[C320-list] Voids under the deck

[Allan Field]

Jerry - I have a rather large area - maybe 2 inches wide by 8 inches long -
of void on the transom.  I dug out the cracked fiberglass with a
screwdriver, cleaned the mat with acetone, and filled the void with
MarineTex after taping around the hole.  I am still sanding down the
MarineTex.  It is not a perfect match and will always be apparent to close
observation but it was cheap and fast.  I am not sure whether or not I
eventually will try to then spray gelcoat over the MarineTex.  

I also have a void on the non-skid, port side, almost under the cat bird
seat.  The cracking is just starting and at some point, I will dig that out
with the trusty screwdriver and resort to MarineTex again.  

As disappointed as I am about this lack of quality control, I have to keep
remembering that it is a production boat and the problems are not going to
sink the thing.

Allan S. Field
Sea Shadow - #808
Columbia, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Brown
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 6:41 AM
To: C320-List
Subject: [C320-list] Voids under the deck

Help Please

Our 5 year year old 320 has bubbling and cracking of the anti skid, 
particulaly at the the port side near the stern.  The gel coat is also 
coming away in places where the deck rolls up to form the side rail.  The 
dealer is attrubuting the cause to "voids" from when the glass was rolled at

construction.  When the boat was delivered there was clearly a repair to the

antiskid in that area done at the factory where a triangular piece of anti 
skid had been let into the deck.  The lifting of the anti skid only became 
clear in the last few weeks but tapping with a hammer shows the affected 
area is quite large.  There are other smaller ares elsewhere on the deck. 
The dealer is proposing to drill small holes and "inject" resin, possibly 
preceded by acetone to "dry out any damp".  A professional fibreglasser 
specialising in boat repair has recommended that the only solution is to cut

out the affaected ares and apply syandard repair techniques which will be 
very obvious as the diamond pattern will be lost.

I would welcome comments on either repair method as the situation cannot be 
left unattended, especially as winter is coming with risk of freezing damage

if the water has really got in.  I have not yet been able to check with a 
damp meter

Thanks

Jerry Brown
Indigo
925#
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