Thank for your thoughts and time replying Mike.

I've said it before - I REALLY appreciate this forum. Friends have asked me "How the hell do you know how to do this?" (I decidedly don't...yet) and I just credit y'all as my brain trust: "I have this terrific yacht-specific forum that can answer any question imaginable in a matter of hours." The info is available, I suspect, in other places and I do sample those sources, but I trust you as a group and the friendly, helpful, never-condescending tone of this forum is rarely achieved in other discussion lists. Really a remarkable resource and I can't thank you enough.

So, I feel more comfortable with the swiss cheese approach - though it looks like boat abuse. I also like the idea of using alcohol better than acetone. Cheaper for sure and probably much more earth-friendly. The mush removal worked well today. Not speedy, but seems to be pulling it out easily. For the most part, blowing air through an adjacent hole while balsa-mining worked better than vacuuming. I'm not obsessing about getting everything out - I'm going on the assumption that if I get it bone dry, what is left will just mix with the epoxy and act as filler. This approach maintains the elevation of the deck line - which I feel good about. Haven't checked it, but if there is any arch at all to that surface (or several others I'll tackle) I don't have to bother with recreating it. Estimating epoxy will be a crapshoot, but... learning as I go. Supposed to be warm and dry for the next three days (this is all outdoor work) so I'm hoping to be flexing my forearm muscles with a caulk gun on Tuesday. Thankfully the port side is nothing compared to this.

p.s. My new aluminum mast step is complete and I'll pick it up this week. Will share pix.

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