I just tried and fix my soft spot just fore of my rear crossbeam on my H17. I followed the directions on the hobie website to the letter, with the breather holes and everything. Problem is, theres no delamination. The glass layers are right together, I drilled down into the foam layer, taking note to not to go through the second layer, but when I go to inject, I've tried with all my might and the epoxy just wont go into the layer. I tried pushing down on the 2nd fiberglass layer and its solid, it doesn't push down, and this is right in the middle of the soft spot. So now I've drilled like 20 holes in my hull, I need to know how to stiffen this part of the hull.

Did you remove the old "foam" between the two layers of glass before you tried to inject the epoxy? Gougeon's (WEST System Epoxy folks) recommend using a coat hanger or similar stiff wire bent at 90 degrees to form an "L"- slip the "leg" of the "L" between the two layers and rotate it to essentially remove a circle of the foam. Then rebend wire with slightly longer "leg" and repeat- Keep going in this process until you are SURE you are to "good" (and dry!) foam- Drill at least one center hole and other holes around periphery- inject into center hole until get excess coming out of all the "vent" holes and let set. Make sure temp is right and epoxy is right consistency too and you have enough mixed up to do it all at once.
Hope this helps-

Kirt

I tried this, but the problem is that the 2nd layer of glass is still attached, and I invariably punctured the 2nd layer with the coathanger every time I did it, no matter how careful I was

Hmmmmmm- Well, that would seem to indicate that there never WAS any foam in this area OR you did not really drill entirely through the top glass layer but simply through the gel coat and into the fiberglass?? When I fixed my Hobie 14t this way I was sort of surprised how thick each of the "hard" layers were- So check this- You can always take your port out and look at how thick the layups and foam layer is there (probably about same as where you are trying to fix and you can then just rebed your port-).
NOW, if you truly have NO foam then it's NOT "foam sandwich" construction in this area and you have options-
You could do like the old NACRA's did (pre-foam core like my old 1983 5.0) and use a "brace" under the deck- NACRA used cardboard rolls (Hey, it's X-mas time- should have a lot of long ones around!) they glassed over to create a "U" shaped reinforcement under the deck and along the hull sides to stiffen them. Probably want to flip the boat over so deck is down- Cut one or two half-roll pieces to lay inside bottom surface of deck- extend beyond "soft" area- Roughen up and clean bonding surface first- then use epoxy and fiberglass cloth- make sure cloth extends completely over roll and at least 1/2 - 1" inch onto deck. I'd use 2-3 layers of cloth. Alternatively you could make the braces using bent cardboard (so you end up with a "V" brace) or just epoxy some "stringers" ("I" or inverted "T" fiberglass or aluminum strips onto top of deck- if you use aluminum follow WEST System directions for etching to get good bond).

Kirt

oh, theres foam there.

its rock hard too.

I'm going to use this http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...&catalogId=10001&keyword=1983790 to support the deck from underneath.

I thought about using a router, setting the depth at 1/8" and cutting an X pattern or a lattice over the spot, then filling it in with epoxy resin, but the more experienced paternal unit said that wont work. So we're going to pumpkin-lid it, slide that preform plank under there, glass it in, then replace the pumpkin lid.

DRY LAYUP... GRRRR... HOBIE IS GETTING A CALL FROM ME ON MONDAY.

Where can I find my hull number so I can make sure what year H17 I have?

Look on the transoms --the number should be etched either right under the lip of the deck or sometimes between the gudgeons. The last two numbers are the year it was made. There may be some letters at the end, they mean something else.

when you sheer out a bonded bit of glass, as you have here, it turns white, like it has here.
this is how it should look if you have taken hold of the glass and ripped it off. i do not think it
is dry. how 'soft' is the deck? what color is it?

its not to obvious from the picture of that bit of glass, but there are places that are clearly laminated, and a huge area (relatively speaking) that is as soft as brand new glass bought from west marine. The deck was getting pretty soft. Not as bad as some H16's I've seen, but the fact that it was just fore of the rear crossbeam made me nervous, especially since I plan on doing some distance races this spring around the outer banks and in some surf. I'm in the process of repainting it now, so fixing this at the same time made sense.

I've had the deck inspected by a fiberglass professional who built spy drone planes (not predators) for a government contractor, and he said it was dry layup.

k

Well, I've been working on the thing for the better part of a week now. Been sanding the hulls, and letting the hole that we knocked out of her deck dry up.

I've took some pictures, if any of you guys care to see how we're going to fix this. Tomorrow we're going to lay in the hardwood and start laminating up from th inside.

You can see pictures here: http://jk2clan414.ath.cx/Maugan/Sailing_Club/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=tadproject

I'm kind of partial to this picture (after 3 hours of sanding) :

me thinks you need a breathing mask!

I wore one today, but it didn't help that much, unfortunately.

Fortunately, today we worked on my friend's wooden skiff, so the dust isn't hazardous to my health

makes me think you need a better mask.