What to do?
Hi Susan. I have the '88 model with the same cockpit quadrant cover and you have me thinking of what I would do if faced with the same issue. No doubt the drain hole gets clogged constantly in the quadrant area no matter what I do and the under side of the cover gets impacted. Without looking at it right now, I am not sure if the underbody is covered with fiberglass or not. It might be soft but also salvageable! If indeed the part cannot be obtained at the Catalina factory, I would consider two alternatives. If the cover still has its shape you might want to consider drying it out and glassing the bottom to keep it's form and seal it forever. A thin piece of sheet metal (stainless) covering the entire underportion could be applied with epoxy. If the cover is glass over wood, their is a product called "git-rot" that adheres to wet wood fibers and acts as a bonding agent to strengthen wood. Many with soft decks will drill small holes thru the gelcoat and inject git-rot into the wood core. The other alternative is to take it to a cabinet maker shop so they can template it, cut a cover and seal it. The outer gelcoating would be the ultimate challenge, but their are many ways to finish off this piece that may well look better then what came on the boat! Well these are my opinions good, bad or ugly. I have been knocking about sailboats for over 35 years now and this is certainly an interesting challenge. Maybe someone will step forward with a known wrecked vessel where a replacement can be obtained or one who has goood carpenter skills to help out. Best of luck Bob '88 Catalina
