Purchased a Catalina 27

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Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Well I did it. I bought a 1980 Catalina 27. Boat appears to be in pretty good shape. I've gone over it inch by inch. It has the Atomic 5411 Universal 2 cylinder diesel 11 hp. Down below need some sprucing up but nothing I can't handle. Bulkheads all sounded like they were in good shape. Sounded out the deck all around and the return sounded was good. I'm sure I will find some core that needs repairing but there were no soft spots or delamination it could detect. It has been out of the water for almost 3 years. When I first went to look at it I half expected it to be a bathtub with a foot of water in it. But no just a little in the bilge. It has a decent number of sails with it. Other boats I've looked at never had anything more than a main, working jib and genoa. This has only one main but 4 other head sails.
I will have a ton of questions for the forum. The first one will be about the windows. I'm sure they leak some water. I will take the current ones out and do a resealing job just to get me through the winter to eliminate any more leakage from that source.
Anyway, I congratulate myself and am looking forward to getting things underway.
 
Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
My previous boat was a 1985 Cat 27 with a Universal diesel. It was one of the best sailing boats I've ever owned. You'll love this boat. Good luck with her.
 

jrowan

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Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
The 5411 diesel is very reliable, & a good size output for the C 27, but is a bit underpowered for my 80 C-30. Check & change the fluids before running if they haven't been already & check the packing gland for excessive leakage. Make sure your bilge pump works properly. You're kinda buying her at the end of the sailing season, but tinkering & maintenance are what keeps me busy over the winter. Good luck.
 
Apr 5, 2010
565
Catalina 27- 1984 Grapevine
First thing on those windows, just try gently tightening the screws. sounds obvious, but I didn't think of it for several months when I first bought the boat, way back when it once rained around here.
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
First thing on those windows, just try gently tightening the screws. sounds obvious, but I didn't think of it for several months when I first bought the boat, way back when it once rained around here.
I reselaed the port forward widow because I could see quite a few gaps in the bonding material around the window. That stopped a pretty good size leak I was getting that left a lot of water in the bottom of the hanging locker. I'm also getting a leak from inside the anchor locker where a wire for the starboard bow running light runs through the aft end of the locker. There was water left on the small shelf in the V-birth that utlimately dripped down the V-birth bulkhead part of which is rotted. I'll have to replace that bulkkhead completely.
 
Apr 5, 2010
565
Catalina 27- 1984 Grapevine
That leak over the hanging locker is probably dripping in more from the fittings around the chainplate, I have same problem, and, as it is raining at the moment will go out and mop up some water today. That shelf in the v-berth is more of a nuisance than anything and we took it out, giving a lot more room, and you can now lay your head up there. All these leaks typically follow trails like wires and channels and are difficult to trace, same problems in RVs, which these boats are floating varieties thereof. Luckily, Catalina stopped mounting bow lights on the sides and went to pulpit mounted models, thus, no leaking. Honestly, I'd be real tempted to remove those existing lights and seal those holes up. The water in bottom of anchor locker is "supposed" to drain into bilge via a 3/4" hose, and these are easily clogged.
 

jrowan

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Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
"That shelf in the v-berth is more of a nuisance than anything and we took it out, giving a lot more room, and you can now lay your head up there."
Say, I thought that you were supposed to put your feet up at the bow, not your head! Man, if U were underway doing that a good wave would knock U unconscious. Maybe then you could sleep better, since the V birth is pretty much useless for sleepin in, unless the boat is in dead calm or in a slip! lol.
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Contacted a fiberglass guy (One that has looked at the boat-my second quote mentioned above) and told him that I had about 90% of the wood removed from the keel stub. He cautioned that I should put more support under the hull, like some additional jackstands, because now the keel structure is weaker and the weight of the hull will put more stress on the bottom skin of the keel stub. I contacted Catalina and the engineer I talked to said that the bottom laminations are probably 3/4 inch thick in the keel stub and there is no problem clearing out the wood stub. I ended up putting a couple of 2 x 4's with pads on each side of the hull next to the keel as additional hull support.
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
I pulled my bow pulpit and lifelines off the boat, drilled oversized holes and filled them with an thickened epoxy mixture. This will eliminate the possibility of water getting into the deck core from these openings. The good thing I found after drilling was that there was virtually no wet core. Everything was dry. All I really have to worry about now is the thru deck shrouds and the various blocks and winches. I think I still have a couple leaks to find and I need to get those solved before winter. I probably use some tarps if I don't find all the leaks.
 
Dec 29, 2011
43
Catalina 27 Kootenay Lake
Ahoy Ajay 73. I too have a Catalina 27. I found article s on the
www.sailmagazine.com and in there book that outlined the right way to do most jobs... windows. Reinforcing rigging etc. Very comprehensive. I ve enjoyed sailing her and found that they sail quite well. . Although some seem to feel there's a rudder issue...too large?.
I haven't noticed this myself as yet..
maybe reversing a Little. Enjoy da boat...
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Ahoy Ajay 73. I too have a Catalina 27. I found article s on the
www.sailmagazine.com and in there book that outlined the right way to do most jobs... windows. Reinforcing rigging etc. Very comprehensive. I ve enjoyed sailing her and found that they sail quite well. . Although some seem to feel there's a rudder issue...too large?.
I haven't noticed this myself as yet..
maybe reversing a Little. Enjoy da boat...
Kootenay, thanks for that link. Lotss of good info there.
 
Jul 8, 2011
26
Catalina C27 Noank, Ct
Ajay - I have a 1981 C27, and have just finished a major rework this summer with new bulkheads, resealing all the ports, engine work, electrical work, rebedding deck hardware, etc. Catalina direct sells a kit that allows you to reseal all the ports, with all the gasket material, 4200, gasket sealer, instructions, etc. Best $100 I spent this year, and all my windows look like new and are leak free. I also replaced my bulkheads due to rot, and you should check carefully the area where the chainplate comes thru the deck and mounts to the bulkhead, especially inside the head and the port locker.

Tom
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Ajay - I have a 1981 C27, and have just finished a major rework this summer with new bulkheads, resealing all the ports, engine work, electrical work, rebedding deck hardware, etc. Catalina direct sells a kit that allows you to reseal all the ports, with all the gasket material, 4200, gasket sealer, instructions, etc. Best $100 I spent this year, and all my windows look like new and are leak free. I also replaced my bulkheads due to rot, and you should check carefully the area where the chainplate comes thru the deck and mounts to the bulkhead, especially inside the head and the port locker.

Tom
Tom, on my boat the starboard bulkhead with the chainplate has been replaced by a previous owner but he used a construction plywood (AC Exterior type) but the finish he put on is really ugly but I think it is solid. I may replace that with some teak or mahogany veneered marine plywood but that is down on the list. I need to paint the deck because the gelcoat is so faded and there are many little stress lines in the gelcoat in the corners in the cockpit and where the deck meets the cabin. I've painted boats before and it really goes fast and doesn't take a lot of prep if the glass and core is good. I probably will also paint the topsides of the hull as the gelcoat is faded and I don't relish the thought of running a buffer over it 3 or 4 times to bring it back. My windows have quite a few leaks and I think I'm going to replace them to look like the updated windows that the C27's went with in the mid 80's and make them much more leakproof. I'm going make an inside frame out of 1/2 inch marine plywood that overlaps the opening then build the overlap out to where I can place the window into the opening and be flush with the outside of the cabin. I will have to seal the gap between the inner and outer fiberglass skins around the openings but that can be done with a thickened epoxy mixture fairly easily. I bought some smoked 1/4 inch plexiglass for the windows. I will bed the windows either with butyl tape and use screws (with oversized holes for expansion/contraction of the plexiglass) or maybe use the Dow 790 which will not require using screws. Maybe there is a possibility of just using the old window glass rather than the plexiglass. I like the cleaner look of the updated windows and I think they will be much more leakproof. This will be a big, big job but the result will be worth it. I've seen replacement windows by Crusing Comcepts but they overlap the outside and I don't think that looks as good as an inset window and plus they are $900+. The plexiglas I bought was around $80. Lot of work ahead for me but I enjoy working on boats.
 

jrowan

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Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
Ajay, Be REALLY CAREFUL when drilling plexiglass as it can chip and crack really easily. Also, be even more careful when using fasteners to screw it down to the cabin portlight frames. An excessive or uneven torque on the plexi will also cause cracking. We replaced the cracked Lexan on our old O'Day 35 which is very similar to what U want to do. After all that work the smoked plexi cracked AGAIN after about 6 months from the natural torque & minor flexing in the hull & deck from sailing to weather. Very frustrating. That's why I actually prefer the real glass ports in the older C 30's like ours. They may leak around the perimeter cheap aluminum frames, but they don't crack like cheap a$$ friggin plexiglass! Also, I recently replaced the forward ports with the opening Lewmar # 2 type Ocean series. Awesome upgrade. Don't waste your time with the plexi, but do go for the replacement forward ports. That U won't regret.
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Jrowan, thanks for the info. Yeah, I've seen that warning in other discussions about window replacement. I want to find out what Catalina used in their windows when they went with the new style. For some reason I'm thinking they are some sort of plastic, maybe polycarboate(lexan) which I think can be drilled easier than acrylic. As I said above I think I can go with the Dow 795 and go without screws. I'm also wondering if I can't use the old glass from the existing windows. Don't know if you can drill glass successfully or not.
 

Ajay73

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Jun 11, 2011
253
Catalina 1980 C27 Meinke Marina on Lake Erie
Jrowan, after doing some reading (thinking) on this I think what I will do is use the Dow 795. What I can do is screw the inside 1/2 inch plywood frame to the surrounding fiberglass and use the overlap into the opening to set the plexiglass window in Dow 795. That way I can unscrew the windowframe from the fiberglass and remove the entire window/frame assembly. I would seal the windowframe to the fiberglass with butyl tape. I would use nuts and bolts on the frame and have the head of the screw on the outside of the cabin. This will take some work but since I won't have to do any work on the opening in the cabin itself it shouldn't be too difficult. One thing I wanted to be able to do is remove the windows if necessary and that is why I initially didn't want to use 795. I think that like 5200 it's kind of a permanent bond. I was thinking initially of epoxying the 1/2 inch plywood frame to the cabin fiberglass. But the thru bolts and butyl will achieve a sufficiently rigid attachment.
 
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