Hello Henry, To address your questions: Did you cut out the bottom panel in one piece or in sections? If sections, how big? Did you use thickened epoxy or the straight stuff? How thick was the Coremat? Did you have to piece it in or were you able to use one or more large panels? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to get as much information as I can before I dig in. I cut out the bottom of the foredeck in one piece, A rather large triangle. I used a rotozip tool. I used the cut out section as a template to construct a large "patch" of Coremat to epoxy into the void of removed balsa. I used thickened epoxy (System Three brand). Using cut to size Coremat, I made a sandwich of layers gluing the sheets together until I achieved the right thickness of the patch. The nice thing about the Coremat material is it cannot hold water, unlike balsa. I then epoxied the patch into the ceiling using braces to hold it in place. Once that set, I filled the edges with thickened epoxy to seal it. The repair area was then painted, holes drilled, and deck hardware remounted with backing plates. I went to a 2 cleat system instead of a single cleat. I also added a cross brace of hardwood in the ceiling running from cleat to cleat amidship. The new cleats are on hardwood risers to clear the toerail. I have pictures somewhere. I'll look for them. We met in Havasu a few years ago. it would be great to get together here in the twin cities so we can discuss M-boats...... Later, Mr. Bones ____________________________________________________________ Wall Street Daily Peter Schiff: China Just Armed its Financial Missile http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5707aee2f11d2ee1402cst01vuc