Removing the cockpit floor - can you say "wet core"

Well another week has past and I was able to spend several hours working on the boat today. Today's task, removing the fiberglass skin on the floor of the cockpit. Before starting, I took the advice of Norm Abram, "Before we get started I'd like to take a moment to talk about shop safety". When cutting or grind fiberglass, it best to protect oneself. I donned a poly jump suit, respirator, goggles, leather gloves, and ear protection.

Using a Dremel, fitted with a cutting wheel, I cut through the top layer of fiberglass (no more than 1/8" thick) to expose the layer of 1/4" plywood between the hull and the cockpit floor. To control the dust, I kept the nozzle of the shop vac close to the cutting head. It proved quite effective. As I pealed the fiberglass back, it became clear that the wood core was wet throughout (great study in capillary action) and much of it had deteriorated to the point that I could simply vacuum it up. I saved the fiberglass skin and may simply reapply them over come new core. So through the small hole in the floor, water was able to completely infiltrate the core. Now that I have opened it up, it my my hope that the wood core that runs under the benches on either side of the cockpit will dry enough over the coming weeks (months) to allow me to simply to lay new plywood and then replace the old fiberglass skin as well as a new layer of fiberglass to seal and lock it all together. The next step will be squirt acetone into the core areas under the benches and to drill holes in the aft section of the cockpit floor (not removed because it had not delaminated) and inject acetone to aid in drying. Once the remaining core is dry, I can begin the core replacement and fiberglass layup. Clearly, this will be a longer project than I had hoped. Luckily, the core is only 1/4" thick, so it should be relatively easy to replace it. I have a local lumber yard that carries marine plywood and the needed table saw and chop saw to create the 2"x5" blocks used to build up the core. So, maybe next week, I'll get a few friends to help move the boat off the trailer and into the garage. That will give me access to the trailer to repair and re-paint it while the boat's core drys.