South African "Catalina" 22

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
So after the disappointing wood work results I decided to go back to the fiberglass side of thing! Another forum post talked about the "turning ball". This has been an item on my to-do list pretty much since I first looked over the boat at home and found this forum.

A year or more back a friend of mine brought out a replacement ball/shaft (sounds phallic!) kit from CD. He had a work contract in Fort Lauderdale. Anyways I thought I would see what's what.

Now to begin with the tube is installed inverted in my boat... the threaded part is facing up. So to get to the ball requires making holes through the "volcano" to get to the shaft of the ball! To complicate matters there seems to be another "shaft" across the tube above the turning ball. So the old pasrts must pass out under the boat and the new part must be inserted from under the boat! Nothing is simple or easy!

Out with measuring instruments and a few guestimates later I made the marks where I thought the shaft to be and proceeded to Dremel my way through the fiberglass. First hit was too low so I ended up creating and vertical oriented oval shape to find the shaft hole.

This done on both sides I noticed that the original turning ball shaft matches the colour of the tube... it must also be made of brass. My new replacement has a stainless shaft with a plastic tube inserted into the grooved turning ball. So a quick tap with a suitable drift punch and small hammer and Bob's your uncle it should pop right out..... Noooo, that would be way to simple and easy. Seems like I will have to drill out the shaft... a big four pound hammer applied none to delicately did not see the shaft even flinching... daylight ran out, desire ran out and I packed everything away for another try tomorrow!
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Sooo - for once bigger is not actually better! ;)

I tried hammering out the turning ball pin but no go! So I ended up drilling it out. This proved to be the correct choice as unknown to me from observation I could not see that the pin had been "peined" over on its ends and would never have come out with mere hammering!

Anyways the ball duly fell out the botom and I was all eager to install the new one... but alas... the new improved ball is "beeeger" than the old one :banghead:. Nothing is ever just straight forward :angry:. The part from CD does not match the size of the old one. Really pissed off about it if I think about what it took to get hold of the part!

So I will have to obtain the help of a friend who has a small model engineering lathe and try and turn it down to fit the tube in my boat. The old ball has been worn by the cable on one side only of the groove so it's not actually worth putting it back.
 

Attachments

May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
Greg, how 'bout replacing the pipe to fit the ball, yours looks a mite bit ratty? Think someone here did that, maybe Cloud Diver...just a thought...
 

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Greg, how 'bout replacing the pipe to fit the ball, yours looks a mite bit ratty? Think someone here did that, maybe Cloud Diver...just a thought...
"No way, Jose" ... I am now way beyond wanting to take backward steps in the rebuild (taking current medical condition into account...not even supposed to be working on the boat)! Machining the ball down on a lathe is well within my abilities... just flipping irritating.
 

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
I managed to get another low intensity workout job out the way... actually been meaning to do this since I dunno when! After the turning ball fail I tackled the through hull holes from the inside. I removed all three through hull fittings, two separate cockpit drains and one galley drain, and laid fiber glass cloth and epoxy from the outside of the hull when the boat was still upside down. There is three layers of cloth/epoxy laminate from the outside.

So it was clean away the area on the inside, slightly bevel the area to make like a dish shape recess and then refill and laminate from inside the boat. After cleaning and sanding there is still a fair thickness of original hull left (around 4mm at least). I decided to fill the void with a peanut butter mix of epoxy resin, silica filler, milled cotton fiber filler and short glass strands to add strength.

First was to wet out the holes and surrounding areas with straight epoxy, then fill in the holes and spread filling material out around the holes. Then I added four layers of cloth successively larger diameter wetted out with straight epoxy all nicely rolled out with a fin roller. Probably way over kill but in my mind I don't want "scuttling holes" to develop!

Forgot to take completed pictures!
 

Attachments

Last edited:
  • Like
Likes: Hardhead

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
So having finished with the through hulls I still had the day ahead of me... what to do next? Being inside the boat I decided to tackle the inner lining to hull/deck joint. Previously I had cut away the inner lining to get at the hull to deck joint to clean it out and then fill it in and then laminate it permanently. This would permanently tie the deck to the hull from the inside. After that I rebuilt the deck laminate. So I left it at that point of completion where the inner lining still needs to be tied back into the hull deck joint from the inside. In hindsight I should probably have completed the whole job while the boat was still upside down.

So it was a case of cleaning out and sanding as best as possible the gap between the hull and the inner lining... where my fingers could get in! Then it was a story of filling said gap with resin peanut butter mix as a bonding material and then pressing the lining against the hull with supporting planks and what-not while the resin glue cured. Then it was a case of sanding back the excess and shaping the edge to a chamfer to be able to apply more filler peanut butter over which I could put a strip of CSM to finish off the inner lining to inner deck/hull joint laminate... The brass bolts/nuts you can see are the fasteners for the actual hull to deck bolted joint. Left these in place in-case they may turn out to be handy for bolting on things... like stuff! man... like shelves or cup holders or something!

Anyways, as you will see by my face the job took hours, lots of effort, lots of bending my neck the painful way and lots and lots of sanding dust. I still need to finish off with a layer of white gel coat topcoat. But first the newly apply stuff must cure and my body/neck was to sore to carry on.

Actually very pleased and relieved to have gotten this part of the rebuild done. It was not so much the effort but the fiber glass dust and itching that was holding me back for ages!
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
So the month of July has been characterized by weather that's too cold for epoxy fiberglass work. So I have been getting on with some jobs... against doctors wishes but hey I gotta make progress!

A highlight for me was my eldest grandson and his step-cousin came to visit... boy's and boats... the world over I'm sure! My grandson is the one in blue and he has just turned 6!
 

Attachments

  • Like
Likes: Hardhead

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
I did get round to some metal work... making up the metal support posts for the trailer boat bunks. Made up four posts from equal angle mild steel. They are pretty solid and strong when welded up and could probably take more weight than the trailer can handle. They will be bolted to the trailers transverse frames. Short ones at the front end and long ones at the rear end of the bunks. Still a job in progress but it's a start. Idea is once all is built then the whole lot will go for galvanizing.
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Another job I have been tackling which actually leaves me with a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders is sanding the radius around the toe rail and coach roof. I previously filled the radius with fairing compound to even out the irregular curves from the laying of glass cloth on the deck. Using a small wooden block, gloves to stop my fingerprints from wearing off and strips of sand paper I got to the point where enough is enough and I'm happy with the radius all round. Next step is the final coating of epoxy prior to primer... BUT...

So today is the Winter solstice for us in South Africa. It has been storming like hell with winds gusting over 45 knots and lots of rain... I need a boat shed!

Anyone guess what my next project will be?
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
post #389 update... trailer bunk support posts.

Well Winter has been cold and wet so I have been continuing with other smaller tasks that can be done indoors. With the help of a friends workshop drill press I have managed to do lots of drilling! The trailer bunk posts have been drilled out to 12mm holes for bolting to the trailer. These will eventually go for galvanizing.

Still need to offer them up to the trailer to drill the trailer to accept the bolts.
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
While having the drill press available I got hold of some 316 stainless steel flat bar to fabricate my own new chain plates. There are 8 to make in total ... 3 per side and two aft. Frustratingly though is the quality of tools on sale in South Africa... the drills last maybe four holes if you lucky. 32 holes drilled in two stages then = lots of crap drills, whole lot more time and bags of frustration... oh and exercising the less acceptable side to my vocabulary. So now I am in search of a supplier that stocks decent drills made from decent materials. We also don't have the "order online today and it's delivered tomorrow" luxury like in the States and other first world countries. :( So buying the stuff will entail a half day off work and a long drive...
 

Attachments

Last edited:

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Keel update... since there are other posts about keel refurbs going up I thought I would add my own saga... So I have managed to epoxy coat, fair, epoxy coat sand and then wait for good weather. Problem is in the sanding stage some high spots cut right back to expose sufficient base metal which starts to rust, especial at the edges and corners. Weather is to cold for epoxy and its raining regularly. We need the rain...just not on my keel!

So on a previous weekend there was a break in the weather and I prepped to spray on a two part filler/primer. Sanding off the rustiness, cleaning and then wiping with Acetone. As luck would have it the shop supplied the wrong thinners type and it all went south. So, last weekend I was able to visit said supplier and voice my frustrations... bought the correct stuff and rushed home to make use of the calm sunny but cold weather window. Anyways, in summary the one side of the keel is done... well I'm done with it! It's as good as it's going to get!

Waiting for the filler primer to harden sufficiently to flip it over and work on the other half.... then it will be final painting.
 

Attachments

Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
Looking good Greg. When drilling SS it works best to use a much slower spindle speed than you would for mild steel. you also need to use drilling lubricant.
 

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Looking good Greg. When drilling SS it works best to use a much slower spindle speed than you would for mild steel. you also need to use drilling lubricant.
Hi... yeah I tried all sorts of speeds... forgot long ago how to calculate the correct speed for drilling and lathe work but over the years of machine shop work you get a gut feel for speed. It worked out to simply be cheap crap drills. I purchased the "three times more expensive" drill and got more drilling done with one expensive drill in one hour than the three previous days with six cheaper drills!

You gets what you pays for....
 
  • Like
Likes: Gene Neill

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Keel update: Managed to get help to flip the keel over and start work on the other side. I had previously epoxy coated and faired this side some few months ago. Very disappointed to see how the fairing compound does not seem to be water proof... epoxy two part fairing compound??? I had to chip away a large section towards the bulb end of the keel because it sounded hollow. Revealed rust under the fairing compound. Sanded all back to good surface again, sanded away rust as best as possible and then applied the two part polyurethane filler primer spray paint.

I still need to actually build up the section of the keel that fits into the keel box when in the down position. But sorting out the rust spots and covering the metal with the filler primer was more important right now. When the keel was cast it looks like it was laid flat in the mould and as the casting cooled it formed a concave dish on this side.

I had a little help from my little helper who came over to visit. He did some spray painting and then decided the wall on my garage needed decorating with the left over paint in the spray can! Boys... gotta love em!
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Been busy... but not on my boat! The L26 we use for sailing training for our maritime students needed a decent rack to support the Dan bouy and life ring. A weekend wood working project that I decided to tackle this past weekend.

An old piece of decking timber that I had lying around was just the donor item needed. A piece to Balau deck plank. Very hard wood. Came out rather "spiffy" if I do say so myself. Makes the boat a whole more safe for our young intrepid sailors.

The weather has been well below "epoxy curing temperatures" this past week and a bit... snow on the mountains! So actually I'm a bit stalled waiting on warmer weather. Two jobs: 1)Ready to prime the deck with some Interlux Interprotect epoxy primer and 2) fairing and shaping the second side of the keel.
 

Attachments

  • Like
Likes: Hardhead

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
The cockpit needs to be worked on. A job I have been leaving and leaving and leaving... well you get the picture... losing interest is a doggone problem!

The recesses around the cockpit seats hatch covers has gelcoat that is as badly rotted as everywhere else on the boat. I decided to tackle it during a relatively sunny afternoon. Of course I first had to improvise some kind of tool first. What I ended up with was a hole saw being used as a rotary scraper... similar to what I did to clean out the rotted gel coat from the keel slot.

This is still very much a job in dismal progress... the rotted gel coat is surprising hard to clean away and is actually wearing away the teeth of the cutting tool.
 

Attachments

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Keel update: Very depressed to see rust spots forming on the recently spray primer filler painted keel: refer post #397. So I went to sand it down only to see the sanding paper was getting seriously clogged up. I then took a scraper to the filler material to see that it scraped away in sheets! Something was wrong with the mix/it was to cold/damp evening air settled on it.... ei: complete waste of resources/time/money.

So it was out with the sander again and sand it back to as best surface as I can get with a sander. Then it was a case of redo the fairing compound filler material. The keel must have been made in a mould laying flat. As the metal cooled it sagged. So the flat part that fits into the keel slot in the hull = the lower surface became convex while the upper surface is concave. This equates to a keel that would not hang below the boat symmetrically. The keel laying on the wooden frame now has the convex surface facing down while the concave surface is facing up so that I can work on it. The gap is at least 1+1/2 cm's.

Then as the day was looking progressively more like rain I decided to build a trolley for the keel to push it under cover into my garage. Best decision I made for the keel so far... get it out of the cold damp winter air. The last picture is the keel on the trolley in my none to tidy over cluttered garage!

You may also spot the "health and safety inspector" checking my methods of single handed lifting the keel to get it onto the trolley!
 

Attachments