South African "Catalina" 22

greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
The next job was to deal with the keel lifting attachment area. The original hole had worn through and the PO answer to that was to just drill another hole lower down. I have deiced to cut out the damaged area in order to drill and tap a threaded hole to accept an 8mm eye bolt in the recess. However by this time my aches and pains were back and quite severe so decided to just clean off the keel and apply a sealing coat of epoxy resin to hold back the rust while I try and mend a bit.
 

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greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
On Friday 19th, before I did the keel job, I decided to do something about the "fillets" running the length of the toe rail on the deck either side, the moulded framework for the companion way sliding hatch and the coach roof moulded raised beading along the edges of the coachroof. I tried to use various plastic and wooden forms to get a good fillet shape but in the end I just used my fingers! The epoxy fairing compound is the pink colour stripes you see in the photos. Once cured I then used a shaped wooden block and some 80 grit paper to sand away the excess fairing compound and achieve a fairly consistent radius to the fillet. This was the job that caused most of my muscular pain again as it was fully manual labour intensive hand sanding.
 

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greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
It's been a while since I have posted here last. The news on my "muscular pain" turns out to be more problematic than I first thought. In the last four weeks I've tried over the counter tablets for pain and anti-inflamatory tablets, been to the Chiro, been to two GP's, been to two Physio's to try relieve what has now become a permanent pain and ache starting from the neck running down my left side and left arm to my fingers which now have a state of semi permanent pins and needles tingling feeling that varies with the activity I do. Last resort went for x-rays and got referred to a Neuro surgeon. Seems like an old injury I sustained to my neck while doing my National military service when I was 18 has flared up. So tomorrow morning I'm going for the MRI scan on my neck. Besides the pinched nerve, loss of some feeling and strength in the left arm, the Neuro doctor seems to think my C7 vertebrae has a fracture that he can see on the x-rays - old injury never correctly diagnosed or treated while I was serving my time in the SA navy.

So work has all but stopped on the boat. My wife says I walk around with a permanent list to starboard and a screwed up pain expression on my face. In short I'm pretty miserable and it was vacation time for us the last ten days! We did go away to our favourite places but it just wasn't as pleasant as it should have been.

I find it very difficult to sit around and do nothing so I keep busy with odd jobs... one being the temporary trailer bunks. I used old left over pieces of pine wood lumber to make the bunks. These were as it turns out a bit on the thin side. They also seem to have rotted although supposed to be treated. So where the vertical supports are developed into high spots and the lengths between the verticals turned into low spots. I could see that was bending the hull out of shape. I added the red line to the photo to indicate what I mean. So I bought new lumber with twice the thickness and had my "garden executive" router down and sand the edges and corners. He then applied 5 coats of wood sealer type varnish. I then purchased some self adhesive carpet tiles, cut them to sizes and applied them to the bunks. I then added staples just for belts and braces!

They are at the moment just sandwhiched in between the old bunks and the hull for the moment. I need to first see what the Neuro doctor has to say about further treatment of my neck before tackling making up the permanent steel frames to support the new bunks.

If you look carefully you can see the boats keel lying on blocks under my car. It needs to be sanded down, odd spots still to fill with fairing compound, sanded and final epoxy coating... then it needs to be flipped over and same routine carried out on underside. I'll need my "garden executive" to help with that though...
 

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greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Ok... so news from the MRI scan and Neuro surgeon is not good. Between old injury/arthritis/active lifestyle the nerve between C6/C7 in my neck is being pinched/damaged and will require surgery to try sort out. Talking about inserting plastic bits and screws into my neck...much like I've been doing on my boat to fix old wounds and general wear and tear!

While waiting to see the doc I did some light duty work on the boat companionway sliding hatch. Many moons ago I sanded off as much of the old gelcoat back to good solid original fiberglass. I then decided to beef it up by laying a new layer of CSM/resin under and on top surfaces. I then applied new white gelcoat to the inside/underside of the hatch cover but left the top unfinished. Itching to do something I figured the dremel and somelight sanding would not cause harm so I tackled all the excess bits of overlap and edges of the sliding hatch. I aslo had to fill in some voids and then once happy a light sanding all round and then a coat of epoxy resin with white pigment was applied to seal it. The pictures below are what I remebered to take before starting the work.

Upshot is doc recommends complete rest (I'm still having to do my normal daily job - it pays the bills!) but between him and SWAMBO the boat is now on hold. :(
 

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JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Sorry to hear that, follow those Dr orders and get well soon.
 
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Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
For lack of a more eloquent response, Greg ... that sucks. Hope the docs are as skillful with restoring vertebrae as you are with boats!
 
Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
Ok... so news from the MRI scan and Neuro surgeon is not good. Between old injury/arthritis/active lifestyle the nerve between C6/C7 in my neck is being pinched/damaged and will require surgery to try sort out. Talking about inserting plastic bits and screws into my neck...much like I've been doing on my boat to fix old wounds and general wear and tear!

While waiting to see the doc I did some light duty work on the boat companionway sliding hatch. Many moons ago I sanded off as much of the old gelcoat back to good solid original fiberglass. I then decided to beef it up by laying a new layer of CSM/resin under and on top surfaces. I then applied new white gelcoat to the inside/underside of the hatch cover but left the top unfinished. Itching to do something I figured the dremel and somelight sanding would not cause harm so I tackled all the excess bits of overlap and edges of the sliding hatch. I aslo had to fill in some voids and then once happy a light sanding all round and then a coat of epoxy resin with white pigment was applied to seal it. The pictures below are what I remebered to take before starting the work.

Upshot is doc recommends complete rest (I'm still having to do my normal daily job - it pays the bills!) but between him and SWAMBO the boat is now on hold. :(
That's terrible - I had a similar herniated disk issue in my neck, and wound up having surgery about 8 years ago. I had an artificial disk inserted, and it's like I'm brand-new. Recovery was a few months before anything strenuous really should have been done, but it was the best move I could have made. Make sure you have a good doctor, familiar with all the newer procedures. Good luck, and you'll be back at it before you know it.
 

greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Soooo.... sitting around and watching a half finished boat is realllllly getting me down... So I figured I'd try something a little light duty! I'm working towards sorting out the coach roof "roof" to final prep for paint. This means getting the wood work sorted to drill holes for the fasteners. The holes need to be drilled, epoxy filled and drilled again story.

So I hauled out the old sliding hatch rails. These have seen much better days but I thought let me sand and see. They are really rough, cracked and even dried out. The one is showing aging more then the other - lots more cracks/splits. Anyways I used 150 grit on a small sanding machine and had a go. Taking to long - out with the belt sander and some 80 grit! Trying not to hurt myself or the wood I went slowly and lightly sanding the rails. Except for the cracks/splits and frayed ends the wood cleaned up rather well to the point where I am wanting to re-use them. I still do need to widen the grooves for the hatch flanges as I did rebuild them.

My question to the wood workers on the forum is how to go about preserving the wood/filling the cracks/trying to "solidify" the wood in way of the cracks/splits? Should I just use thinned epoxy and soak it into the wood until it's saturated and filled?
 

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Sep 24, 2017
59
Catalina 22 #14720 Cheboygan
Not a wood expert, but you might try West Marine Get Rot or similar penetrating epoxy.
 
May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
the one w/split is pretty well kaput as you know, wouldn't waste time (or epoxy) on it, the other ok, I'd fashion a replacement for the worst, table saw, router, sander, done...push 'em thru a router (table) to widen the gooves....4-5 beers using Gene's excellent workload analogies (but use beers AFTER the router work, fingers matter!)
 
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Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
I've used Totalboat penetrating epoxy as a 1st finishing step on just about every boat woodworking project the past 4 years. I've had great luck with it, and it can really bring some pretty cracked up pieces back from the dead, IMO. I consider it the nuclear option. I'd let it soak up as much as it will take the 1st coat (thinned about 30% with denatured alcohol), then add another 1 or 2 after that full strength, then a very light sanding, then a spar varnish. It will have an end-result appearance like the finish is a little "thick," not really plasticy though in my opinion. It will really glue all those cracks and loose fibers together. I'm not sure if they ship directly to your area, but they also sell on Amazon. http://www.totalboat.com/product/penetrating-epoxy/
If it doesn't work to your satisfaction - it's really only an hour or 2's work beyond what you've already put into it. As stated, making new sliders is not too much trouble if you have all the good tools handy.
 
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Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
the one w/split is pretty well kaput as you know, wouldn't waste time (or epoxy) on it, the other ok, I'd fashion a replacement for the worst, table saw, router, sander, done...push 'em thru a router (table) to widen the gooves....4-5 beers using Gene's excellent workload analogies (but use beers AFTER the router work, fingers matter!)
I totally bow to your vastly superior knowledge of woodworking. I have to say though, even my dumb ass has pulled off some real miracles with broken stuff. This bulkhead trim section was totally shattered into umpteen pieces, but Titebond II put Humpty Dumpty together again. Been back in action for several years now. You can't even tell it was ever broken:

 
Dec 5, 2011
550
Catalina Catalina 22 13632 Phenix City
I'm no expert, but that's what I'd do. Let's ask @ShotgunSlim. ;)
Thanks Gene, I would probably buy lumber and build new ones. I'm a sucker for the look of teak on a boat and although it's just about unaffordable, Sapele is a good substitute. I just picked up a nice 8/4 chunk for a new cabin threshold on my last visit to Fl and had to really restrain myself from not buying enough for that new set of crib boards I want....
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
Thanks Gene, I would probably buy lumber and build new ones. I'm a sucker for the look of teak on a boat and although it's just about unaffordable, Sapele is a good substitute. I just picked up a nice 8/4 chunk for a new cabin threshold on my last visit to Fl and had to really restrain myself from not buying enough for that new set of crib boards I want....
Where did you find the Sapele for sale?

I drove from here to Riviera Beach last week for some Sapele plywood for the Albin Vega. 500 miles round trip, through the worst love bugs I have ever seen in my LIFE. It was a bona fide friggin' nightmare. (For you, Greg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug) ;)

How about a pic of that threshold when you get some finish on it??
 
May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
I totally bow to your vastly superior knowledge of woodworking. I have to say though, even my dumb ass has pulled off some real miracles with broken stuff. This bulkhead trim section was totally shattered into umpteen pieces, but Titebond II put Humpty Dumpty together again. Been back in action for several years now. You can't even tell it was ever broken:

Gene, (no bowing allowed, and I'm far from "vastly superior" by any stretch!!) Nice work on the bulkhead trim! Those sliding hatch rails are a different animal, a part under load from time to time, thus my suggestion to replace rather than repair. If repairing, epoxy is the way to go. Titebond III is good and waterproof, but not for this application, just 2 cents...
 
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greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
[QUOTE=" the worst love bugs I have ever seen in my LIFE. It was a bona fide friggin' nightmare. (For you, Greg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug) ;)
[/QUOTE]

Duly googled... we have a similar type of "lovebug" here in our area - aka my garden. They are mostly crawlers though. Will post a photo when I can.
 

greg_m

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May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Ok... so I spent a lot more time sanding and shaping the worst of the two pieces. It has a bit of a banana shape but due to the cracks it was also slightly swollen "oversize" so I could sand off some of the high spots to "straighten" it. Then I spent more time drilling out the rotten holes with a view to plugging them with some dowel rod and redrilling. Then I spent more time to set them up so I could router out the sliding grooves.

Upshot is that gravity, wear and tear has taken its toll. To clean up the groove and square it up again means that the left over wood between the deck and the sliding hatch rail is so thin it would not hold up to more wear and tear. What was worse is the groove showed a crack along most of it's length splitting it in half. Photos when I can.

So it's out with the old and in with the new! I will make up a pair of new ones and hand rails as well. Nice project... a change from fiberglass work!
 

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May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
Where did you find the Sapele for sale?

I drove from here to Riviera Beach last week for some Sapele plywood for the Albin Vega. 500 miles round trip, through the worst love bugs I have ever seen in my LIFE. It was a bona fide friggin' nightmare. (For you, Greg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug) ;)

How about a pic of that threshold when you get some finish on it??
LOL, I recall those bugs when my folks lived in FL...what a PITA, bug shields on cars pretty necessary to save your paint jobs!
 
Dec 5, 2011
550
Catalina Catalina 22 13632 Phenix City
Where did you find the Sapele for sale?

I drove from here to Riviera Beach last week for some Sapele plywood for the Albin Vega. 500 miles round trip, through the worst love bugs I have ever seen in my LIFE. It was a bona fide friggin' nightmare. (For you, Greg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug) ;)

How about a pic of that threshold when you get some finish on it??
Weisse Hardwoods, Largo, Florida. They do have some teak there too but not in any great sizes or quantity and its not too far from the Catalina plant either. If you need some Gene, I'll be glad to drop it off with you next time I'm down there with my family. It may be a couple of months between now and then though, this new job with the company is killing off what little free time I used to have.