This boat is epoxy and Kevlar and terribly difficult to cut. The biggest problem isnt necessarily with cutting through the stuff that just takes time. The biggest problem is joining the corners of cuts you made where they meet at a bulkhead or stringer. The cutting wheels are to big to get very close so you are left with a few inches that are impossible to get at and contain very thick overlaps of Kevlar. I got around this by taking a carbide hole saw (without the drill bit in it to minimize the risk of catching the outside laminate) and poking a inch and a half hole in each corner then joining all the holes with a standard seven inch carbide wheel on a Metabo cutter. (Metabos kick azz!)

not pretty . . . . .

out with the bad . . . .



Getting it cleaned up in here. Using the hole saw method leaves a nice clean border to work with. The stringers were in great shape and when i weighed out the effort it would take to get them out it was pretty much a wash with the added labor of working around them. If they were not Kevlar i probably would have removed those to.

In with the good . . . .


I stuck to a laminate schedule pretty close to what Pete put in there. Several layers of 18 and Kevlar tabbed over an inch of Baltek. I was not able to get any shots of the materials going in as my hands were kinda full (and covered in epoxy). Kinda dusty and the white cloudy stuff is a filler used to fill gaps and level the core at the steps.

Decided to fill in the naca ducts on the deck. These weren't to bad, had to work upside down. On the port side i made a nice tight core piece that snapped in pretty much holding everything in place, was able to do everything wet on wet (which is best for epoxy).

Starboard side needed a complete new core piece so that took care of that side. A trick i learned from this crazy old dude (just kidding AK :D) i know that use to work at Skater is to mix a bit of Cabosil in the epoxy, this allows it to kind of freeze in place while your working the area. Another trick is to break it down into smaller sections. With this i cut the core into strips three block or so wide and then i staggered wide tabbing tape over the top that. Worked great and is pretty bomber. Its also easier to pre wet everything out side the boat then cart everything in and roll it out.

Wahoo!!! A Glassdave thread!!! I love Glassdave threads. Always entertaining and educational :drink:

Nice Good to see another 101.

I like how you did it from the inside.Leaving the outer
skin and original bottom still intact.
I have removed the rotted Baltec with a air hammer with a
2 inch blade attachment. Snapon has them with a slight angle.
Im telling ya it worked sweet!

Great work. look forward to more pictures:drink:

Nice work! I used to race this boat back in 2000 and 2001 with the owner at the time John Robinson. The boat used to be Sonic Hedgehog and before that Ocean Outboard. This was one of the first 36 skaters correct?

Thanks, I'll see how well i can keep within the highly educational theme of the first 101 thread lol :drink:

No air hammer needed for this task. I literally scooped up handfuls of absoutly soaking wet mush (pretty stinky mush at that) Once the bulk of it was out i had to let it dry for weeks till i could get in there with a grinder, good thing there was plenty more to do outside.

The downfall of this boat was in how the deck drain was installed between the dash/canopy bulges. There was a cheap sink type drain installed with a piece of rubber hose that ran down and terminated in the sponson. This boat probably sat for years in Florida where, as you know, it rains daily. The core damage reached in almost equal directions from where the drain emptied in the sponson. There was almost no provisions to move this drain water out of the sponson other then the usual holes at the base of the bulkheads.

way cool, well she is getting a new lease on life. Yes i believe it is one of the first few built. What fantastic hulls these 36's are, haveing spent a lot of time with this thing its easy to see why they are so popular.