CDMKII deck construction?

[Wanderlust]

Ive owned my CD for 18 months and it came with A LOT of deck cracks. The surveyor with his moisture meter said there didnt appear to be any problems, the conclusion, this was another CD gelcoat issue. Looked bad but not harmful so it wasnt a bargain boat.
Last week Im onboard and crank up the Force 10 which has a chimney exit through the cabin roof (between port handrail and sliding hatch cover) and I notice when things are very warm in that roof region, a couple very small brown drips escaping from a previous unnoticed hairline crack OH OH. Is this the dreaded balsa rot juice Im thinking. Now Im concerned.
Ive researched this issue here and at other online forums and I think I know the investigative drill and how to fix it if need be (shoot myself). But unfortuanely my boat is in WA and Im in AK so all I can do now is worry and plan my attack.
Now finally the question. Does anyone know if the finished fiberglass headliner is indeed the the lower layer of the deck. That is, is the deck core bonded to the backside of what I see from inside. (there are teak battens running athwarthships every 4 foot or so). And does anyone know what the core material in my boat is? Ply or balsa or no core (unlikely) Any other CDMKII 30 experiences with this issue would be welcome.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Wanderlust,

I can only speculate based on how my CD32 is built. The deck is balsa-cored which is sandwiched between fiberglass. The liner is separate from the deck but it is epoxied to the deck in key areas.

When I cut out the whole for the Nicro day/night vent that I installed in Realization's deck, I wound up with two pieces --a round piece of deck sandwich and a round piece of headliner. In that area the space between the deck and the headliner was about 1/4", maybe larger.

Hope this helps,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Wanderlust]

Thanks Cathy, I guess Id rather have water between the headliner and the deck than in the core of the deck. Maybe Ill luck out and have it in both places.

[Andy Denmark]

I did a hatch removal and powder coating of both the overhead hatches on Wanderlust for the P.O. a few years ago. Best I recall, the construction was "standard" Cape Dory, i.e., deck was a sandwich of FRP skins with balsa core between while the inner liner was a separate single thickness (uncored) layup.

There did seem to be a lot of cosmetic spiderweb cracks in Wanderlust's deck structure at the usual places but none seemed to have infiltrated to the inner core that I could see then.

FWIW, the "brown" oozing stuff from balsa core looks much like a thinned version of the filling for chocolate pie -- don't know what you're seeing. That stuff occurs mostly below the WL and in much older boats. If a cored structure exhibits these sorts of symptoms there are almost always other noticeable signs of structural failure on the surface. A moisture meter will usually tell the story for certain.

Hope this helps.
________
Bmw 8 series

[Wanderlust]

Thanks Andy, FYI those hatches are still tight as a drum, good job.