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I masked off the surrounding area and coated the repair area with penetrating epoxy.
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To get epoxy putty into the thin core area around the hatch, I used a home made grout bag. I bought cake decorating tips (and the silicon frosting spreader shown in the prior picture) and loaded the baggy up with epoxy putty. If you get the putty too stiff, it will blow out the bag. Too thin and it will not stay in the slot. After filling an area, I used tape to keep the putty in place.
I used heat lamps under the raised part of the front deck. They were moved about every 15 minutes. The idea was to "pump" air in and out of the balsa core by cycling between warm (hot) and cold. This was also done for two months. My electricity bill was 4 times higher for these two months than it was for the same period last year. The material costs for the repair work was about $200. The increased heating bill was twice that. That is my yellow silicon "frosting" spatula in the upper right. Highly recommended because hardened epoxy can be removed by simply flexing it.
The area was covered with a thin layer of epoxy and wood dust, the balsa set in place and covered with masonite pieces and weighted down to cure. Not shown is that I jacked this side of the boat up off of the trailer bunk (which runs right under the repair area). I didn't want the weight of the boat to possibly deform the hull while I did the repair.
I masked off the surrounding area and coated the repair area with penetrating epoxy.
I could use heat to move core moisture around, but it looked like it was basically dried out the same as any lumber in my shop, so I cut the replacement piece for a trial fit. The outlying holes have been filled, as have the old pop rivet holes. Those will be drilled to accept stainless steel screws to hold the seat box.
The deck has now been opened for two months in a heated garage with a heating mat placed on the deck and heat lamps underneath. Here, I covered the opening in the deck with plastic with a psychrometer (air moisture meter) enclosed. Relative humidity in the garage was now down to 50%. After 24 hours applying heat to the surrounding area, it only got to 60% RH inside of the plastic.
So, in addition to eliminating the deck penetrations, I'm hoping to clean up this mess. You can just barely see the fuel filter screwed to the deck between the gas cans, which are screwed to the deck inside of the battery trays, which are also screwed to the deck. All screws go into the balsa core.
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I masked off the surrounding area and coated the repair area with penetrating epoxy.

I masked off the surrounding area and coated the repair area with penetrating epoxy.
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Balsa Core Issues
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On the original setup, the fuel filter was between the tanks and screwed to the deck. It's now hung temporarily from an outboard bolt (above the bilge pump) and exploratory holes have been drilled to find out the condition of the balsa core where it has been breached to install hold-downs for the various gear.
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Marco Flamingo
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