In '77 was the core material plywood or balsa (or other)?

[John W. Connors]

1977 Cape Dory 25
Although there is no softness (yet) from a good size gash in the gelcoat of my cockpit flooring, the moisture meter pegged itself out. I'd like to just inject a marine product in the bad areas and not cut the gel-coat out and replace the core. Any sugesstions. Thanks
JWC
"Penny Whistle"
Orange Beach, AL



taywest@gulftel.com

[Duncan Maio]

John:

The core in my 1977 CD27 (hull #37) is balsa, at least on the foredeck (where the core is still exposed around the hawsepipe). If there is no rot and you can get the core dried out properly, the repair you suggest should work.

Duncan Maio
s/v Remedy



dmaio@meganet.net

[Russell]

I hope Cape Dory, every place the deck is pierced, either (a) did not core, or (b) debraded the core and sealed it. If you have exposed core, you need to fix that.

[Duncan Maio]

The surveyor recommended it when we bought her, and I have the epoxy on the boat (for two years now), but the core stays dry and is still solid, so it's been a low priority. It is definitely on the list for this spring.

-Duncan



dmaio@meganet.net

[Matt Cawthorne]

Russel,
There are a number of places on Cape Dory boats where the deck was pierced and the only sealing was to bed the fitting with silicone or polysulfide. That works as long as you rebed the fittings often enough. The areas that I am aware of are the fuel and water fills in the cockpit of the 36 as well as the lazerette vents and the emergency tiller access plate. This is a common, yet regrettable practice among many boat builders. I recommend spoiling away the core around these fittings far enough back to get behind the attachment screws. Dry out the core over a period of time and fill with an epoxy and microballoon mix. You can then re-drill the holes and bed the fitting back down with polysulfide. It is a time consuming process, but saves lots of work down the road.

Matt

I hope Cape Dory, every place the deck is pierced, either (a) did not core, or (b) debraded the core and sealed it. If you have exposed core, you need to fix that.

mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Bill Goldsmith]

Open you cockpit locker seats and see if there is exposed core in the opening where the recessed handle is attached. Mine has exposed core there also. Not as critical a location, but probably worth sealing. I, too, plan to seal the hawsepipe exposed core this year.

Just a note: Someone did the epoxy job around the waste pumpout fitting--that's the only place where there is a significant deck crack (that I plan to repair). Could the epoxy actually *cause* such a crack due to different expansion rates, etc?

Bill Goldsmith

I hope Cape Dory, every place the deck is pierced, either (a) did not core, or (b) debraded the core and sealed it. If you have exposed core, you need to fix that.

goldy@bestweb.net

[Russell]

Usually, attachment pieces like lazarette covers, companionway hatches, etc. are laid up separately from the hull, as solid glass with no core. I'll have to look next time I'm on the boat, but I doubt my lazarette covers HAVE coring.

[BIll Goldsmith]

Usually, attachment pieces like lazarette covers, companionway hatches, etc. are laid up separately from the hull, as solid glass with no core. I'll have to look next time I'm on the boat, but I doubt my lazarette covers HAVE coring.

goldy@bestweb.net

[Walt Bilofsky]

Yes, I can confirm that. I finally finished replacing the plastic mushroom through-hulls with bronze ones on my CD 30 flybridge. These are just a couple of inches above the at-rest waterline, yet the hull is balsa cored and there is no epoxy on the holes for the fittings - just caulking.

- Walt

Russel,
There are a number of places on Cape Dory boats where the deck was pierced and the only sealing was to bed the fitting with silicone or polysulfide. That works as long as you rebed the fittings often enough. The areas that I am aware of are the fuel and water fills in the cockpit of the 36 as well as the lazerette vents and the emergency tiller access plate. This is a common, yet regrettable practice among many boat builders. I recommend spoiling away the core around these fittings far enough back to get behind the attachment screws. Dry out the core over a period of time and fill with an epoxy and microballoon mix. You can then re-drill the holes and bed the fitting back down with polysulfide. It is a time consuming process, but saves lots of work down the road.

Matt

I hope Cape Dory, every place the deck is pierced, either (a) did not core, or (b) debraded the core and sealed it. If you have exposed core, you need to fix that.

bilofsky@toolworks.com

[Dave]

I am finding the Cape Dory balsa core discussion hitting close to home. Just this week the near total reconstruction of the cockpit sole of my CD270 has been completed. Survey via a moisture meter showed dampness. "Surgery" revealed that moisture had penetrated about 2/3 of the balsa in the cockpit sole via fresh water infiltration around the rudder post which wicked horizontally through the core. [Echoing other comments here, my mechanic also commented that there should have been a solid fiberglass construction of the deck around that spot(no balsa core)to prevent the problem. There is now!] The top fiberglass layer of the cockpit sole was cut out and all of the balsa removed until we found sound material. The damaged core we found was alternately wet mush or "balsa-ice" depending on the day's temperature. Favorably noted, the mechanic suggested that "he could have held a dance on the remaining single bottom layer of fiberglass of the cockpit sole, the boat is so over-built." That's one reason why in my case also, the area didn't seem soft, yet was obviously seriously deteriorated. New balsa core has been installed, bedded in whatever they use, and a new top fiberglass layer built and gel-coated.

It was a major job, and as these things go, cost twice what I had hoped. Guess I'll have to plan that dance in the cockpit.

As in many Cape Dory tiller-steered boats, there is a teak donut around the rudder post. There was plenty of opportunity for fresh water to get in around and under that.



dkilbri@optonline.net

[Russell]

Surely, I hope, the core was voided where the hatches fit? And the ports? Is there coring in the vertical cabin trunk sides? (Many builders leave the sides uncored.

There are also several padeyes and winches on the cabin roof. Now y'all are starting to worry me ..

[Matt]

I have never had a hatch out, but have re-sealed the ports. The ports are installed with some sort of non-removable compound that seems to resemble cement. I think that the cabin trunk sides are solid. The screws that hold in the trim rings seemed to go into solid fiberglass, but it might have just been a thick outer layer.

Near it's edges the decks are solid so the deck water fills, "chain plates", stanchions, and locker and lazerette lid mounting hardware go through solid glass. No worries there.

Matt

Surely, I hope, the core was voided where the hatches fit? And the ports? Is there coring in the vertical cabin trunk sides? (Many builders leave the sides uncored.

There are also several padeyes and winches on the cabin roof. Now y'all are starting to worry me ..

mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Mike Thompson]

I have a CD-28. The surveyor detected water around the tiller
teak base. I removed it and found a hideous mess of shoddy
work hidden underneath. I removed all the rotted core (luckily
it only extended a couple of inches and put in epoxy/filler
instead.
Worth looking at ... could save a lot of work later on,
Mike

I hope Cape Dory, every place the deck is pierced, either (a) did not core, or (b) debraded the core and sealed it. If you have exposed core, you need to fix that.

tmike@ma.ultranet.com