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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

I believe I have my work cut out for me...

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/06/2004 : 15:39:49

I took a ride up to see if my boat had been hauled out of the lake. She had, she's on her cradle. In between the wind blowing, I think I heard her whimpering, or maybe that was me...

Anyway, I've got some work to do. This boat has obviously not seen a lot of attention in the last few years. There are large bubbles in the hull paint, which when squeezed and broken excrete what looks like coca cola. The keel has a good chunk missing from the front bottom tip, the lead is clearly showing, some is even missing! There are numerous and many cracks in the gelcoat/paint of the hull, some just randomly located, many all around where the keel attaches. There is also a crack about 4 inches long in the hull about 2 feet behind the keel that is wheeping water slowly. This explains the recurrence of a puddle in by the battery behind the step in the cabin that I thought was caused by the leaking port lights on the port side-guess they aren't leaking as bad as I thought. It is not soft around the crack, so hopefully this is not indicative of an unrepairable problem. There are also some serious "scratches" that go quite deep here and there, that obviously have penetrated any paint, coating etc that need attention.

I would be appreciative of pointers, books, advice, materials on how to deal with these problems. I know Swimmmer is 23 years old, but for better or for worse, I'm determined to bring her back into decent shape. I feel she deserves the chance. I'd really like to do as much of the work as I can myself. I can't say I know a lot about sailboats, but I have built my own house and sea touring kayaks, so I'm not completely without useful skills. Thanks for any help anyone feels inclined to offer.

Rick

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2004 : 16:54:41

There are a lot of folks on the site who can help with sound advise. Your best bet is to get on the web page of a company called West Systems Epoxy. They make epoxy fiberglass repair material. It sounds like your primary problem is with hull blisters and possibly a loose keel. The keel can be tightend and resealed. The rest is a matter of scaping, opening blsiters to dry them out, filling, sanding, and painting.

I am sure more details will follow from some very knowledgable Catalina 25 owners. Good luck

Al
GALLIVANT #5801

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2004 : 19:55:34

Thanks Al,

Fortunately, the keel is not loose. It was apparently "reinstalled" at some point because all the old bolt holes are empty and it has 6 newer looking stainless steel bolts in place. They also appear to be about 3 sizes larger than what the originals apparently were. It is very solid. I think the finish fiberglass work was not that good from appearences.

I've searched this forum and found a plethora of information. So either because I have a Capri or because the subject has been thorouhly covered in the past, not many comments on this thread. Regardless of that, the amount of information I found with links and book suggestions is more than enough to get me going. I only wish it wasn't too cold up here to do some of the patching now. We're looking at it being in the 20's tomorrow.

Thanks for the West Systems Epoxy suggestion, they sure have a ton of useful info available.

I think I'll take some pictures of it before I do the work.

Does anyone know how long bottom paint usually lasts in fresh water? The hull was at some time painted blue below the water line, but that has mostly worn off to white except for on the keel. I like to get an idea of hen it was last painted.

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1774 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2004 : 20:48:50

<font color="blue">... either because I have a Capri or because the subject has been thorouhly covered in the past, not many comments on this thread. - existentialsailor</font id="blue">

Hi there,

While it's true that the subject of blisters, gelcoat repair, etc. have been covered here before, don't give up hope yet ... the "traffic" slows down considerably on the weekends. Also, lots of boats are being pulled out for the winter right now ... the Forum activity (and lively interaction

) usually picks up during the winter.

As for how long your bottom paint will last ... I'm not sure anyone will be able to give you a straight answer. It will depend on the type of paint the previous owner used, how many coats he applied, how long the paint has been on the bottom, how many times you've scrubbed the bottom, and probably other stuff I haven't thought of.

Another thing I've learned (the hard way

) is that it's best to stick to one topic in a thread rather than several, and it also helps to put the nature of your question/problem in the title of the thread. Please don't get upset with me here ... I'm not trying to be critical ... like I said, these are things I already learned the hard way.

Good luck ... I hope others step up to the plate with some good suggestions/info for you.

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2004 : 21:31:10

Buzz,

Thanks for the tips and insights. Certainly no reason for me to get upset with you. The subject(s) have been covered very exhaustively. I've spent the last couple of hours reading through web sites and even ordered a couple of books. Hopefully, I'll get a warm break in the weather and be able to do a little patching before the snow flies.

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ronrryan
Admiral

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USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/09/2004 : 21:07:54

Egad, I almost hate to mention it, but often when a fin keel boat strikes a rock, etc, the keel tries to rotate up at the aft end of the upper keel flange, and distorts/cracks the body of the boat at or some distance behind the aftermost points of attachment. If the hull is delaminating there, one remedy is to glass in reinforcemnt tophat sections running athwartships. No doubt there are other solutions, sorry to post such a Cassandra-like message. Fair winds, ron srsk Orion sw FL

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 11/10/2004 : 17:24:14

Thanks Ron,

I'm not able to discern from the inide or the outside if that is what happened. I'll have to inspect it a lot closer this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.