Hello all,
Brand new to the board here and this is my first post.
I'm seeking feedback and advice on issues as I work toward cleaning up a very nasty old C30 tall rig.
For context, last July I bought the ugliest, most neglected C30 Tall Rig in Louisiana. It's a 1981 with the two-banger universal.
It had been shut up for years, had about 50 pounds of dirt-dobber nests in it. The engine runs fine, the sails are good, it has no blisters, and it has good roller furling, but it was a very close call as to whether it was junk because the inside was so nasty. I paid 8,500 for it.
My mission: clean it up and simplify it into a cheap, clean and totally minimalist day sailor. I've stripped out the water heater, alcohol tank and stove, cushions and all the things that were NASTY. Have a new head in and working fine and have the interior getting into shape as far as being clean and habitable.
The challenge now: DECK LEAKS!
I have never owned a boat with so many leaks. All of the windows in the coachroof leaked, of course, so I ripped them all out and installed the plexiglass scab-on windows and that has cured the window leaks.
I know that this summer all stanchions will have to be pulled and re-bed.
The issue that is not so straightforward: leaks at the chainplates and some soft spots in the deck over the head that now seem related.
I just pulled the port main and lower chainplates and re-bed them perfectly. Also, pulled the head hatch and re-bed it perfectly. The main chainplate is still weeping below, inside the head. (I did not use sealant underneath the fitting, just on the deck) and it obvious that I have some wet core around the chainplate being fed by other deck leaks higher up.
I already knew that there were some soft areas in the deck between the mast base and aft of the hatch over the head, but sounding the deck around the chainplates during survey was solid.
The information I would greatly appreciate is:
1) Has anyone had any luck using the Rot Doctor's Clear Penetrating Epoxy in dealing with rotten core areas? This old boat is just not worth cutting deck sections out, etc.
2) Does anyone have photos of the deck and mast step, with the mast removed, of a circa 81 C30 TR, so I can see what that looks like?
BTW, also . . . where in the world does the mast's electrical wiring exit the mast base and run to the harness/panel? I can't for the life of me find any evidence whatsoever of wires run from the mast base into the boat.
Strange as it may be, although the deck is a little depressed at the mast base, the compression post is pristine as is the compression block in the bilge as well. Go figure.
Anyway, thanks for any feedback or help that would get me up to speed on old Catalina 30's . . .
All the best,
Buddy
Brand new to the board here and this is my first post.
I'm seeking feedback and advice on issues as I work toward cleaning up a very nasty old C30 tall rig.
For context, last July I bought the ugliest, most neglected C30 Tall Rig in Louisiana. It's a 1981 with the two-banger universal.
It had been shut up for years, had about 50 pounds of dirt-dobber nests in it. The engine runs fine, the sails are good, it has no blisters, and it has good roller furling, but it was a very close call as to whether it was junk because the inside was so nasty. I paid 8,500 for it.
My mission: clean it up and simplify it into a cheap, clean and totally minimalist day sailor. I've stripped out the water heater, alcohol tank and stove, cushions and all the things that were NASTY. Have a new head in and working fine and have the interior getting into shape as far as being clean and habitable.
The challenge now: DECK LEAKS!
I have never owned a boat with so many leaks. All of the windows in the coachroof leaked, of course, so I ripped them all out and installed the plexiglass scab-on windows and that has cured the window leaks.
I know that this summer all stanchions will have to be pulled and re-bed.
The issue that is not so straightforward: leaks at the chainplates and some soft spots in the deck over the head that now seem related.
I just pulled the port main and lower chainplates and re-bed them perfectly. Also, pulled the head hatch and re-bed it perfectly. The main chainplate is still weeping below, inside the head. (I did not use sealant underneath the fitting, just on the deck) and it obvious that I have some wet core around the chainplate being fed by other deck leaks higher up.
I already knew that there were some soft areas in the deck between the mast base and aft of the hatch over the head, but sounding the deck around the chainplates during survey was solid.
The information I would greatly appreciate is:
1) Has anyone had any luck using the Rot Doctor's Clear Penetrating Epoxy in dealing with rotten core areas? This old boat is just not worth cutting deck sections out, etc.
2) Does anyone have photos of the deck and mast step, with the mast removed, of a circa 81 C30 TR, so I can see what that looks like?
BTW, also . . . where in the world does the mast's electrical wiring exit the mast base and run to the harness/panel? I can't for the life of me find any evidence whatsoever of wires run from the mast base into the boat.
Strange as it may be, although the deck is a little depressed at the mast base, the compression post is pristine as is the compression block in the bilge as well. Go figure.
Anyway, thanks for any feedback or help that would get me up to speed on old Catalina 30's . . .
All the best,
Buddy
