"Great Stuff" for delamination repairs?

Hello All!
This is my first post and its a big'un!
I've had a couple of Hobie 18's in the somewhat distant past but have never had to do any substancial work on them.

A coworker of mine has an '81 H18 that he needs to get rid of, and will get rid of cheap ($300). Has a trailer, wings, good sails, etc. but has severe delamination of the deck. It is soft almost the width of the deck, from the front cross-bar back.

I've read all I could here and other sites about delamination repair (drill holes and inject epoxy...) but haven't really seen much about bad delamination repairs.

I saw one post from a guy that used "Great Stuff" expanding waterproof foam for the repair and said it worked well. That sounds like something that might work for me due to the extent of the delamination and the amount of area that needs to be filled. I'm not sure if the injecting of resin could adequately fill the voids between the foam and glass.

I know its a tough call, but what I'm trying to decide is whether or not this boat can be repaired enough to last a while. I wouldn't want it to fall apart on my first trip out, and it would be nice if it was actually a good boat after I worked on it.

Oh yea, the hulls seem solid, and the hull-to-deck seam looks fine with no cracks. Its just the decks that are hurtin'.
...and don't pull your punches. If it would be better for me to hang onto my money and buy a good boat later I could deal with it.

Thanks a lot!
Brian.

OK, did more searches and its looks like Great Stuff is not recommended. Any hope for this boat?
Thx, BRian.

Well, did more searches and.... I'd guess this boat is toast. Think I'd spend as much on git-rot as I paid for the boat. Oh well.
B.

I don't think you would need that much Git rot. The delamination is not a large volume area. It is like loose pages in a book. The layer is thin. The deck of an 18 between crossbars is not nearly as critical as a bow area too. It might work.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank you for the responce.
Well, I think it might be worth my effort if I could do it using less than two quarts of git-rot. Has anyone had experience doing large repairs, and have any idea how much epoxy I might need? (I know its VERY tough to say...)

With all my searches I've found there might be a chance to repair it, using epoxy, lots of injection and vent holes, and anchors going from inside to outside to re-sandwich the layers together.

I should probably skip it, but this boat is almost a give-away. Any ideas on the quantity of epoxy?

Thanks again MMILLER and everyone.
Brian.

Update...
I went and took a good look at that boat, after learning quite a bit from this forum, to make a go/no-go decision on this boat. Checked over the left hull thoroughly, the one with the deck delam, and thought it looked pretty repairable. Checked over the right hull which seemed to be in better condition with a more solid deck. Found a soft/crunchy spot on the side, near the stern. Investigated further and saw that the bottom where it sits on the trailer roller has been pushed in maybe half an inch, probably from being sinched down hard for a couple of years

My guess as to the cause of the damage is, being sealed up tight for a couple of years, with water in the hulls. Also being strapped down hard the whole time. Such a sad way for the old-girl to go....
Thanks anyway, B.