Good job on the feathering out of the repair on the rail, that looks perfect.

If the other repair was a huge lump of slightly thickened epoxy, the void in the foam in front of the other repair could be down to an exothermic reaction of the epoxy (I've had pots of surplus epoxy catch fire!). The void may have been created without the previous repairer having any knowledge that the foam had been cooked. If that is the case, there may be other voids surrounding the old repair.

I've always found that removal of all badness is the way to go, and then build up the repair as close as possible to the original construction. There is always a "oh my god what am I doing" feeling to removing great chunks of a board, but it usually makes the remainder of the fix easier!

Hi Mark how's it going?

I was thinking of feathering that out a bit more, at the edges the wood veneer and outer coating lift from the foam core a bit. Is that normal? I didn't want to go too far and find I strip the whole board naked.

Regarding my big ole hole centre deck. I'm concerned what structural elements I will disturb ripping out the bad repair. The grey circle is just forward of the fin box and incorporates the bolt hole for the rear of the central binding, and also there is the front bolt hole for the same binding. I can see me with a hole some 15cm diameter. and about 10cm deep. If that is the case what do I fill that hole with and how?

Cheers again,

Dan

I have found the best stuff to fill a major hole is 2-pack pour foam. You can buy it from Fiberglass Supplies in the US (http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Pour_Foam/pour_foam.html) but I'm afraid I'm not much help on a UK supplier. Another way (very botchy and not recommended but cheaper) could be to use a cheese grater on a block of EPS packaging, and bind the loose beads with a very small amount of epoxy

The lifting on the edge of the veneer could be down to the method that you are using to feather the edges - are you using an electric sander ? The vibration can lead to slight delam at the edges, I'd use a sanding block. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it too much, and just soak a little resin into the area with a paint brush before you glass up.

Your point about structure around the fin box is interesting. Personally I'd still have the whole lot out and rebuild structure around the fin if necessary, but a more cautious approach may be to fix the front of the grey area.

Cheers, Mark.