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I thought that I would update things as I look out at the snow and my Commander snug in her bed, err...cover.  Life and weather got the best of me but (if you believe that weather is not punishment for past deeds) and then I am not paying the price for past deeds. Rather the Scientific types say that we are in the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation and thus subject to "winter" conditions more often and for longer periods.

I think the idea of making a pad from some old canvas to try to preserve the ceiling curve makes sense.  The ceiling is now down to the top of the pad.  I did not want to distort the cabin top too long.  And I have cleaned out the balsa for the most part.  Because, I am guessing here, that the balsa is made up from 2" pieces of end grain balsa, there are areas in the roof where the balsa seems to be fine.  My hope is that by packing filled epoxy in aLL the areas I have cleaned out, that the good areas will stay sealed and in good shape.  

Soon, I hope, I will be able to remove the cover and continue the patch job.  I have most of the materials on hand so with the return of good weather I will be able to proceed.  SPRING IS COMING!

It stopped raining long enough... The compression post is hanging loosely with a slight gap above the wedge.. The answer is beg,borrow or purchase 2 or so bottle jacks. So now to West Marine.  They aren't inexpensive but they have what I need.  Rain, Rain, go away

ebb et al;

Well, my experiment with wedges was interesting but not enough.  Once I got them really loaded, they tended to kick/slide out rather than increase the load. As I think I mentioned, I have the deck opening pretty well cleaned out.  The deck has been raised a bit but I still it to go about 1/4" or a smidgein more to have the compression post clear.  On the starboard side of the opening, the compression post has punched out a semi-circle and this now intrudes into the open deck space.  We have had about 2 days of rain so not much progress.  I have purchased 2 bottle jacks and if the wet stuff subsides a bit this afternoon, I will continue my efforts to raise the roof (smile...sort of).

So now I have an hole in the deck that at least in a few areas goes straight through.  I have been thinking of how to fix this.  Current thought is to lay down 2 layers of cloth and bring the edges up the side and over the tapered deck for at least 3 inches.  That will be a pan that contains everything else.  Then fill the pan with mat up to just below the deck and use glass cloth to cover and fair the entire area including the edge tapers.

Thoughts are welcome

ebb,

Wow...Thanks for your observations.  What do I know....let me count the ways.  It looks like the cabin roof is a layer of light cloth.  But it's hard to tell.  I do have a boo-boo where I pushed a bit agressively and now have a short puncture in the cabin liner.  i also have the area where the post wedge has broken though the cabin roof layer. My thouught there was to lay down a small piece of glass cloth to close the hole, and then fill it with some filler, West System Cobisil is what I have on hand, after I make up the new deck.  

The laminate that popped up where the compression post wedge punctured the cabin roof is no more than 1/16" and probably lighter than that.  I did'nt mike it and probably won't.  I will lay down some more glass ccoth there as well to close the cabin roof inside.  I am not sure how much the mat will compress after wetting it out.  I have never worked with mat.  When I filled the hole where my mechanical speedlog resided, I just used glass cloth.  So worst case, I have to put in 2 layers of mat and then glass to bring the open space to the bottom of the top deck.  I plan on grinding, (borrowed a friend's 5 in grinder) about 2 ins. out on the deck and taper glass cloth across the the wound.

Oh yes, the surrounding deck.  I will use something to gouge, pick, pry out the rotten balsa on the edges of the opening, and use filled epoxy to fill it in there. If I have lost the deck curvature, I will lay on a light coat of epoxy and filler and then grind it back.  Finish with a layer of gelcoat outside of the circle that the mast steps sits on and it is all done.  Thanks for the tip on mylar.  I had planned on using saran wrap. That is the plan, anyway.  

I had hoped for some sailing but this job keeps growing.

ebb et al;

Well, the area underneath the step is open and fairly clean.  The bad news is that the compression post pad has already fractured the ceiling.  I will have to lift the ceiling and then repair the entire area.  So......I am going off to Home Depot and hope I can find a small piece  (1/4 sheet?) of 1/4" plywood that I can cut in semi-circles to use as initial support.  I have some 2x4 that I will cut to use as braces for the plywood support.  Then I will attempt to knock the wedge out.  I am short on time the next few days and I am open to suggestions.  My thought is to drop the compression post, annd put a piece of 1/4" plywood up as a form for the first layer.  What can I use as a release to coat the plywood form?  then a second layer of glass fabric, followed by fiberglass mat and then enough fabric to restore the deck.  Any other thought as to what the glass schedule should be to rebuild that area?

Repairs have gotten more complicated.  You can see pictures in the Mast Step discussion.  I now have an open area of about 8" x 8" underneath the mast step.  The compression post/wedge has already broken through the cabin ceiling.  I am faced with raising the roof (really) and then rebuilding the entire structure. Also I did slip and there is a 1" puncture in the cabin ceiling.  Fortunately, I am using a 1/4" bit in the router. Rather than continue duplicate discussions, I will continue the discussion in the Mast Step, as most seem to read both.  Suggestions are welcome.

ebb,
If you look at the first picture you can see on the left, one of the additional deck layers I removed today..The other is a mirrror on the other side.  I literally picked out the first bit of balsa.  The chewed up stuff is what was underneath. It did not come quietly into the night  In the for what it's worth department, my deck is a 1/2" give or take a smidgeon.  At the bottom of the third picture you can see a very thin layer of balsa.  I will just scrape that out.

Here are the picures from todays work.  Light rain drifted in and out.   Deck_1 is another picture with the deck open as is Deck_2.  You can see what wonderful core I have here,  Not quite the golden stuff that ebb was refering to.  Deck_3 is where it now stands, about 30% clean and down to the bottom glass layer.  It appears that there was a layer of laminate directly above the Compression post and I will remove that.  I lost some time searching for a router bit.  The glass burned out the steel bit I had.  The carbide bit is cuttling a lot better,  and I am not pushing as hard either.. Another lesson learned.

ebb,

The plan is to draw a square about 8" x 8"  and clean out that area.   It looks like I have good balsa just forward of the area I have already opened.   Nice light brown balsa! So I might cheat a bit on the length.   There is no doubt that what I uncovered has been wet.....I might have to squeeze it dry to throw it away.
On a related subject, I was going to look for a less expensive source of cloth and resin, but for the little I think I will need, West Marine is close and West Systems worked well for me last time.  I still have some resin and hardner.  If it rains today, I am going to squirt in a cup....resin that is, and a squrt of hardner to make sure what I have cures.   Maybe I will get some sailing in on my own boat.

Women and small children should not be exposed to this picture.

This is about a 5" circle in the area underneath the mast step.  I don't think I need to scrape to remove the balsa you see.  My fingernails will lift the punky mess. Tomorrow I will extend out to 8 in. square.  The area foward of what I have opened seems siolid.  I may take a harder look at that before pulling it up.

Ebb,

I either mispoke or at the least, spoke unclearly...(that is an ugly sentence).  

My original thought was to follow Jerry's suggestion of working filled epoxy into the deck area outside of the central 5 In (approx) under the mast, and build up the central area with mat and no core.  I had the impression that I could, at the least, work a putty knife  in to clean out the balsa layer.  Now having it open a bit, I don't think that option is as feasible.  Your suggestion of opening a larger area (somewhere between  8x8 in. and 14x14in makes sense,) filling it all with mat, and especially the part about leaving rider strips in place for the major part of the cleanout.  My router has a base about 5" in diameter, although I could make a bolt on wider base if  a bridge is required.

The job continues

Ebb,

Thanks for your guidance.  I don't believe that I have peirced the interior roof.  After reading the comments, there is no question that I have compremised it though.  Plan now is to fill the crease I cut with filled epoxy and then make sure I get a layer of mat across that area to back it up.  I wasn't sure how I was going to maintain the curve but springing a batten across the area makes sense.  

What I think will do, is wait until I have opened up the area above the compression post, and then attempt to remove/move the wedge (being the "gentle"man that I am . If it will not move then I will cut some 1/8" ply in a semi-circle around the wedge/pad  and cut 2 2x4's to add some hummppff and try to lift the cabin top.  If not, then it stays and I don't hve to worry about the compression post moving.

Given the small depth that I have to work in, it does make sense to open a larger area  and then plan on some white gelcoat to make it pretty.  I was having trouble envisioning how I was going to fill the area underneath the deck if the balsa was damp/fuzzy/furry that far out. Then I can grind down the deck for 2" to rebuild the deck itself.  This is going to be a short sailing season.  I am hoping for a great September.

On another note, completely changing the subject, Is ebb short for Eben....That's my brother's name.  Anyway, thanks for your thoughts

I was hoping someone who has had that area open would come up.   Light has gone now, but tomorrow I will be on deck.  I will decrease my depth to just where the brown fuzzy-furry stuff (to use a technical description) starts.

Given that the depth of the whole deck, how did you stuff epoxy back in the corners?   Bye the way, a material source suggested I add sand to the mix.  He said that it adds strength and also absorbs some of the heat.  I have some epoxy in the shop and may mix a bit up tp see if it sets ok.  Gotta get soem cabosil,  Maybe a trip to New Hampshire is in my furture.

Ok, I have routed roughly a quarter circle in the deck in a 5" radius around the center hole  of the mast step. My bit is set for a 1/2".  What I have coming up is white dust, probably fiberglass/resin, and then a brown furry-fuzzy substance.  Some of this feels slightly damp.  Beneath that is what appears to be solid glass.  There is no give in the area where I have already cut.

What is the schedule for the deck area underneath the mast step.  Should I stop or keep going

Jerry,

If I understand what you are saying, once I have cleaned out the bad core, I fill the void until I have a 5 in. hole from deck to ceiling.  then I proceed to lay in glass matting until I get to the deck level.  At that point I start using increasing sizes of mat to rebuild the deck as it was.  I can then grind to match the deck, fill if needed and stand back and admire my work.  Oh, yes, then I can remove the Gator tape (great stuff by the way) and re-drill the holes to mount my mast step.

I plan on placing a soda straw over my mast light wires and hopefully leave them so they can be removed or fished if needed. This does mean  that the glass will have to be layed gently with a slit on one edge to accomodate the wires.  Also, if the ceiling does not rebound around the compression post cap, my plan is to cut 2 semi circles of 1/4 plywood and gently jack up the ceiling until it matches the surrounding area an the compression post has a litlle wiggle to it.