Sooo... I just purchased my first sailboat, a 1980 Catalina 27 in great working condition, but in need of some TLC. I'm in the process of budgeting out all of the suggested repairs, maintenance, and upgrades in the forums but I'm running into the problems finding replacements for the the deeply bleached gray and cracking exterior teak. I searched the forums and found lots of input about cleaning/sanding/oiling the old teak. I also found great info about using oak or synthetic replacements. However I'd like to stick with teak and seems like mine is far beyond repair. CatalinaDirect offers most of the needed pieces. However, they do not seem to offer the "sliders" mounted to the top deck that hold down the companionway hatch. I've exhausted my internet searching ability and still cannot find the parts. Please and thank you for your help.
Catalina 27 companionway hatch slider replacement
- Thread starter brentthemountainguide
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In case you haven't tried yet, the Catalina factory may have them. I know the maintain a large parts inventory.. ask for customer service or parts dept.
Catalina Yachts • 21200 Victory Boulevard • Woodland Hills, California 91367 • Phone 818 884-7700
Catalina Yachts Florida • 7200 Bryan Dairy Rd • Largo, FL 33777 • Phone 727-544-6681
Catalina Yachts • 21200 Victory Boulevard • Woodland Hills, California 91367 • Phone 818 884-7700
Catalina Yachts Florida • 7200 Bryan Dairy Rd • Largo, FL 33777 • Phone 727-544-6681
I recently did a renovation on a 1976 Catalina 30, and I had the same problem with the teak.
I took everything out, took it to the house and went to town on it with a sander and a router if necessary. The gray will sand off but may take some of the routed detail out of it. That's where the router comes in handy. It's a lot of work, but worth it in the end. After I had everything sanded I finished everything with Epiphanes glossy varnish and it looks great.
I took everything out, took it to the house and went to town on it with a sander and a router if necessary. The gray will sand off but may take some of the routed detail out of it. That's where the router comes in handy. It's a lot of work, but worth it in the end. After I had everything sanded I finished everything with Epiphanes glossy varnish and it looks great.
You may want to check the condition of the fiberglass hatch flanges that ride in those rails. Mine were worn so thin that they had to be refurbished (built back up with cloth and resin). Getting new rails properly aligned, bedded, and screwed in place is not something you want to do twice. Believe me I know. If you find you need some direction on rebuilding those flanges let me know. I did all this last winter.
Brent, I have the same year boat and the same weathered teak. My hand rails have deep crevices(as do my hatch rails) in them that have been tough to get out but I used a teak cleaner and brightener (Starbrite) and they have done a decent job. I will try to sand out the remaining crevices and then Cetal the handrails. As far as the hatch cover rails I may try something different, hopefully an improvement. I'm thinking of using strips of aluminum that the hatch cover would slide on and use a mahogany stock to provide the top piece over the aluminum. The mahogany would have to be routed to provide a slot over the aluminum for the hatch to slide in. I think the hatch would slide much easier on the aluminum than they do in the teak slotted OEM rails. The mahogany of course would be first epoxied and then varnished to prevent rot. Mahogany is locally available for almost anyone and quite a bit cheaper than teak.
That's what I thought when I bought my boat. But you'd be surprised how teak can be restored. The old grayness comes from oils that have been carbonized by the UV rays of the sun. Don Casey's book walked me through everything, including scrubbing them out with acid, restoring the oil, etc. In the end I went with spar varnish and honest-to-God it looks like new.
I would recommend "Hull and Deck Repair" and "Sailboat Refinishing", both by Don Casey. You can buy used copies from Amazon pretty cheaply.
I wish I had a "before" image so you could see the gray crappy condition of the trim it was before I started. I found this photo of us anchored off Catalina last March, you can see enough of the trim to see how it turned out (don't tell the wife I posted this - it didn't catch her at her best moment
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Filler Stain is a good product to have on hand when re-finishing wood, or building new. Filler stain does what the name implies, fillls grain and small crevices to provide a flatter smoother surface prior to finishing. Consider a filler stain on freshly acetone-wiped wood, prior to your varnish. It will give you a flatter build more quickly than if you go with varnish straight to wood.
Regardless your choice, don't forget the acetone cleaning step first. The oils that turned the wood dark are still present in the freshly sanded wood, and the surface needs to have the oils removed or your varnishing system will not make a good mechanical bond, kinda like painting ice if you will....
Regardless your choice, don't forget the acetone cleaning step first. The oils that turned the wood dark are still present in the freshly sanded wood, and the surface needs to have the oils removed or your varnishing system will not make a good mechanical bond, kinda like painting ice if you will....
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