Found water in the balsa cored deck of my typhoon

[JB]

I was installing an access port to the lazarette of my Typhoon so that I could tighten up and possibly repair the engine bracket. The bronze bolts for the bracket would not budge, even after spraying an antiseize compound on the bolts. I did find a backer plate under the bracket which made me feel a little more reassured that the engine would not fall off. But then, I went for a ride on Lake St. Clair and as I increased the rpm on my 4 hp. Yamaha longshaft, I noticed that the fiberglass deck about 5"-6" around the engine bracket was flexing upwards slightly. It makes me worry that the deck is just going to get ripped off one day. When I cut the hole for the access hatch I scraped away the balsa core about 1/4 inch so that I could fill in with epoxy to prevent water absorption. When I was scraping away the wood, I found some water soaked balsa core in the deck. Is this why the deck is flexing when I rev up the outboard? Or is this possibly normal?
What should I do?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks



Bonahooms@excite.com

[Bill Goldsmith]

JB:

Your deck needs to be repaired. The reason it is flexing is the lack of a bond between the two layers of fiberglass and the balsa core. When manufactured, the core provides lightweight structural strength, but only if it stays dry. When wet, the bond breaks down and the deck will flex. The two skins no longer work together. The wet core needs to be replaced with something dry, either filler, plywood, etc. You need to determine the extent of the wetness--that will govern the extent of the repair.

My first recommendation for you to better understand the situation is to acquire the Gougeon Brothers pamphlet on maintaining and repairing fiberglass boats. They are the makers of West System epoxy products and their techniques are widely used. They have a number of different methods recommended for analyzing the extent of the wetness and then repairing it. There are many other books out there as well, but the Gougeon Bros. pamphlets really boil it down to a step by step process. If the wetness is limited in scope, you may be able to make a small repair by drilling a number of holes through the outer skin and excavating the wet core, then replacing with injected epoxy filler and painting or gelcoating over it. Or it may require carefully cutting away a larger portion of the upper skin, removing the wet balsa and relacing with new balsa, plywood, or epoxy filler.

Depending on your level of interest, ability and free time, you might tackle the repair yourself, or you might wish to hire a good fiberglass repair person to do it.

Good Luck,

Bill

I was installing an access port to the lazarette of my Typhoon so that I could tighten up and possibly repair the engine bracket. The bronze bolts for the bracket would not budge, even after spraying an antiseize compound on the bolts. I did find a backer plate under the bracket which made me feel a little more reassured that the engine would not fall off. But then, I went for a ride on Lake St. Clair and as I increased the rpm on my 4 hp. Yamaha longshaft, I noticed that the fiberglass deck about 5"-6" around the engine bracket was flexing upwards slightly. It makes me worry that the deck is just going to get ripped off one day. When I cut the hole for the access hatch I scraped away the balsa core about 1/4 inch so that I could fill in with epoxy to prevent water absorption. When I was scraping away the wood, I found some water soaked balsa core in the deck. Is this why the deck is flexing when I rev up the outboard? Or is this possibly normal?
What should I do?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

goldy@bestweb.net

[JasonKrajewski]

Jay,

I've been watching your postings & notice you need a bunch of stuff. I'm selling a Ty which I think I sent you pictures of. It has a new main sail, a good set of spars, working bronze winches, and most everything else. Maybe you might want it for parts? I was asking around $1800 for the whole boat.

-Jason.

I was installing an access port to the lazarette of my Typhoon so that I could tighten up and possibly repair the engine bracket. The bronze bolts for the bracket would not budge, even after spraying an antiseize compound on the bolts. I did find a backer plate under the bracket which made me feel a little more reassured that the engine would not fall off. But then, I went for a ride on Lake St. Clair and as I increased the rpm on my 4 hp. Yamaha longshaft, I noticed that the fiberglass deck about 5"-6" around the engine bracket was flexing upwards slightly. It makes me worry that the deck is just going to get ripped off one day. When I cut the hole for the access hatch I scraped away the balsa core about 1/4 inch so that I could fill in with epoxy to prevent water absorption. When I was scraping away the wood, I found some water soaked balsa core in the deck. Is this why the deck is flexing when I rev up the outboard? Or is this possibly normal?
What should I do?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

JasonKrajewski@Hotmail.com

[Hobby Marine, Inc.]

JB:

You can sound the deck area with a plastic faced hammer. Tap the deck with the hammer lightly (it takes some practice) and the good deck area will ring and the hammer will bounce. The area where the core is bad will give a thud and the hammer bounce wil be different.

This will give you an idea of the area that needs to be repaired without drilling holes or being on a witch hunt. Mark the areas of the deck with a pencil and you will have an idea of the area to be removed. This will also give you an idea of the most likely place that the water entered the deck.

When replacing a bad bulsa core, we never use plywood. We go back with bulsa. This makes for a much better repair. Good luck.

Glen Snader



glen@hobbymarine.com