270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

[badcarma58]

Discovered a soft spot on the fore deck near my starboard running light and 2 of my bow rail connections to the hull.

Walking on the area, you can feel it's softer than the port side. Also, there is some spider webbing in the fiberglass non skid area.

What can I do to determine how bad it is?

Does anyone know what kind of wood lies below the surface of the fiberglass?

What can I do to fix it, without spending thousands of $$$?

A friend suggested drilling holes into the areas and pouring Git Rot into the holes.

1987 270 Sundancer with twin 4.3 ltr Mercs.

 

[Big Island Lifer]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

Sea ray didn't always do a great job of sealing around lights, rails, and other deck intrusions. Underneath your deck is probably some type of 1/2" ply. It may be easiest to attack this from underneath keeping your deck skin intact. Pulling the screws off and checking for moisture would be my first step. Removing all affected rot would be second. A lot of sea ray owners have had issues with leaking around hatches and stanchions. It's always a good idea to check the seals and remove/ recaulk around anything that is screwed into the deck of an older boat.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

What can I do to fix it, without spending thousands of $$$?

Unfortunately .. Nothing can be done to fix it without spending thousands of $$$ ..

And Im sure your not going to get a buyer for that unless its been served..

You probably have end grain Balsa under your foredeck nonskid ..

You also probably dont have easy access to the underside because of head liners/bulkheads etc ...

Did you have it served yet ? .. what was the meter readings ( Im sure they pegged if you did ) ..

I know I dont normally jump the gun here..but I think your into a recore from the top .. and that means your cutting out Fiberglass ..recore..reglass..re-nonskid..finishing the finish lines ( probably going to have to make a finished line of the skid panel and then reproduce that finished line on the other side to match ) ..

Its Alot of work ...

No need to post pics on this one ... unless you like to ..

YD.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

Unfortunately .. Nothing can be done to fix it without spending thousands of $$$ ..

And Im sure your not going to get a buyer for that unless its been served..

You probably have end grain Balsa under your foredeck nonskid ..

You also probably dont have easy access to the underside because of head liners/bulkheads etc ...

Did you have it served yet ? .. what was the meter readings ( Im sure they pegged if you did ) ..

I know I dont normally jump the gun here..but I think your into a recore from the top .. and that means your cutting out Fiberglass ..recore..reglass..re-nonskid..finishing the finish lines ( probably going to have to make a finished line of the skid panel and then reproduce that finished line on the other side to match ) ..

Its Alot of work ...

No need to post pics on this one ... unless you like to ..

YD.

Yd is 100% right. No easy fix.

 

[badcarma58]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

Thanks for the input.

I went to play around with it today. While stepping in certain areas, a buddy watched the deck for movement. He could see the fiberglass give a little bit on the stbd side. The port wasn't doing it at all.

My dad suggested cutting some headliner away in the cabin, drilling a couple small holes, and check for moisture. For a start...

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

I can almost 100% tell you that you have moisture.

I can for sure 100% tell you that you have rotted out EG balsa core in your deck that has to be replaced. ( I dont think they used plywood on there decks for weight design )

Why cut away head liner ?? drill 1 hole in the deck..on the inside edge of your soft spot is Then step on it see what happens. Just a small 1/8 hole just through the glass..

Or Have it moisture metered ( best bet to show you the location of the damaged core for future repair location which you will have to do eventually if your going to repair this yourself).

And I may have been a little off on the "spending thousands". I doubt it would cap a thousand..

Keep us informed as we are gladly willing to help .

YD.

 

[badcarma58]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

If I drill a small hole on the inside edge of the spot, and then step on it, what should I expect? Would fluid come out of the hole if moisture in underneath?

How much depth should I go down? How thick is the top layer of deck? I don't want to drill too far, is why I'm asking.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 270 Sundancer Deck soft spot

About 1/4" deep is as deep as you need to go. If it's wet you should expect to see moisture when you step around on it.