Thanks heaps guys,

Using a router sounds like the way to go, and the method which reduces the possibility of doing accidental damage to the hulls. I will be removing the hulls from the beams this weekend and building some kind of a jig to hold them in place. I'll then take to them with a router and see what I find.

Philip, I have seen those photos on the Mosquito website. I have a feeling that the boat pictured has quite a few more foam bulkheads than what mine does (based on what I can see through the inspection ports). From the small hole I have made in the deck, it appears that the deck is made up of two pieces of 3 - 4mm ply with foam sandwiched between them. As noted above, the upper deck has separated from the foam in the area between the centerboard cases and the rear beam. The foam does not smell or look like it is in a very good state in that area and I am hoping that there is a simpler, and hopefully lighter, alternative to supporting the decks. This all depends on the difficulty of attempting to replicate the existing 'foam sandwich' decks I am removing, or ease of implementing an alternative support method.

I noticed that in the restoration photos of Reincarnation, the stringers were replaced with ply I beams of some sort? It looks and feels as if there is only one stringer running the length of the decks, I assume due to the foam core being able to support more weight. Perhaps the addition of additional foam bulkheads and I Beams such as this may be a possible alternative? Do you have any further details, or recommend any books, detailing how these are constructed?

I wasn't planning on doing all this work when I purchased this boat, and whilst I can't wait to get it on the water, I am actually starting to enjoy the experience of fixing it up. Hopefully once I am finished, I should have a decent boat which will last me a number of seasons, and some new woodwork skills I never thought I needed

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers,

Andrew
Assassin 1363