Rot and damage to bulkhead

[bitsailor]

Hi

We recently took ownership of a 1978 Catalina 27. The boat is in generally good condition but I am slightly concerned about the bulkheads.

The starboard aft bulkhead has some rot in the bottom corner. The rot is isolated to this area of the bulkhead and covers approximately a 4x4 inch area:

The port aft bulkhead has a darker area around the chainplate and shows evidence of water damage. It does not appear to be rotting, but the bolts of the chainplate are definitely depressed a bit into the bulkhead a bit:

1) What reparations (if any) do I need to do to each bulkhead?

2) How difficult & expensive is it to replace a bulkhead?

Thanks!

Guy

 

[captcoho]

What did your suryeour have to say about it ???

 

[bitsailor]

The last survey was done in 2009. We paid very little for the boat, and so did not get a survey done at the time of purchase. From my own inspection of the boat, nothing has changed since the 2009 survey, and so we are currently going through all the recommendations on it before getting a new survey towards the end of the summer.

The 2009 survey notes the rot in the starboard aft bulkhead and recommends "The bulkhead should be scraped in the area noted, to remove loose wood laminates, filled, faired and top-coated"

There is no mention in the survey of anything to do with the port bulkhead.

 

[Joidevivre]

Hi,

Have a '74 Cat27, just finished replacing the port bulkhead. Mine was very rotten from years if a leaking chain plate. Was no super difficult, other than coughing up insane $ for 1/2" marine teak ply, ouch! Taking the wet locker apart was pretty straightforward, as was putting back together. Cat did not do an overly impressive job back in the day, quite a few rusty nails buried in that old rotten ply.

Used old bulkhead as pattern for new an cut and drilled right on the dock. added a few thicker screws in reassembly and took lots I care cleaning and inspecting old chain plate. All back together now and tensioned. Brings lots if confidence knowing its solid an dry.

Stbd side had a little rot where yours is at the bottom but not enough to warrant replacing. Cleaned it up, checked all the screws and through bolts holding it to the liner, and carefully rebedded the chain plate.

 

[sdfox]

Yup, as was said above, pull it out and use it for a pattern. I used bolts with washers and nuts to secure it back in place instead of the self tapping screws. Here's a pic of what mine looked like. Dang can't find the reassembled pic. Oh well.

scotty

 

[Barnacle Bill]

What reparations do you have to pay? My, why would you have to pay reparations? Finland is the only country to actually pay off the reparations after WWII. I don't think this applies now.
But, the first thing you need to do is eliminate the source of moisture, which is probably through the deck where the chain plates enter. This way you won't increase the rot. The little corner rot that you depicted I don't think is a problem, but the rot that you show where the chain plates are pressing in might be a problem. If the rot increases to the point where there is not enough meat in the bulkhead, you could lose your mast - even in a light air situation. There are a couple of things you can do depending on the severity of the moisture damage. One thing is to replace the bulkhead. Probably not a hard job based on your photos. Another thing you can do is make up an extended chain plate that increases the total into bulkhead that is not yet damaged or you can cut out the bad spot and splice in (glue) solid wood and put it all together again (maybe not the best from a cosmetic perspective. But, the most important thing is to eliminate the moisture entrance and then solidify the area where the chain plates attach. Reparations? I don't think so.