I have a 22 with a slightly soft deck. I plan on moving up to a 25 next year. My question is it worth it to try to do something about it or not? I bought it as a training boat at a relatively good price knowing the deck was soft on the bow. The fiberglass on the hull is also kind of spider webing at the surface but not leaking. I think it will make it one more season. What are your thoughts, fix it or use it up?
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Either or
It looks like you're lake sailing, which means you probably don't get into a lot of heavy weather. How much of the deck is soft? If it's under a foot in diameter you could probably easily get away with drying the core out & injecting a bunch of epoxy or similar (GitRot for example). Just don't inject it if the coring is wet (drill into the deck & if the wood comes out dark, it's wet) - dry it out first. If it's bigger than that and you expect to get anything out of the boat when you're done with it, you'll have to fix it. If you don't really care what you get for the boat, then don't worry about it. LaDonna
It looks like you're lake sailing, which means you probably don't get into a lot of heavy weather. How much of the deck is soft? If it's under a foot in diameter you could probably easily get away with drying the core out & injecting a bunch of epoxy or similar (GitRot for example). Just don't inject it if the coring is wet (drill into the deck & if the wood comes out dark, it's wet) - dry it out first. If it's bigger than that and you expect to get anything out of the boat when you're done with it, you'll have to fix it. If you don't really care what you get for the boat, then don't worry about it. LaDonna
Soft Deck
My C22 also has a soft spot on the starbord side. I'm in the same dilemma as you are, fix it or sell it. I can't afford to sell her, so I'm thinking about how to fix it. I resealed around the forward hatch so no more water gets in to make things worse, but I can't decide whether to rip up the deck or go at it from inside. From the inside will keep the deck nice, but gravity will be working against me. If I attack from the deck I will have to re-do the nonskid and repaint the whole deck. Which I want to do anyway, just not anytime soon. Any other ideas anyone? Jay
My C22 also has a soft spot on the starbord side. I'm in the same dilemma as you are, fix it or sell it. I can't afford to sell her, so I'm thinking about how to fix it. I resealed around the forward hatch so no more water gets in to make things worse, but I can't decide whether to rip up the deck or go at it from inside. From the inside will keep the deck nice, but gravity will be working against me. If I attack from the deck I will have to re-do the nonskid and repaint the whole deck. Which I want to do anyway, just not anytime soon. Any other ideas anyone? Jay
West system
I was going to buy a Catalina 25 that had a spongy cockpit. I called Catalina and they explained a process that is shown in the West system brochure on fiberglass repair. You will not want to pay someone to do this but with some reading and practice you can do it. For anyone reading this, water destroys the core in the fiberglas. If you have any leaks in the deck( chainplates, cleats etc.) Rebed them! It will save a costly repair and a devaluation of your boat. r.w.landau
I was going to buy a Catalina 25 that had a spongy cockpit. I called Catalina and they explained a process that is shown in the West system brochure on fiberglass repair. You will not want to pay someone to do this but with some reading and practice you can do it. For anyone reading this, water destroys the core in the fiberglas. If you have any leaks in the deck( chainplates, cleats etc.) Rebed them! It will save a costly repair and a devaluation of your boat. r.w.landau
Internal repair
Hi There, For the fellow who is wondering about whether to tear his deck up or attack it from the inside, I can tell you from experience that you can attack it from the inside. When you are attempting to work against gravity like lying on your back make sure you have some help , but you will find when placing a wet mat of resin soaked fiberglass easier to handle with # 1 having latex or vinyl gloves on along with wax paper to handle the placing of it and not getting the resin drippings on you or the interior of the boat, and the wax paper does not bother the resin or fiberglass at all. By using a squeegy or a roller on the wax paper that is covering the wet applied resin soaked glass, to get all the air bubbles out it also keeps the resin in the glass and also keeps you from inadvertenly poking a hole thru the glass while it begins to set up. So if it were me ,do your repair from the interior and save the finished topside deck. Hope this helps
Dave
Hi There, For the fellow who is wondering about whether to tear his deck up or attack it from the inside, I can tell you from experience that you can attack it from the inside. When you are attempting to work against gravity like lying on your back make sure you have some help , but you will find when placing a wet mat of resin soaked fiberglass easier to handle with # 1 having latex or vinyl gloves on along with wax paper to handle the placing of it and not getting the resin drippings on you or the interior of the boat, and the wax paper does not bother the resin or fiberglass at all. By using a squeegy or a roller on the wax paper that is covering the wet applied resin soaked glass, to get all the air bubbles out it also keeps the resin in the glass and also keeps you from inadvertenly poking a hole thru the glass while it begins to set up. So if it were me ,do your repair from the interior and save the finished topside deck. Hope this helps
DaveInvert boat to fix deck
Rich: Have you seen "The Catalina Project" web site? The owner inverted his boat to make it easier to repair and refinish the bottom of the hull, but this should work for repairing the deck from the inside. I have the same problem with the foredeck on my 1973 C22 and I plan to repair it this way after this year's sailing season. The web site has detailed pictures and descriptions of the inversion process which is quite ingenious. The address for "The Catalina Project" is: http://sites.netscape.net/stevek47usa/c22project Barry P. Broyles E-mail LTBROYT6D@cs.com
Rich: Have you seen "The Catalina Project" web site? The owner inverted his boat to make it easier to repair and refinish the bottom of the hull, but this should work for repairing the deck from the inside. I have the same problem with the foredeck on my 1973 C22 and I plan to repair it this way after this year's sailing season. The web site has detailed pictures and descriptions of the inversion process which is quite ingenious. The address for "The Catalina Project" is: http://sites.netscape.net/stevek47usa/c22project Barry P. Broyles E-mail LTBROYT6D@cs.com
Holy Crow!
Those are amazing pix, Barry! Looks like a logical process if it's done slowly & carefully. LaDonna
Those are amazing pix, Barry! Looks like a logical process if it's done slowly & carefully. LaDonna
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