My C26 cabin sole repair

[John Stahl]

Here is a photo log of the repair we are doing on the cabin sole.

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j37 ... %20repair/

[EmergencyExit]

John those pics look soooo familiar..

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep= ... 280782&ck=

[Alanhod]

Looking good John, keep up the good work. Lovin the photos.

Thanks
Alan

[sauerleigh]

I made a simple fiberglass channel to span the hull at the base of the ladder.

The brace is 12 layers of 8oz. cloth, laid over a 2X4, covered with plastic wrap as form. I bonded a piece of 1/4"X1" aluminum to the inside to give the ladder mounting screws something to bite into. The brace in bonded to the hull with 6 layers of cloth.
My new floor over this area will be removable, with a drain area of some sort.

[Windward]

@sauerleigh, looks like you're doing some really nice work there. She should be exceptionally solid once you're done.

[John Stahl]

It is good to see others were worried about supporting the ladder too.
My fix is easer but still the same idea.

I also noticed that the plywood we cut out had no coating to prevent rot. So I am going to glass the bottom of the new sole.

[EmergencyExit]

I also noticed that the plywood we cut out had no coating to prevent rot. So I am going to glass the bottom of the new sole.

Good idea, I did the same after noticing that if you can see any water at all in the little pocket under the stern berth, then you have water at or close to the bottom of that sole there.

[Windward]

John, I may have missed this in a previous thread, but do you know how the water's getting into the bilge? On my C26, the ONLY time I have had ANY water in the bilge since 2003 (when I rebuilt my swing keel trunk, a bunch of other interior things, and learned about osmotic blistering) is when the fitting on my 26 gallon flexible water tank leaked.

If yours is a swing keel 26, you ought to inspect the aft end of the swing keel trunk closely for damage. If the swing keel cable breaks, the swing keel can slam into the back of the trunk hard enough to crack it. The back of the trunk is a sandwich aluminum between glass on cabin side and keel side.



Often it's not obvious from the cabin interior that the keel trunk is cracked because the inner glass remains intact, so you may need to look up into the keel slot.



My rebuild



has so far successfully withstood several keel slams from submerged objects like logs and dock cables. I don't seem to have a pic of it, but I encased the aluminum shield in another lamination of cloth.

That may not be your problem, of course, but unless you have an inboard, there's really no reason you should have any water in the bilge, and replacing the sole won't solve that part of the problem. And you may already be on top of that.

[John Stahl]

we are making more progress on the sole repair

check out the sole repair album

http://s1082.photobucket.com/home/fivemoremiles/index