Bilge worries

[Dan Batrynchuk]

Hi everyone. I have found a problem in the bilge of my 1987 C30. At first it looked like delamination of the gelcoat or first layer of fiberglass.I started to chip away at the first layer and found wood under the first quarter of an inch of the fiberglass.What a surprise.I was instructed by Catalina yachts to remove this wood and to lay up new fiberglass using three layers of glass.I chipped the wood, wet piece by wet piece, lo and behold, this wood was one and a half inches thick solid mahogany.Has any one ever run into this problem, and how did the repair go. I'm really interested to Know.Also, to totally remove the wood from the extreme end of the bilge under the engine,the engine looks like it would have to be removed.Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks Dan

 

[R.W.Landau]

Catalina

Dan,Catalina is in the boat business. They are the best in customer service. What they have told you is what I would do.The design of a boat and it's parts are important to it's structure. If they told you, they researched it. As in any produce, problems exist. Catalina gets alot of calls on different things, not because they are bad boat builders, but because of trying to use different materials that react differently under varied conditions.If you did not hear all that they said, call them back and fix it like they tell you to.If you under reinforce the fiberglass you are weakening the boat. If you over reinforce you could create hard spots that don't give as they should.Rereading this it sounds harsh. I don't mean for it to sound harsh, I want you to know that Catalina backs their boats.r.w.landau

 

[Hayden Watson]

Model change?

I have heard that Catalina changed the bilge design to solid fiberglass at some point. Does anyone know when that was done?Hayden WatsonPapillon'88 C30 tr/bs

 

[Richard]

Catalina responds

I contacted Catalina and he sent this responce. Unfortunately the file was too big to put in the photo fourm. E-mail me directly and I'll send the drawing to you.RGrichard@gresham.comDan, I don't have an exact hull number, but it was somewhere around5250. I have attcahed the drawing incase you haven't seen it. Thanks!David Graas Customer Service/Tech Support