Phoenix, #2237 Pasadena, MD