[Jack Aperio]

I recently finished up a few late fall haul out projects. I did the usual bottom paint job, serviced the props, replaced all the zincs, and installed a new 5” black vinyl boot stripe over the chalky factory one in the gel coat. The yard was pretty quiet in late November so I decided to finally proceed with the repair of a soft spot in my swim platform that’s been bugging me for a few years now. 

I’ve had plenty of time to research the different repair options but ended up following the advice of my fiberglass guy and decided to do the repair from the top. The soft area was directly forward of the swim ladder. Probably caused by water infiltration from the hinge screws of the boarding ladder cover. Originally we were going to try to remove the core and retain the inside layer of fiberglass, but it proved to be too thin during the removal process. We ended up removing all of it, giving us a great view of the construction inside. It was surprising how heavy the squishy core was from being so waterlogged. There was still a bit of soft core around some of the edges so we dug it all out until we reached solid material. That area was then filled and a new fiberglass ledger was secured around the perimeter. A new plywood core was then wrapped in fiberglass cloth and resin and plugged into place. The layup process followed and a few days later we were ready to do the non-skid. I’ve never liked the factory nonskid from 1995, so opted to grind down the entire deck and apply Awlgrip Griptex. I’m a big fan of this product and used it when I did a much more extensive repair on the bow which I also posted a few years ago. Someday, I would love to do the entire boat. The color used is Oyster White, which is nearly identical to the Tiara gelcoat from 1995. Here’s a few pictures from the process. The deck is as solid as a rock now.... I'm really happy how it all turned out.