I am the latest owner of my C27, which became mine in September. She's fun to sail, her Universal 5411 runs like a top, and I am sure many of the issues I aim to deal with are common. The hull issues I'm goin gto describe here may not be so common, but I don't know.
About 10 days ago she was hauled out and taken to a shop for some work on the deck. Upon hauling, blisters were apparent below the waterline. My very knowledgeable friend who owns the shop suggested we clean the fairly recent bottom paint from the hull and do a thorough reconditioning of the hull while we had the opportunity. As the gel coat was exposed, there were numerous small bumps revealed, many of which showed a crack in the gel coat like this:
Very few of these were wet, and they did not appear as blisters. They were completely hidden by bottom paint. The approach has been to grind them out, and tonight, my poor boat looks like she has the measles/hives/chicken pox all at once:
A high proportion of these spots revealed small voids in the glass beneath the gel coat. The glass fiber was not impregnated with resin. A very clear example of one is this, in which you can see the dry glass delaminating from the next layer:
Grinding into the hull revealed pretty large and extensive pitting, as shown here:
What was really only done to take advantage of an opportunity while she was in a good shop has developed into a major undertaking, starting with filling the ground out pits (epoxy + shredded glass or glass filler) and some priming of the keel with barrier coat (Interlock); a lot of sanding and fairing; new gel coat; followed by complete barrier coat; and finally the new bottom paint. The reconstruction starts tomorrow.
Her hull has lasted more than 30 years, so she was built adequately despite the apparent poor resin work. Fixing her is a predictably unexpected serious expense, but I'm going with the whole thing so she's ready for me for the rest of my days (a C27 is a fine single-hander--really much more than an "entry boat" as they are often called in ads). I suppose if I'd had her surveyed, I might have known about the extent of the little voids in the hull, but the price was so low, the cost of a survey seemed exorbitant; that may have been a mistake in retrospect. My friends in the shop think a surveyor would have totaled her, and she might have cost half as much in that case.
Frankly, last week was a bit depressing as the extent of the problem surfaced (literally), but I am happy now to have reached the bottom and am looking forward to seeing the reconstruction start tomorrow.
Why am I showing this and writing about it? Mainly to survey forum members to find out if any of you have dealt with such extensive hull surface issues. Do I have the only Catalina from the time with this much of an issue with such "defects"? If you have stripped your hull down this way, have you found as much to fix?
Best to all; hope tomorrow's a fine sailing day for you!!
About 10 days ago she was hauled out and taken to a shop for some work on the deck. Upon hauling, blisters were apparent below the waterline. My very knowledgeable friend who owns the shop suggested we clean the fairly recent bottom paint from the hull and do a thorough reconditioning of the hull while we had the opportunity. As the gel coat was exposed, there were numerous small bumps revealed, many of which showed a crack in the gel coat like this:
Very few of these were wet, and they did not appear as blisters. They were completely hidden by bottom paint. The approach has been to grind them out, and tonight, my poor boat looks like she has the measles/hives/chicken pox all at once:
A high proportion of these spots revealed small voids in the glass beneath the gel coat. The glass fiber was not impregnated with resin. A very clear example of one is this, in which you can see the dry glass delaminating from the next layer:
Grinding into the hull revealed pretty large and extensive pitting, as shown here:
What was really only done to take advantage of an opportunity while she was in a good shop has developed into a major undertaking, starting with filling the ground out pits (epoxy + shredded glass or glass filler) and some priming of the keel with barrier coat (Interlock); a lot of sanding and fairing; new gel coat; followed by complete barrier coat; and finally the new bottom paint. The reconstruction starts tomorrow.
Her hull has lasted more than 30 years, so she was built adequately despite the apparent poor resin work. Fixing her is a predictably unexpected serious expense, but I'm going with the whole thing so she's ready for me for the rest of my days (a C27 is a fine single-hander--really much more than an "entry boat" as they are often called in ads). I suppose if I'd had her surveyed, I might have known about the extent of the little voids in the hull, but the price was so low, the cost of a survey seemed exorbitant; that may have been a mistake in retrospect. My friends in the shop think a surveyor would have totaled her, and she might have cost half as much in that case.
Frankly, last week was a bit depressing as the extent of the problem surfaced (literally), but I am happy now to have reached the bottom and am looking forward to seeing the reconstruction start tomorrow.
Why am I showing this and writing about it? Mainly to survey forum members to find out if any of you have dealt with such extensive hull surface issues. Do I have the only Catalina from the time with this much of an issue with such "defects"? If you have stripped your hull down this way, have you found as much to fix?
Best to all; hope tomorrow's a fine sailing day for you!!
Was it more than I wanted to spend or had planned to, for sure. Will it make me smile when I take her out on the 1st sail, yes !!
