Fixing the rot

The weather finally cleared up long enough for the rotted wood to dry. I put a few coats of Minwax Wood Hardener on it to stabilize the remaining rot. According to reviews, this isn't the best wood hardener on the market but I've dug out most of the rot so it doesn't have to sink in very deep.

Once the hardener set I used epoxy putty and a piece of 2x4 to fill in the gap. The original piece had been glassed over. For my replacement I used a tube of epoxy gel to seal the wood. That should get it ready for painting later this weekend.

Here's what the repair looks like. The black part is the epoxy putty. The replacement wood is below that.

I've said before that it is a good thing I fixed it when I did. It the rot continued another inch further up then I would have had to fix one of the mounts for the rudder. That would have complicated a simple repair.