When I first acquired the Catalina 25 she had at least 2 previous owners and possibly others. The last owner had done a good job of ensuring everything above the toe rail worked and looked good. Below things looked well enough when I bought her, there was carpet covering the sole and bilge access points. But everything appeared functional and at the price of the boat, I figured I could deal with anything that might pop up.
Of course its not if something will come up, but when. A month or two after purchase I discovered that my quarter berth was wet. I checked the obvious. Companionway hatch leaking? No. Portlight leak? Nope. Since the winch cable for the swing keel runs right past it I wondered if I was getting some splash from the hole in the bottom of my boat? Not at all. I crawled into the cramped quarter berth and discovered a series of holes drilled into the underside of the cockpit sole, with silicon caulk in them. Several were wet. I guess one of the past owners had tried to dry out the sole that had some how become water logged. But what then had done, by caulking the holes, was ensure trouble down the road if they did not fix the leak. In any case, I checked the cabin sole from both sides and it had no delamination and was solid. I put it on my list of items to fix and sailed it for a season.
The time came to pull the boat out; which I did in November. I put it on its trailer and went over it, inside and out, in order to make a list of items to fix. At first the list included some minor things: new main halyard, new main sheet, a gouge in the topsides gelcoat and of course the leaking cockpit sole. However, after power washing the bottom and leaving it to sit for a month other items surfaced. Hundreds of small blisters popped up, along with a few larger ones. The swing keel cable was in good shape, but the pivot point was worn excessively. A stanchion or two seemed to have a leak, so I decided to re-bed them all. Yes, my list was growing…
As I waited a few months for the boat to dry, my list grew. Many of the new items on the list were not just maintenance items but enhancements that I wanted in order to make sailing more fun. Actually, even if they did not help my sailing I just wanted to do them for the experience. I wanted my topsides to shine, not have the chalking appearance of 20 year old gelcoat. I also decided to add a sounder and chart plotter. The bulkhead compass had broken years ago so added it to the list. I also wanted to rename the boat so I had to remove the old painted on name.
Each of these items became a project of its own. The most intensive was the bottom. Many small blisters appeared. I mean alot. As I sanded what was left of the bottom paint a strange thing started to happen. The material in the small blisters, apparently there to fix them, just fell out. It looked more like drywall spackling than any resin or epoxy. I can only assume that the person that had fixed these prior to me getting the boat had know idea what they were doing or intentionally took short cuts. After I got all the blisters on the hull sanded out and somewhat beveled I let the boat dry for 3 more months.
While I waited I tackled the keel. I investigated different ways to get the boat off the trailer and the keel off the boat. I saw many creative solutions on the internet from creating a gallows frame and using chain falls, to creating simple beams and jacking the boat up with a bottle jack. In the end I selected a crane. This was for a couple of reasons. One, it seemed a lot safer than the alternatives and two from the terrible condition of the pivot point I new I was going to need to get it to a machine shop. With the mast dropped, the crane used two straps to lift the boat off the trailer and place the keel into a jig. We loosened all the bolts, took off the keel cable and put the boat back on the trailer.
I had ordered a stainless steel sleeve from Catalina Direct to insert into the pivot hole. The hole was missign far too much material for a snug fit. Instead I went on a quest to find 316 stainless in large enough of a diameter that it could be pressed into an enlarged hole and then bored out. Luckily, my brother in law, with his many connections to the oil industry came through with what I needed. I need something an inch and half diameter about 5 inches long. The machinists at the shop made quick work of getting the insert into the keel and hole drilled. It was a perfect fit for the new bronze pivot pin. If you have access to a good machinist and shop I recommend this method over purchasing a stock sleeve.
I wasn’t done with the keel, though. It needed sanding and fairing, then paint. I used a chain fall I bought off of ebay to lift the keel off the ground. This made sanding easy and more importantly painting. Before priming and paint, I sealed and faired the keel with West System Epoxy, thickened with Colloidal Silica. If you ever attempt this yourself you must have clean, bare metal if you have any hope of it staying on.
Back to the bottom job. As most things in life bottom work is just work. Each blister ground out, washed, and then filled with an epoxy mixture. Now, after the epoxy sets, one must do a few things before throwing the paint on. First, when epoxy cures it has a film on it that needs to be washed off. Then you can sand the epoxy to fair it. After sanding go over the hull with multiple tac rags. It can’t hurt to wash it afterwards either.
The choice after the hull is faired is a varied as their are sailors. Some like to apply a barrier coat. If you do make sure you follow the directions and that you pick a bottom paint that is compatible. For me, I went with a primer and bottom paint. I used the budget buy listed in “Practical Sailor” magazine. It had a good rating at 18 months, and since I did not want to go through this again in 12 months I tried it. If you aren’t using a barrier coat and you have removed all pre-existing bottom paint, please use the primer recommended by your paint manufacturer. It will help keep the paint on your boat and not the bottom of the body of water you sail on.
To fix the cockpit sole I ground down past the gelcoat to the laminate. It did not appear that the laminate was wet, at least not from the top. This was somewhat puzzling, but I had to continue with my fix. I resealed the entire sole with unthickened West System Epoxy. 3 coats. I then clean, sanded some and primed the floor. Finally, I applied non-skid paint.
I have to say that the cockpit sole fix taught me my most valuable lesson on leaks, when it comes to boats. Water almost never comes from the most obvious place. The fix I employed did not fix the drip in the quarter berth. The problem turned out to be a leak under the companionway trim.
So I came by several valuable lessons doing this. First, I would rather pay someone to do the bottom job; but frankly, this is not always cost effective. Next, while water seeks its own level and lowest point, there is no telling what path it will take to get there. Its best to periodically make sure that the places you can’t easily see are sealed well. Finally, things that make one happy are often somewhat taxing physically and provide enough mental challenge to keep your interest but not overwhelm you.