Cockpit Sole Question

C

cjmcfall

New Member
Hi all,

I recently purchased an 82 Laser II from a member here. Overall the boat is in very good condition, but it does have a few soft spots on the cockpit floor. I have read a bunch of posts on how to fix this using epoxy filler injected into a grid-work of holes. Before I start drilling into the floor I would like to hear from people who have experience doing this in the cockpit. Will it work?? I hate the thought of drilling holes in boats so any helpful hints or words of encouragements are appreciated. Thanks!
 
It does work! The most important point is to drill the holes then let the boat dry out for awhile. I've seen this repair done when the cockpit fiberglass and supporting fiberglass underneath was wet and it didn't work!! Also don't stick a hairdryer in there to dry it some professionals or seasoned boat repair people do this but it can be very dangerous as it is extremely easy to pressurize the hull and create more leaks!!!!


I posted about West Systems epoxy and for this repair I would recommend their products highly!

Good luck!
 
I pretty much filled the core of my cockpit floor with WEST epoxy and 410 Microlight(TM): http://www.laserforum.org/showpost.php?p=2996&postcount=4.

That was in 2003 and it's holding together very nicely.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this approach for a large repair like mine since it is heavier than bonding a piece of foam, but it's certainly a viable solution for smaller areas. The key is mixing in as much Microlight into the epoxy as possible (and still be able to push it out the syringe). I was amazed how much I could mix in and still force it through.

I forget the diameter of hole that fits the standard taper on a syringe. You'll want to check that because you really need to have a "force fit" so you can force the epoxy into the deck cavity.

One difficult aspect is keeping the epoxy from squirting out the holes you've already filled. I ended up leaving the syringe in each hole to plug it up. I had a large area to fill, so after the first couple of sessions I had a collection of syringes filled with hardened epoxy that I could use as plugs. That way I ended up using one syringe for injecting a large number of holes, plugging them as I went.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Geoff S.
 
Thanks for the replies! I was thinking of drying the boat by opening the inspection ports which are located in the front wall of the cockpit, opening the drain plug, and blowing air through using a fairly strong fan. I used this technique to dry some water that was sitting in the boat. I let the fan blow for a day and the water was dry at the end. I put the boat as flat as I could as to increase the surface area of the water to increase the speed of evaporation.

Geoffs, what did you mean by bonding a piece of foam? I have a pretty big area which I was going to tackle in stages, but if there an alternative I may consider it.

Also, I found a small soft spot on the bottom of the hull, where it sits on the trailer. Should I use the same technique as the cockpit sole?

Thanks!
 
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