Several repair and improvement questions

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George

We have a '85 fin keel Capri 22 with the racing package (not that I race . . . it came with the boat . . .) I am now looking at several areas of semi-serious repair or improvement. I acquired the boat in partial payment of an debt I was owed, and I am now looking to work on fixing it and upgrading it. First - Around the bases of the bow pulpit rail and the stanchions I have noticed cracks that extend through the fiberglass deck in at least one place and are present around several others. I think that this is probably a result of excess load on the stanchions, etc. during the winter months when a tarp over the boat became covered with snow, which them melted and pooled between the stanchions, pulpit and lifelines on one side and the cabin roof on the other, hence numerous gallons of water being caught putting too much pressure on the fittings. My inclination is to test for delamination via the "hollow sound" tapping test, and assuming no extended hollow sound to use the "Dremel technique" to bevel the edges and then use some sort of epoxy/fiberglass repair to patch the cracks and then remount the rails to the original fittings. Has anyone dealt with this problem, and if so any comments or advice on how to proceed? Only the port side bow pulpit fitting seems seriously threatened with a visible displaced crack, while the rest are minor cracks that are still in the plane of the deck, hence no problem with trying to reorient those, or hold the deck down in place while the repair cures. Second issue is re depth meter installation. I got a depth meter given that local waters get shallower and shallower as the summer progresses. The transducer is a "hockey puck" that is mounted inside the hull, directly against the hull, and forward of the keel. Has anyone done such an installation and if so is there an easy spot for it where I am not looking at having to cut through any part of the interior to get to the hull itself as opposed to any intervening surface? If there is an access that does not require cutting holes in the interior I would rather do that than save a little time and avoid crawling around. I figure better to leave the interior as unmodified as possible. I have seen comments on C-22's needing holes cut to access the hull and am hoping that is not the case on the Capri 22's. Third - Apparently Catalina is finally offering a galley for the Capri 22 this year. Has anyone heard whether it fits or can be retrofitted into older Capri 22's? It is my understanding that it runs about $300. Thanks for any input.. George
 
E

Erik

Repair answers

Are the cracks just in the gelcoat? If so, they can be opened up a bit and filled with a gelcoat repair kit. If the cracks allowed water to get into the deck core, the core may need to dried out, the holes filled with epoxy, and the holes redrilled through the epoxy. As for the depthfinder transducer: I used the hull area behind the keel on my Capri 18 for the *puck*. I cut a hole in the bulkhead behind the ice chest and installed a screw-in deckplate or access to the area. You could do this, too, in the forward area of the cabin.
 
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