Ty: fixing small soft spots?

[wingreen]

I'm wondering if any of you can make a recommendation for fixing small soft spots? Here's what I'm doing...

I'm re-bedding the deck hardware on my Ty, and I discovered what appears to be a small void on the aft deck centered around the mainsheet blocks. I'd like to inject something into the void that will expand to fill the void, harden, and seal the deck. I don't want to drill hundreds of holes in the deck to accomplish this, if possible - I'd like to inject it through the holes already drilled for the blocks. Of course, I have a plan for drying things out first (see next).

For the rest of the hardware, I have removed it, taped over the holes on the outside, and will be running a dehumidifier on the inside to dry things out for a few days, or a week or so. After that, I'm wondering if there is a sealant that can be injected into the holes to seal the wood core?

Any suggestions for either situation? Thanks for your help.

[Dick Villamil]

I had exactly the same "soft spots" on my Ty when I first bought her. Turned out that the caulking from the factory didn't completely fill the area under the mainsheet block and the balsa core became saturated with water seeping through the bolt holes. I did the many holes trick and dried it out then filled with epoxy then sanded smooth and painted. Unfortunately I since found out that there is a better way - remove the lower skin, dry out or remove the balsa then reglass new balsa into the deck and reglass it in. The water in the balsa causes the two layers of fiberglass to delaminate from the balsa - reducing the strength of the deck. Since it is where the mainsheet attaches you should either fix it right or have it fixed before the wetness progresses further into the aft deck. (imho)

[wingreen]

drilling holes from the inside, then injecting epoxy from underneath the deck? Do you think that would work?

[Gary H]

Take a look at this link - scroll down to "Method 2: Treating Core Without Removing Fiberglass Skin."
http://www.rotdoctor.com/glass/GLrotrepair.html
I am in the process of trying this under the cleat of the side deck on my Ty, which seems to have not been bedded adequately.
Last year I worked on my aft-deck and decided to remove the top skin completely and replace the core. I was pleased with the result.

[wingreen]

Thanks for the link. They have some pretty unique-looking stuff. I'm thinking now that I can pour in some of their CPES solution in the existing screw holes to treat and then follow w/ some L&L epoxy, and that should do the trick. The area is small, about 1 sq. foot, so anything I squirt in there should fill the entire area pretty thoroughly.