Originally Posted by JeffS
I've removed a top deck before on another boat and it turned into a big job to get it tidy again. I would encourage you to do it through the side as the above posts by experienced people recommend. The more worried about your fibreglass skills the more you should go through the inside of the hull, even if you don't do a very good paint job on your repair nobody will notice it but your decks everyone will see. If you do manage to buy a new deck you need to trust your resin skills to glue it down with absolutely no gaps anywhere or it will suck water and it is very difficult to stop these leaks afterwards


I've done both and getting the deck off without tearing or breaking it is very hard (Apparently too hard for me) if you are going to try and get the deck off you need to use a heat gun and a putty knife ,but not get the glass too hot. The side is easier, will finish better (especially if you do the pumpkin cut) and is less apt to be under as high stress loads as the deck will be. Just make sure you have open access before you cut i.e. not cutting into a bulkhead.

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