hairline cracks in a new boat which has not sailed

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Z

zoulu

Has anyone encountered the same problem. We just bought a new 2007 which has not seen the water yet but we noticed on the deck in the cockpit, mast base, stanchions, toe rails and around hatches and in the corners of the long interior windows stress cracks everywhere.
 

Jim

.
May 21, 2007
775
Catalina 36 MK II NJ
The dealer should fix them

they are cosmectic or so they say.
 
Z

zoulu

They have told us it would be repaired by the Marina but our conern is, do we have a problem with the Fiberglass that we should be aware of before our warranty expires. Is Catalina able to analyse this problem and find the underline cause of all these cracks... Thanks
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Congratulations as a new C34 owner

If you bought your boat brand new, as it appears, you will be come a member of the C34 International Association for a year for free, courtesy of Catalina Yachts. One of our association's roles is to maintain the C34 website at www.c34.org. I encourage you to visit, specifically for C34 related issues. Your question has been discussed on our Message Board, which is searchable. One relevant post is this one: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3020.0 Please join us at the C34 website for information specific to your new boat. Stu Jackson C34 IA Secretary
 
Z

zoulu

Thank you Stu, we will take a look at the link you have attached. From what we can see, Catalina seems to take care of their clients so we will take pictures as our dealer has also done and wait to see Catalina's response. We will let you know. Zoulu
 
W

Waffle

I would

refuse the boat. A new boat should be new. Stu is a nice guy but he is offen wrong or offer no useful advice.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
In addition

Here's another link to the Message Board that should be helpful to you: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1506.0 The Main Message Board link is: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?board=11.0 A good "starter kit" for finding your way around the C34 website is: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=2629.0
 

Jyates

.
Jun 5, 2007
3
Catalina 350 Long Beach, CA
Hairline cracks

I had a similar problem when I had purchased a Catalina 380 in 1999 and I took delivery in August 2000. Within 4 months, I noticed hairline cracks around the cleats and some of the stanchions. All were on the stern of the boat. I called the dealer and he told me that was normal wear and tear for a boat and they did not think it was a problem. I don't think so. They finally agreed, although belately, to send someone to the marina and repair it. Whoever they sent did a beautiful job and I never saw another crack anywhere up to the time I sold the boat last year. You would never have noticed that it was repaired. Would I refuse to accept the boat? Don't know as it may just be a gelcoat issue that is easily fixed like mine was, but then again, mine at least had been sailing quite a bit for 4 months. I have had bad luck with Catalina and gelcoat. They sprayed the wrong gelcoat inside my 350, so all the storage lockers and bins were really sticky. Only took them about 6-7 months of calling to fix a problem they at least informed me of prior to me taking the boat. The fix was suppossed to be done prior to taking the boat, but the gelcoat person was "never available". I guess I would have found out sooner or later. I wonder sometimes who does Catalina's quality control on these boats before they leave the factory as I think it needs a whole lot of improvement.
 
Z

zoulu

We have already paid for the boat and our objectif is to find out if it's possible to get to the underline cause of the cracks as we are very well aware of the fact that a new boat may have it's quarks. We still love our boat very much and have the intention of sailing her for many years to come. For know the boat is under full warranty as it's commissioning is not complete. We are hopefull that Catalina will respond in a positive manner regarding our claim. Our worry is the cause and what will happen after the warranty expires. Thanks and Thank you Stu for your links. Zoulu
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
You're welcome and

with a hull # like that your boat should be in Philadelphia! :) Welcome again. I recommend following up as discussed in my first link. If you do NOT get satisfactory results from your dealer, call Frank Butler. Really. And if that doesn't work, post on the C34 Message Board. Actually would be worthwhile to do so today and bring it up to the members and the Association's attention. Your description indicates that while more places of problems exist on your boat than other reports, it appears that it is a gelcoat not structural issue.
 
Jun 4, 2004
19
Catalina - Myrtle Beach
Document, Document, Document

If it were me I'd document the condition in a letter with photos not only to the dealer / marina where you took delivery but also to Catalina. You might even refuse to have the boat splashed until the condition is corrected and is not unreasonable. If so also demand to have your warranty extended from the date it is splashed. I know that this would impact your planned Summer use but you loose leverage once its in the water and you sail it away. I've been visiting this site for the last 7 years and I always see how people are satisfied after contacting Frank Butler so I'm sure you'll get the issue fixed sooner or later but its also a shame that it seems that it often has to get to Frank's attention. Especially for such small issues. The boating industry seems less likely to supply reasonable warranties than say the auto industry. I think a 1 year warranty is pretty meager considering the cost and complexity of a boat. And when you consider maybe half of that time is on the hard during winters in northern locations. You've paid a lot of money and will certainly get a lot of enjoyment from your new boat but it also should be right from the beginning and Catalina should be anxious to fix this immediately. You might just need to encourage that anxiousness out of Catalina.
 
Z

Zoulu

Hi, Thanks for the advice. We have come to a hard decision to not accept an in water delivery as long as our boat is not repaired and having a written guarantie from Catalina that either we get an extended warranty or they get to the bottom of the problem. This is to much of a large investment for us to accept this situation. It's unfortunate because up here we have a very short sailing season and our dockage is already fully paid for the season. I guess it puts a damper on the excitment of owning a new boat. Zoulu
 
Apr 10, 2006
47
- - St. Petersburg, Fl
Call Frank

I think Frank Butler takes care of warranty problems for Catalina. He is the top man at Catalina. I try to get in contact with him. Sorry to hear about your trouble. It would be very upsetting to me.
 
W

Waffle

I think they can be sanded out

Not uncomman and they can be sanded out.
 
C

Chic

Gelcoat Repair

Having done a fair amount of Gelcoat work on our C36 as well as other boats I can only give you my thoughts on your concern. First off, Gelcoat is generally a very thin coating applied to a mold before lay up mainly for one purpose which is Asthethics. Spider cracking is usually caused by one of the following reasons: Impact or Sailing Stress. Clearly in your case neither is the cause so my thoughts are that it was a result of to thin a layer upon layup and then the stress applied during trucking to your location. If this is the case a repair will be all that will be necessary for your boat to be good as new. When applying the new gelcoat insist on a thicker coating via a spray gun. This will help build up the areas of concern and help to stabalize the situation and prevent any re occurance. As for structural damage the only way to determine if this is in fact a problem is to have a GOOD SURVEYOR look at it. They will be able to tell you if there are voids in the layup under the damaged areas. Spend the money NOW! while you have some leverage with your dealer and Catalina. If you wait forget about having leverage. As a side note. Before buying our 36 we bought a NEW boat from another manufacturer and our contingency was that it had to pass survey before accepting the boat. The dealer was a bit surprised by my contingency but accepted it without much of an argument. New boat comes in, Surveyor looks it over and we find over a 75 voids in the deck alone. Some small but a lot of large voids right under the surface of the deck. Bottom line we refused boat and that set off a chain of events with the manufacturer who ultimately sent VP of Manufacturing to look at the boat with me, the dealer, my surveyor. Bottom line is the boat was hauled back to the factory for analysis (probably not and just put into a charter fleet). The moral of the story is GET A SURVEY NO MATTER IF ITS A NEW BOAT OR USED!!!!!!!. Too much money to gamble and chance on a manufacturer, Catalina included. Good Luck and keep us posted on your results.
 
Nov 27, 2005
163
- - West Des Moines, Iowa
LOL. That is FUNNY ;D

Having Waffle actually say to someone else " he is offen (sic) wrong or offer no useful advice" Talk about the stove calling the kettle black !! I rarely see someone as wrong as Waffle and what he posts. All too often Stu usually has his facts straight and he usually adds helpfull links. Something I rarely see others do. Zoulu, I wouldn't get too "wound-up" about what you are seeing in the gelcoat, just make sure you document it and show your Boat Dealer and tell them you want it fixed. I know someone else that had a few things and I hear Catalina has someone they send around the country that fixes these types of things You didn't post any pictures so I am not sure what the extent is. There are cracks anbd then there are cracks. Many times new boats have fine "spider web" fine cracks that are barely visible to the eye and if you rubbed your fingers over them you couldn't even feel it. Unless the cracks are deep I doubt they are anything but cosmetic
 
Z

Zoulu

Hi, Your right that Stu is very helpful. We can definately feel all the cracks and some in particular are capable of receiving a finger nail. We have a very short sailing season here and we were told that our boat would probably only be fixed next season. We will call a meeting with our dealer this Saturday and make them aware of our intentions if this situation is not taken care of this season. For the moment, we are not accepting an in water delivery as long as the boat is not fixed. A new boat is to expensive to accept it in it's current condition.
 
Z

zoulu

Thanks Chic, Our intention is to have a survey done but we can't seem to find someone qualified. Could you let us know who you used and would it be possible for this person to contact us. We will definately not accept a boat in this condition. We have already sent a letter to our dealer and copied Catalina. If we don't get entire satisfaction then we will return the boat to Catalina. We were told that the Reeds who travel from state to state for Catalina are on the verge of retirement or already retired. Here is our e-mail: annickhupperetz@sympatico.ca Thanks for your help
 
W

Waffle

Re: LOL. That is FUNNY

You have to admit one thing, I was right about the boat Seadance was looking at! Point for me, none for Old Salt! Stu was right about contacting Catalina about the warrenty work but I am right about not accepting delivery of a boat your not happy with! I don't care if you paid for it or not! If the boat has "stress cracks everywhere" there might have been a problem during the setup process. This problem could lead to bigger problems, like blisters down the road. I would tell Catalina to send a new boat or discount this one! I know they offer a production boat at lower cost, but that is no excuss for shoty workmanship: just lower quality!
 
W

Waffle

question for zoulu

who is paying for the survey? This is not acceptable! Tell them you don't want the boat. I know you like it. What is not to like, great layout, nice brand new boat. Believe me they jump when you tell them you don't want it!
 
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