Wet Balsa Core

[Cliff Ruckstuhl]

I know this is not a design question. I had been looking to buy a Peterson 34 and had found one but decided against it. The price of sail's and the price of a bigger boat made me shy away from it. Plus I have vision's of doing KWRW sometime in the future. So I found a J 29 made and offer and have had it accepted. REAL CHEAP boat has some wet balsa core in a few spots on the hull and I am sure also in the deck. But I am getting the boat very cheap one spot is on the port side mid ship about 10 inches wide by 4 feet long about a 6 inches below the toe rail. This is what the moisture meter says. Boat was in salt water but has since moved to fresh water and in this spot it split the gel coat on the out side when it froze. Just a hair line crack. The other spot is starboard side aft of the keel right about where the aft bunk is egg shaped about 18 inches egg shaped round. I did not go over the deck with the meter but I would guess around the winches and a few other spots. But when I walked on the deck with out my shoes on useing my heels I did not find any soft or sponge spot's. But I am sure ther is some wet ther I would think on a 21 year old J boat ther would have to be.

I have done allot of research on this and repairing the wet core seems straight forward enough. Since it is a J 29 ther is really nothing down below so getting to all the core from the inside should be very easy. I have done some repair work with the West Sytem and am used to working with my hands (Plumber) so I am not afraid to tackle this project. I have access to inside storage with power for as long as I need and would just remove everything from the boat and fix what needs fixing and rebuild the boat and repaint the boat inside and the deck and hull.

Am I nuts for such a project?

Cliff

[Tim B]

As with all old boats it'll take longer than you think. Replacing small bits of core by cleaning it out and sqeezing in epoxy is fine, but for the large areas you're considering, you'll end up with hard-points over the hull, and that's not good. Personally, I think I'd pay the extra money and get a boat that's in a better condition. It depends how you value you're time. I'm sure that if you spend the time it will be a very nice boat, it's just a question of how much time to spend.

Not trying to discourage you, I've just been in the same sort of position before (and decided to go for it),

Tim B.

ps. the other thing to ask is is it a polyester or epoxy layup, and is there sufficient room around the wet-spots to cut out and re-core the hull, then layup the internal skin over it... (that is a LOT of work, but done carefully gives a perfect repair)

[Cliff Ruckstuhl]

Tim B,

Thanks for the reply, I am well aware of the time commitment. I have given this allot of thought and with the J 29 I could buy a boat needing less work but with the balsa core all of them are going to get wet at some point. With this one when I am done I know what I will have and the boat should be good for quite some time.

I plan to use the West System and will be repairing all the core from the inside. Not needing to match any of the non skid on the deck will save more time. Living in Ohio and having access to inside storage I will be tarping the boat and during the winter and can stick a heater inside to warm thing's up. I plan to remove all the deck gear and Wext System all the holes and re bed.

I will start opening up some of the known wet spots soon and wonder if I then set a dehumiderafier inside if it will help dry things out? Do you know if this will help?

Clliff