Bulkhead replacement

[steve]

The starboard bulkhead (with the chainplate attatched) on my Catalina 27 is showing some rot on the lower section that is against the berth. The section is about one foot long by four inches high. I plan on replacing it. The boat is currently on a cradle about 2:15 minute drive from my house. My slip is about 10 minutes from my house (very protected and calm). My question is, can I just motor the boat up to my slip and replace the bulkhead while the boat is in the water or should it only be done on the hard. Having the boat only 10 minutes from my shop and tools would make it so much easier to work on. The is a new purchase and I recieved a very good price reduction on the boat.thankssteve

 

[Peter]

Bulkhead

Are you worried about the mast coming down while you're motoring back? I wouldn't be worried about that, unless it's blowing so hard that you shouldn't be out there anyway. I changed both bulkheads on my c27 at the dock. No problem whatsoever....although I changed one at a time, to reduce risk of having very little holding up my mast.