I've got a new project boat

[Dave R1]

It's a Catalina 27

I thought I'd show my new project. I haven't started on it yet but I will this weekend.

From the outside.

First orders of business are to replace a little piece of wood blocking under a washer up in the forepeak

And then replace a rotted bulkhead to which the port upper shroud attaches.

And finally for this season, acttack the failed finish on an exterior rail.

[Greg Luckett]

I took on a similar type of project several years ago. This one is in much better shape. I suggest you deal only with the rotted sections, leaving most of the bulkhead panels in place, since it looks like minor rot. It is not a structural thing. Those teak plywood panels are EXPENSIVE! I replaced my bulkheads with Okume overlaid by tongue and groove cedar and it turned out looking good. I would not have done that except there was a 40% to 50% rot problem due to flooding in the hull.

Good luck with it. Lots of learning adventures ahead of you.

Incidently, take a look at Charlie Jones thread on restoring his boat.

[Dave R1]

Greg, I know the plywood is expensive and I probably won't use teak ply. The bolts you see in the pictures are the mounting bolts for the upper shroud chainplate so it is structural. I don't think it's worth the risk of having a rigging failure to skimp on the bulkhead.

[Greg Luckett]

Dave, the chain plate bolts are not usually part of the bulkhead, that is why I suggested what I did. The bulkheads on the plastic boats are almost always just partitions. I should have looked at your pictures better. The chain plate does come through the overhead deck (right?) or the hull and I agree that should be dealt with. On mine I cut out the rotted coring from below the deck using a Dremmil tool, then replaced the coring with Okume and glassed all of it. This way the deck did not have to have major blemish repair work done on it. I did this everyplace there was a through bolt and added extra plating too. Working overhead is a pain but easier than I feared before starting the project.

Incidently, I love the Catalina 27s and hope to snag one someday.

[Dave R1]

Greg, you're right, this chainplate and it companion on the other side pass through the deck and are bolted to the bulkheads. The other one is just fine fortunately. I say that because that bulkhead is larger as it separates the head from the saloon.

Funny thing is that the chainplate for the lower shroud just bolts through the deck and is much smaller.

Wait'll we're ready for the next larger boat and buy this one.

[Dave R1]

Well, I got started on the bulkhead replacement today. Here are some pictures to show some of the work.

This is before getting started this morning.

The top was simple to remove. I took out 7 screws and the fiddle and top trim pieces came right out as a single unit.

Then it was a matter of removing the chainplate bolts, three other bolts and seven screws to remove the bulkhead. You can see the chainplate hanging there. all that was holding it in place was a bit of silicone sealant.

No need to remove anything else.

I haven't taken the pictures yet but the new bulkhead is cut out, drilled and stained. A few coats of spar urethane should get us through the summer anyway.

[Dave R1]

Just thought I'd make a report.

The new bulkhead is installed--it went more easily than I thought--and the little rotten piece of teak I found under the bow pulpit mount has been replaced. The chainplate is reinstalled and has been caulked. Hopefully well enough to keep out the rain.

While I was working on the boat the fellow who owned it before the folks we bought it from walked by. He recognized the boat immediately. He and a partner have a C30 now they've been working on. We almost would have been neighbors in the marina but my wife chose the slip closer to the shore.

[Greg Luckett]

You may have said, but I cannot locate it: what sort of plywood did you use for that replacement piece?

Thanks

[Dave R1]

Greg, I used 12mm Baltic Birch plywood. I had it on hand and the only locally available alternatives would have been run of the mill fir ply compete with all the voids and so on.

I used a cherry stain which looked pretty close in the store to the trim piece I took in. Then I put on four coats of spar urethane on both sides.