The cockpit floor of my RL24 mk1 has cracks throughout and I suspect that water is leaking through it. Can I repaint it or do I have to seal it with something first. The floor seems a little spongy but if I can seal it it should be ok. Can anybody give some advise.
Thank you.
Rod.
I know of no easy lasting fix, or coating. If this were my boat I would grind off the nonskid surface, and the gelcoat up to 50mm around the cockpit sides, then put down a layer of fibreglass cloth with sheathing resin, then coat with flowcoat containing a non skid additive. This would make a positive seal, also stiffen the floor.
Some time back we cut out the entire floor and seats of our Mk1 an replaced them with an inverted top hat section made of blue 3 inch foam and end grain balsa - all done in epoxy. Both our floor and seats were more or less collapsed after years of inland racing & cruising. We raised the seats to almost gunnel height- and maintained the same seat height. We gained a cubic metre of bouyancy, a comfortable steering position and heaps of room in the quarter berths and under the cockpit. Came out within a few kilos of the original.This is our best mod and makes our boat Spiral Navigator better to cruise and race... worth considering
