[C38] The floor is ripped out, now how to epoxy in the new wood?

[Duff, Russ (R.W.)]

First, the basics:
 The wood underneath the cockpit sole of my C-38 has rotted out.  I was able
to access the area from underneath and remove all of the rotten wood.  I
plan on epoxying in new marine grade plywood as a replacement.  The area to
be replaced is a basic "T" shape about 3 feet long by three feet wide with
the "arms" and "body" of the "T" being about one and a half feet wide.  My
plan is to cut a single sheet to fit this area and to epoxy it in.

Now, the questions:
Is it best to use one solid piece of plywood, if possible, which I think it
will be, or to epoxy smaller sections in at a time?
If a single piece is used, how do you get the air out of the epoxy from
between the existing fiberglass and the new sheet?  Should I drill some
holes through the plywood before epoxying it in place just for this reason
(to give any air pockets somewhere to get squeezed out)?  Or is this why I
should epoxy in small sections?
About how thick should I mix the epoxy with filler, and how thick should I
spread it on?  Do I spread it on both surfaces or just one (I know to wet
all surfaces with unthickened epoxy beforehand)?  Do I spread it on with a
putty knife, bondo spreader, or one of those spreaders you use for grout or
floor adhesive?

Any other advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Sincerely, 
Russ Duff 
Catalina 38, Hull #112 
"AVANTURA" 
Lake Erie 
Grosse Ile, Michigan 
RDUFF AT VISTEON DOT COM 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://catalina38.org/pipermail/listserve_catalina38.org/attachments/20060515/46b04ef7/attachment.htm>