Deck Destruction

It took all the courage I could muster, but at last I cut open my deck to for the cockpit seating.

 I've placed the cut out piece in the companionway

I've placed some plywood where the seat will be.  The greenish piece is the backrest.

New Gusset

This weekend I managed to remove all the rotten plywood from the port cockpit locker area.

Cutting through fiberglas, plywood, screws, etc. poses the question of what tool will survive the ordeal.  I have found that a "Zip" disk in my angle drill works well for materials up to 2" thick.  In the picture below I am cutting through plywood about 2" below the deck so I don't have to deal with  replacing the teak.  I ended up cutting through 3 stainless steel screws.  A skill saw would be toast.

It's hard to see in the photo below, but I removed the majority of the gusset supporting the deck.

I left the tape on the aft side which will ensure the new piece will line up perfectly.

This is the shape of the new gusset. I'm painted all new wood with A1 penetrating epoxy.

Gusset installed 

Here's the mock-up for the lazerette stringers.