Okay, I've probably gotten more serious about removing the moldy "hellcloth" liner from my 1987 Cal 28-2 than any other owner I know of, so here's a summary of the exercise for those of you contemplating the job. This project can be done 2 ways: you can remove the cloth, give a light surface cleaning to the glue patches underneath, and glue new material on top. This is the most time/cost/aggravation saving method and should get nice results. The wildcard here is the dumb**s foam lining, which may take almost as much work to remove as the glue itself. If you choose this method skip down to my description of which woodwork has to be removed to get at things). The other method, for those of us who labor under the illusion we're going to do it "right" and fix the problem forever is to remove the old glue, paint the hull with a nice hard epoxy paint, and attach the new carpet with velcro or carpet tape so that we can undo it later with the same nightmarish effort. That's the route I went... You also have the choice of doing a complete or partial removal. The bad news is that none of the sections is dead simple to remove. Find the description of your preferred section below. My suggestion for a partial project is consider removing cloth on horizontal surfaces because they hold standing water; vertical surfaces drain themselves quickly and the cloth can probably be kept mold-free with care. Estimated time for complete removal of cloth, foam backing, and glue from entire boat: 50 hours. Expect to frighten yourself with how many wooden pieces you'll dismantle in the process... Materials. The best adhesive remover for method 2 is the West Marine house brand that comes in the spray pump bottle. For some reason West stocks this stuff in their warehouse but does not restock their stores when they run out, so you may have to request it. It's really the only thing to use because you're going to get it on everything including yourself, but it's not petroleum based, so it won't permanently stain your liner gelcoat or give you cancer. It is flammable (I think it's alcohol-based). You'll need at least 10 pump sprayers to do all the hull surfaces, at about $13 a bottle. You'll also need wire barbecue grill brushes and lots of rags or sponges. The brushes will have to be thrown away when they've absorbed as much glue as they can hold, so again you'll need about 10-20 at around $6.95 each. You'll also need sharp scissors and some kind of bladed scraper for removing the foam that stays when the cloth is removed. The cloth is applied in zones, so here's a summary of how to remove it: Transom--the crescent-shaped piece on the floor requires cutting around the through-hulls if you're not going to replace them at the same time. Someone has to be small enough to get in the locker to reach to the back corner. Same with the transom piece; you'll have to cut around the ladder hardware. Forget about removing the transom port frame, it's glued on with adhesive caulk. quarterberth--the long rectangular piece is easy to remove; if you don't want to deal with the nightmare of the galley give it a clean cut with a sharp knife at the edge of the fiddle rail . galley--the worst area. There are hoses, vents, propane line and wiring inside the cabinet. The cabinet itself seems to be screwed onto a fiberglass liner which requires a mirror and yoga to even find. I don't consider the wood cabinet viable for removal, though undoing all the screws will allow you to shift it down a little to remove cloth and glue where it meets the hull. DO NOT puncture the propane line as you're working. The good news is that the divided rack behind the stove is actually a separate piece that can be unscrewed from above and removed (with some careful maneuvering or some corner-cutting). settee cabinets--these are also not removable. the decorative slats below the cabinets are not removable, so don't be losing too many little scraps of foam debris down the back. The decorative slats are attached to a wood backing and the whole thing would require undoing the shroud rods to remove. head cabinets--like a small version of the settee cabinets. A hand-held mirror and flashlight will facilitate working in these cabinet spaces. V berth--not as gruesome as the galley, but involves a lot of time dismantling shelves and lockers to not have little raggedy cloth and foam pieces behind dividers. Removing just the top of the locker may give you enough access to cut the starboard piece at the edge of the locker wall. A lot of acreage of cloth in this area, but if you have allergies and sleep mainly in this berth this may be the only area you'll want to do. Removing the old glue is an unbelievable ordeal involving pulling off old cloth, spraying the foam backing with adhesive remover and scraping that off, saturating the glued hull area with adhesive remover and attacking it with scrapers and wiping rags. When you think you've got an area done you'll come back the next day to find the glue you missed by it's color in the light. I don't regret undertaking that, but I've also dismantled lockers and undertaken other repairs to maximize the benefit from the torture. Clearly the cloth lining and unfinished wood hatches are going to be the death of most of the 1985-89 Cal28's (and 33's)in the long run. Few owners will have the nerve required to tear the boat down enough to do this the way it must be done...
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Sorry everyone, this was meant for CAL forum
Sorry everyone, this article was meant for the Cal forum. Like many before I haven't figured out what the software is really doing with our answers to "brand" and "model"...
Sorry everyone, this article was meant for the Cal forum. Like many before I haven't figured out what the software is really doing with our answers to "brand" and "model"...
No different for any other boat.
Rich: Your process would be the same for any other boat too. An alternative would be to epoxy stringers onto the hull and attach wood battens. This would also allow you to place some insulation in there to help prevent some of the condensation that forms on the inside of the hull and causes this mold from forming. PS: I have never heard about anyone saying that this was an easy procedure, so you are not alone.
Rich: Your process would be the same for any other boat too. An alternative would be to epoxy stringers onto the hull and attach wood battens. This would also allow you to place some insulation in there to help prevent some of the condensation that forms on the inside of the hull and causes this mold from forming. PS: I have never heard about anyone saying that this was an easy procedure, so you are not alone.
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