ofshore74
Member III
The four Ericsons I have looked at (and a multitude of other boats including CS and C&C) all had that unfinished scrap wood used to hold the bowels of the boat together. I don't think that is anything to be worried about. The sealant on the pedestal guard bolts on the underside is a sure sign of a lazy repair to stop leaking (that would never work). The plywood backing plate seems very small to take the load of the pedestal. And the skin on the underside of the cockpit seems pretty thin to resist upward forces. I would be inclined to cut a big piece of G10 to match the raised portion of the cockpit (at least the front half where the pedestal resides), glass it to the underside of the cockpit, and then heavily tab the edges of the G10 over that radius where the cracks are (the gutters in the cockpit). This should reinforce the raised portion of the cockpit and the gutters substantially, and give a good bearing surface for the pedestal and guard. I hope I explained that right.
What you describe makes total sense. And you're right, I wonder if the flexing is exacerbated by the short plywood riser, it's quite a bit of stuff sitting above it. But certainly the cracks must add to the flexing. Anyway I appreciate the idea.