Adding Strength and Insulation to Cockpit / C-Berths

[-scooter-]

Hello all,

My fiance and I purchased a 1976 Catalina 27 this fall and I am in full swing working away on winter (we are in Portland, ME) projects. In addition to a couple soft spots on deck, I have a bunch of "crazing" in the gel coat.

I am using the drill holes, let dry, and fill with epoxy method to stiffen up the decks. The plan is to then use epoxy to fair, then paint the decks with a two-part epoxy primer and then top coat.

I figured that while I'm at it, I'll paint the cockpit to match and fill in the cracks in the gel coat. My concern is that the cracks in the cockpit will quickly reappear because the fiberglass in this area is rather thin and very easy to flex. What I'm thinking of doing, is adding a core material to the interior side for insulation, then adding a few layers of epoxy and fiberglass cloth for strength. My hope is that this will keep us a bit warmer and also make the cockpit stronger so that my fresh paint on the exterior won't immediately crack again. We live aboard year round in Maine, so insulation is a priority.


Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by -scooter-

I am using the drill holes, let dry, and fill with epoxy method to stiffen up the decks. The plan is to then use epoxy to fair, then paint the decks with a two-part epoxy primer and then top coat.

That sounds a bit slick. Have you considered using a non-skid paint as the top coat?

[-scooter-]

Hi Bash,

My plan is to use Interlux Perfection with their non-skip product in between layers. The area I'm strengthening was finished with non-skid built into the glass. Its pretty slippery when wet, and our dog slides all over it no matter what, so I want it to be something with more grip anyway. So far I've drilled the holes and they are drying in the sun under shrink wrap.