• Welcome to this website/forum for people interested in the Morgan 38 Sailboat. Many of our members are 'owners' of Morgan 38s, but you don't need to be an owner to Register/Join.

Soft foredeck in need of repair.

Hunter Cambon

Hunter Cambon

Member
My 1969 Morgan 38' has a VERY soft foredeck. The previous owner assured me that it has been like that for many years. I've owned her for three years now and haven't had any issues, but I can't get proper insurance without fixing it. Plus, it just makes me nervous.

The job was quoted 10k - 12k to have the deck pulled up and relaid, but he also said I could simply bang around with a phenolic hammer, drill holes, and fill with 2-part epoxy. I'm going with option #2.
I have all different size drill bits, but I'm not confident on starting as I will be drilling holes all over my deck.

Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Does anyone have any "tricks of the trade" for a project like this. Does the epoxy spread out quickly? How big of holes should I drill?

Thanks.
 
See if you can borrow (or buy) a moisture meter to determine if there is water in the deck and how large the wet area is. As long as you own a boat it will be a useful tool!

A typical 60-70's boat has wood sandwiched between the fiberglass deck & cabin ceiling. The water migrates and delaminates the bond by rotting the wood. If its a large area and its wet, injecting epoxy may not work. If its dry inside you stand a much better chance of success.
The correct way to fix if (its wet inside) is to cut the top off, replace the wet core (plywood or balsa usually) and epoxy the top back together. Its a do-able DIY job but you have to be pretty fearless to start. And you need a plan on finish painting because your repair looks like Dr. Frankenstein did it. Needless to say you need to fix your deck leak if there is one. If its dry inside, epoxy (and maybe a filler) injected by syringe into an 1/8" to 3/16" hole might do it. Keep in mind you want the epoxy to travel through out the void. The hole locations need to facilitate that flow through the void.

Go to West Marine and grab a free West Systems (no relation) fiberglass repair booklet. Its a great DIY resource. They make epoxy, syringes and all the materials you'll need. The key in my mind is figuring out if its wet inside. Good luck!
 
Have you thought about going in from underneath? Windtraveler.net use to have a Brewer 44 which had a soft front deck and they removed the v-berth headliner and did the repair. Rolf Peterson also had the repair done from underneath on his side decks.
 
Delayed response: we had an electrical fire in the engine compartment. That took our attention for a bit, but getting all new wiring. The boat is happy, I'm happy, my bank account is not.

Thank you, Dave. I have all of my materials. I agree, you do have to be fearless to start. I can't bring myself to cut the whole front of the deck up, so I'm going with the drilling of holes hoping to make a noticeable difference. I'll check back as I complete the project.

NorthChannel, I investigated that approach, but it looks to be more work than coming in from above. Thanks though.
 
Hunter, I would fear that the core is wet and rotten. I don’t think the drilling and epoxy will work. That works only of the core has simply let go from the upper glass. I had my shipright cut some deck off (about 2 feet by 2 feet) and replace the core with new plywood. It was messy but fairly straight forward. I was going to repaint the nonskid anyway, so matching was not an issue. All that said though, you have to do what makes sense to you with the time, money,and tools you have. Good luck with the project.
 
If you can tent the nose of the boat You could cut a section of deck off . I use a porter cable vibrating cutter. The core must be dry, if its wet all the wet core needs to come out .
I know your about to be over whelmed . If you can dry the old core with a heater so be it . If its bad its faster to get rid of the wet wood and replace with plywood. If its not a flat surface maybe 2 inch squares of plywood epoxied in place like tile .Leave spaces between and epoxy thickened over the top and in the groves. Than put the top back on and epoxy in place. Repaint and its solid for many years. !
You can watch You tube videos on the whole deal . The best of luck to you and your boat !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top