I fixed most of the top side leaks on my Catalina 22 and have very little leaking now. However, I did notice that when I walk on the floor, right even with the table, there is a very light "squishing" noise under my feet. I can tell it is between the sub-floor and the hull. How do I check that? Is it possible to drill a hole in the floor without going into or through the hull?
Water between the false floor and hull
- Thread starter Nathan57
- Start date
You could drill a hole, but don't.
I would get a small hose and pump and get it into that area through the settee storage. Or put a bunch of weight at the transom and see how much water you can see in the bilge under the companionway.
I would get a small hose and pump and get it into that area through the settee storage. Or put a bunch of weight at the transom and see how much water you can see in the bilge under the companionway.
Nathan, That is not an unusual problem, especially on the original versions of the C-22. A lot of times it's caused by water entering the hull at the hull/deck joint under the aluminum rail assembly when the calking dries out. As you sail, the boat heels over, and water rides up the side of the hull and through the hull/deck joint. The liner is bonded to the hull along the inside of all the storage areas. You can take a Dremel tool and grind away the resin used to bond the liner to the hull in the compartment under the keel winch, where the battery is normally mounted. Tilt the boat up and let the water drain out. A big bunch of towels might be enough to collect the water. Some of the original versions, like my original C-22, had plywood stringers running along both sides of the keelson. These were prone to absorbing water and the plywood rots. Not a whole lot you can do, and I used heat lamps and fans for weeks and weeks to dry the moisture out.
Good luck,
Don
Good luck,
Don
Did you drill holes or cut away some of the fiberglass over the stringers to dry them out? Also, if the stringer rots out, does that grossly affect the strength for the bolt pins that the keel brackets screw into?
I am not sure if it was standard, an option or just the P.O.'s mod, but my 1984 C22 has a drain plug on the lower transom. I don't have a leak problem but if I did that drain plug would be handy when on an incline to drain any water out...... while on the trailer of course
No, I removed the bad wood under the companionway where the battery is located,(the wooden battery mount was shot anyway), and ground all the paint of down to completely bare fiberglass. There was no way to get under the liner floor, so I tried my best to dry it out. I installed heat lamps to warm the floor, and had small fans to blow air under the liner floor. I let this go on for weeks, it might have been a month or so. It was during the winter, and it's been 25+ years ago. I could only assume the wood stringers were completely dry. They don't really give any structural support, and have absolutely nothing to do with the keel hanger assembly. Once I thought it was good and dry, I basically encapsulated it. I built up the hull with multiple layers of epoxy saturated fiberglass cloth. Probably added an inch to the thickness of the hull in this area. I then mixed some thickened WEST epoxy and made a nice rounded seam re-bonding the liner and the hull, then multiple layers of epoxy saturated fiberglass tape. I eventually performed this in every compartment of the boat. After a compartment had the liner and hull re-bonded, the compartment received a good coating of Interlux 2000/2001 epoxy barrier coating. It really made for nice bilges. Looked nice, and easily cleaned. This was a HUGE job to say the least.
The keel hangers bolt into stainless steel weldments that are suspended in thick fiberglass along the keelson. It's a heck of a design, and the factory still uses this method on the new C-22 Sports some 40+ years later.
Might I suggest reading the WEST epoxy web site on proper repair of fiberglass boats, and if you're not already a member, joining the National C-22 Association. Your membership will give you access to over 400 pages of the C-22 Tech Manual. A collection from over 40 years of how to repair, modify, rig, tune, and anything else you can think of with a C-22.
Don
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Yes, that was a previous owners modification. You have to raise the front of the trailer pretty high to drain any water that would be in the hull.
Don
That makes sense. Based on the water marks inside the hull, it looks like it was partially submerged only at the aft section. He probably installed the drain then.
If you can dry them out, you can inject Git rot (an epoxy filler) into the wood to fill the gap taken out by dryrot. It restores the structural (if any) use of the wood stringer. Also the wood is now partially epoxy so less water can stay in it if it still can.