Hull Strength?

[Aaron]

I am looking at buying a cat 22 in need of some restoration. The hull appears to be in fine condition with 2 possible problems. The first is the way the boat was stored. It was sitting on 4 pads in a "V" shape (similar to the rails on a trailer). The current owner let his kids play on the boat and they knocked it off the front two pads. This caused the boat to rest most of the weight on the middle of the hull at two points. When I looked at the boat, I noticed that it had some very slight bend inwards at these places. When the baot was put back on all four pads the bend went away. My question is: Does this bend that is no longer there affect the strenght of the hull? And if so, are there anyways I could test the hull strength? The second question I have is this: There are two holes that were cut in the bottom for viewing ports. I don't want or need these, can I repair this? The holes are about 8 inches in diameter. Thanks for all the help.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

They cut HOLES in the bottom?!

Wow! Yes, they can be fixed. I'd go buy a fiberglass repair book & just follow what they say. Not too hard but you do want to make sure to do it right.The bends I wouldn't worry too much about. C22s aren't built for ocean cruising so I'd just check to make sure there's no cracks or delamination & she should be fine. Good luck!LaDonna

 

[Aaron]

Thanks for the help

Thank you so much for the fast response. I was shocked also when I saw the holes that had been cut in the hull. I couldn't believe somebody would do something like that to a perfectly good hull. Oh well that's what makes the world go 'round huh?

 

[Jay Beery]

View ports in the bottom!

Aaron,I've had my C22 "fix'er up 'er" for six months and wish I had spent a little more up front. Unless you get this boat for free, with a trailer, I think I would keep looking. LaDonna is correct,almost anything can be fixed but sometimes you need to stand back and ask yourself is it worth all the time and materials to fix it. Or even worse, to have someone else fix it....Good Luck, Jay