CAtalina 30 Main Bulkhead replacement

[ron albert]

Hi all.

Anyone ever replaced the main bulkhead on a Catalina 30. Mine is water damaged and cosmetically ugly. I am told they are screwed and bolted in place. Does this mean they come out and can be replaced with relative ease??? Has anyone tried this and willing to share their expeience?

Ron Albert
Newburyport MA

 

[SailingWebGuy]

Yeah I just did all mine this winter. It's not too hard. Aside from just removing some screws you'll have to take out the compression post, chainplates, and maybe the sanitation hose and incoming water hose for your head.

Save the bulkhead to trace it's outline on new wood. FYI - the main bulkhead is wider than 4'. Unless you find an oversized sheet of ply you'll have to get a little crafty. Take a close look at the left/top side of the bulkhead...you may be able to see a seam. I didn't notice it til I had the bulkhead out of the boat.

 

[SailingWebGuy]

Oh yeah, you may also need to remove the hanging cabinet in the head as well. Mine was secured through the bulkhead.

 

[Bob S]

Any pictures? Mine has a little water damage by the seat corner. I think this happened when i left the head window open and water collected on top of the bathroom cabinet. The caulking was loose. I didn't help it by showering and that little curtain doesn't stop much water from passing. I have since re-caulked and it hasn't grown any. It's very noticeable when the cushions are out but is hidden when they are in.

It's a future project. For those with experience, how many hours did it take?

 

[SailingWebGuy]

I don't have too many detailed pics but here is a before, during, and after.

As far as time, I'd say a couple days would do it. The disassembly is the easiest. Maybe 2 hours max. Cutting the two pieces takes maybe 30 mins. Marrying the two together is a little tricky though. Stain and varnish took the longest...maybe 3 days. I did it in the winter and everything was drying very slowly.

I didn't use teak for the new bulkhead. I really didn't want to spend the money for teak. Instead I used white birch, stained it with Zar's Natural Teak stain, and then varnished. It ended up looking identical to real teak.

 

[Twice Around]

SWG, thanks for those pics...I'd seen the "before" pic, well, before.

 

[jrowan]

The bulkhead replacement looks good, but I would worry a lil about how well birch faced plywood would hold up in the marine environment. If teak rotted, how will birch that's meant for indoor kitchen cabinet applications last? I know the teak is just a veneer anyway, but if the inner plywood is only wet rot damaged in the corners, wouldn't it be a lot easier to patch the bad spots & use polyeurothane glue to bond the patches, then apply a new teak veneer over the existing bulkhead? A lot cheaper & less invasive a repair. I am also wary of removing the main structural core component - couldn't warping or sagging start to occur? I know my bulkhead has created one hard spot on my hull after 30 years of flexing. Better to remove the mast & rigging prior to any structural work.

 

[Twice Around]

jeremy, I am no expert on anything so take my comments for what they are worth.

I chose to use Smith's Penetrating Epoxy, which will keep the wood from rotting further if you can get it dry. I ran a dehumidifier in the boat for weeks, and rolled many applications of this stuff on my main bulkheads in the areas where the chainplates bolted thru. I was just not ready to do what SWG did.

On both sides I had a lot of damage...on the port side, I sistered an old piece of teak hatchboard to the main bulkhead (secured with West epoxy) and used longer bolts to go thru everything. On the stbd side, after the Smiths, I did a lot of West with high-density filler plastered into the bulkhead. It did not have as much damage. On both sides, I used HDPE backing plates as clamps (waxed) when I plastered the West epoxy. I put the epoxy on the forward sides, so not as visible in the main cabin.

Some day I'll make it prettier, but at least now I don't have to worry about the stick coming down. Early on, when I first owned the boat, we beat into a 20 knot northerly before these repairs. The 20 knot southerly we beat into last summer was a piece of cake...well, at least I had piece of mind.

here are some pics of the port side.