I have seepage too comes through at the "eyebrow" inside. J30s have just enough wood to piss you off. I think the cabintop is too thin to be cored...seems to be just glass

I thought it was too thin for core also, but I installed some cam cleats on the cabin sides (the area that's striped on some boats) this October and, yup, it's cored.

Brief update on my progress with Blue J. I've removed all the transom thru-hulls and the rudder and gudgeons. Not only is there exposed core at every hole, but none of the fittings or bolts were even bedded.
Yesterday, I cut the propane locker out - that will give me much better access to the starboard transom to replace basically all the core. I'm using a small cabin heater and a trouble light to heat and dry exposed core inside. I expect to start re-coring, etc. in March, when the weather should start to warm up.

Peter

Well finally the weather supports some outside work. It was 60 degrees today so I did some core bonding on the transom. Read all about it and see the pictures on today's Blog Entry.

Bummer - it's supposed to snow tomorrow

I just wanted add, similar to what Peter found on Blue J, Rhapsody had wet core near the top of the transom, and stbd side top adjacent to the transom. I'm filling the upper void with Core Bond which is a vinyl ester resin. This will isolate any balsa core from the top area if a moisture source is from the top section(e.g. the hull/deck seam or toe rail).

You can't believe how much it would have cost to have a yard do this stuff ... but then you probably know. It is hard to believe that J30s now are nearly MORE trouble than owning an all wood boat.

I've got about $10K of work done on Vee Jay over the last 15 years ... nevermind one summer a couple of years ago that screwed up June and July and part of Aug.

keep at it ... at some point there will be nothing left to do.

Another nice weekend to get some work done on Rhapsody. I feel that progress is being made, despite the fact I'm still cutting out other areas to core along the stbd side. Look here for the latest Blog Entry for 14/15 March.

I made a command decision this weekend. Other than isolating some deck through holes, no core work on the deck this off-season. I want to get the boat back together to enjoy some sailing. As it stands now, I'm iffy to make the target launch date by the end of April. The core work is limited for now to the transom and stbd side I can do from inside the boat. The keel sump will happen at a later time too. I have my Rhapsody work list, and will just add it with the other stuff I need to do.

Ok - The transom inside glassing is almost done based on work 21/22 March. Check out the latest blog post

Bill
What was your rationale for adding 2 layers of cloth to the outer hull before adding core and and inner skin.
john

John,

The outer skin was paper thin. It's just an insurance policy for additional strength. I know it adds a little weight, but in the scheme of things is negligible. I figure the moisture I removed equals the weight I added with the extra glass layers.

I lost my camera for a while and just found it. The April work is now documented on the blog: Rhapsody recore blog - April post
Good news - Rhapsody was launched on Friday 1 May and I sailed from Fall River to Newport today 3 May (in the rain). Still lots of topside cleanup work to be done. I'll post more pictures on the blog once the weather clears up.

Here's a picture of the transom exterior before gelcoat was sprayed.