I am doing some repairs on the deck / sole of my 1983 Sea Squirt 15.
Last spring I removed a large part of the sole to repair rotten balsa core. I cut out the top layer of fiberglass, replaced the damaged core with marine plywood, and glassed it in.
What I did not get to last spring was repairing the two cockpit drains. They are located on the port and starboard side and run under the deck in fiberglass channels to meet a drain in the center of the sole, which then drains to the bilge. The center drain works well.
So now I am re-pairing the drains / channels, which have not drained well due to years of dirt building up in them. Today i cut the strips of fiberglass sole above the channels out and cleaned them (see photo). Rather than glassing the intact strips back in, I was thinking of modifying so they dont keep getting clogged. See photos, before and after.
BEFORE: (Disregard random hole i drilled in foreground - that is fixed now)
NOW:
What I propose to do is buy some Dri-Dek tile squares:
https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...ome.0.59l4j60l2.2598&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I will cut these into 1 inch strips and line the channel with them. Then I can leave as is, or glass the intact original deck strips back over them. Since they are perforated and raised, they will allow water to flow.
Thoughts? Any ideas on how I could tackle this more effectively?
Thanks!
Last spring I removed a large part of the sole to repair rotten balsa core. I cut out the top layer of fiberglass, replaced the damaged core with marine plywood, and glassed it in.
What I did not get to last spring was repairing the two cockpit drains. They are located on the port and starboard side and run under the deck in fiberglass channels to meet a drain in the center of the sole, which then drains to the bilge. The center drain works well.
So now I am re-pairing the drains / channels, which have not drained well due to years of dirt building up in them. Today i cut the strips of fiberglass sole above the channels out and cleaned them (see photo). Rather than glassing the intact strips back in, I was thinking of modifying so they dont keep getting clogged. See photos, before and after.
BEFORE: (Disregard random hole i drilled in foreground - that is fixed now)
NOW:
What I propose to do is buy some Dri-Dek tile squares:
https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...ome.0.59l4j60l2.2598&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I will cut these into 1 inch strips and line the channel with them. Then I can leave as is, or glass the intact original deck strips back over them. Since they are perforated and raised, they will allow water to flow.
Thoughts? Any ideas on how I could tackle this more effectively?
Thanks!