Oh yeah! Repairing core rot rates right up there with stripping bottom paint on the fun scale. Besides the foredeck, I had rot behind the chainplates and under the teak guides for the sliding hatch. The rot in the cabin top I was able to dry out and repair with penetrating epoxy. Behind the chainplates I drilled large enough holes to dig out the rot and filled it in with epoxy putty, but the foredeck was just mush, like Bones'. I hired a "professional" who was such a hack he nearly ruined my boat. I had to hire someone else to redo the work the first guy botched, and even after that I found hollow spots that I had a heck of a time filling with epoxy until all the various leaks were plugged up. But, hey, Monty's are worth it! A restored classy old M boat is a beautiful sight. Larry On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 03:22:22 GMT "bownez@juno.com" <bownez@juno.com> writes:

Listers,

Having made the decision and taken the time to cut out and rebuild my M17 foredeck from the INSIDE, let me tell you, it is one royal pain and not a job to be taken lightly. My deck was very bad. Soft, spongy, leaking from the inside, and saturated. The moisture actually spreads through the balsa core. Granted, it would have been a much easier job to cut the top layer of deck and have gravity work for me, but I didn't want to repaint the entire top deck. Time will tell on how my repairs hold up. I believe Larry Yake had a similar fun experience.

Here's one BIG fact I learned during the re-build, buy and wear a respirator!

Later,

Bones

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