Moisture in wood between epoxy

Question
Hello!

I was looking over the Internet for advice how to solve my problem, then I found this great site. My problem is:
I bought used sailboat last autumn. Boat needed some repair so I start working on it. Then I found out that some of the wood between two layers of epoxy is full of moisture. This food is a part of the deck and supports a weight of human walking on the deck. I removed all decayed wood and replaced it with new one. Now i have a question what to do with the other wood which have some moisture on it. I would not like open all the deck. Is it possible to dry it somehow. If you can not imagine I can send pictures. Thanks for your help.

Uros, Slovenia(Europe)

Answer
Hi Uros

Thank you for selecting the undersigned to reply to your question.

It is always best to hire a qualified marine surveyor to provide a pre-purchase condition & evaluation report. You may have saved a lot of time, money and anguish.

I've seen this situation too many times, and my recommendation is to replace all of the affected wood core. Once moisture is absorbed into wood, a fungus begins to grow which is called mould, and it is virtually impossible to get rid of it using chemicals, etc., and it will never thoroughly dry out. The moisture in the wood core freezes and expands in winter, which forces open the space between the upper and lower layers of epoxy laminates. As a result, the fibreglass and epoxy often delaminate, allowing moisture to seep into cracks, etc., freeze and expand, causing more delmination.

In the final analysis, you are far better off to replace the entire decking with all new materials. You'll feel more confident that it will support your weight and last a lot longer without discovering more problems in 1 or 2 yrs. Yes, the cost is much greater, but how much do you value your life and the life of others who might be on deck? Doing a cheap job once with failing results, eventually ends up costing twice as much to do it right the second time. The choice is yours.

Safe Boating
Ron Blanchet