Last winter we located and purchased a fresh water, 2 owner well loved Catalina 27 Tall Rig, She had several up grades thru the years and we upgraded more, with safety first in mind and with no date on the last time the standing rigging was replaced we did that first! with a mast totally over hauled and fitted out,electrical and fuel systems & lines the same. We Re bedded all deck hardware, windows , and got her tight! Did the bright work and a good buff and wax she was pretty again and brought lots of comments from other Catalina owners and other sailing folks!
With a lot of important project(s) out of the way and the vessel sea worthy she gave us a 100% trouble free and fun summer of sailing every weekend we had any amount of wind and no wind we fished under power!
That said once on the hard at home we did know that we had other things to upgrade at the end of the season, rope halyards vs the wire /rope combination she had. rebuild the winches, Replace the compression post base in the keel , Remove and re build the sub floor over the keel remove the plywood core and glass and mat in per Catalina's up grade plan(s) to prevent the Catalina smile. While at it this spring and mast is un stepped I will cut out mast base and replace plywood core with starboard and re glass and put a hinged mast base in. fix one port side light window leak, and clean and wax, bottom paint and were ready to sail another season!
Started today on the compression post base and found a soft not rotted out post in the keel ahead of the bilge area fiberglass. The wood block was wet but not soggy, As I was into it I decided to did it out and used a drill and chisel with a shop vac to clean up the chips and I was glad to be on the hard and not doing this project in the water as a test hole or two did go a bit far in! no big deal on land to re glass it in spring. It took my about 2 hours to work the wood out and clean up and now will look for a water resistant block to replace in the area. Some guys have used a steel adjustable threaded block, some fiber glass , some concrete. I am looking for something rot resistant and some flexibility as wood would of given.
Stay tuned for updates!
A link for our Catalina 27 Facebook page and other photos of fun and projects,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/catalina27/
With a lot of important project(s) out of the way and the vessel sea worthy she gave us a 100% trouble free and fun summer of sailing every weekend we had any amount of wind and no wind we fished under power!
That said once on the hard at home we did know that we had other things to upgrade at the end of the season, rope halyards vs the wire /rope combination she had. rebuild the winches, Replace the compression post base in the keel , Remove and re build the sub floor over the keel remove the plywood core and glass and mat in per Catalina's up grade plan(s) to prevent the Catalina smile. While at it this spring and mast is un stepped I will cut out mast base and replace plywood core with starboard and re glass and put a hinged mast base in. fix one port side light window leak, and clean and wax, bottom paint and were ready to sail another season!
Started today on the compression post base and found a soft not rotted out post in the keel ahead of the bilge area fiberglass. The wood block was wet but not soggy, As I was into it I decided to did it out and used a drill and chisel with a shop vac to clean up the chips and I was glad to be on the hard and not doing this project in the water as a test hole or two did go a bit far in! no big deal on land to re glass it in spring. It took my about 2 hours to work the wood out and clean up and now will look for a water resistant block to replace in the area. Some guys have used a steel adjustable threaded block, some fiber glass , some concrete. I am looking for something rot resistant and some flexibility as wood would of given.
Stay tuned for updates!
A link for our Catalina 27 Facebook page and other photos of fun and projects,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/catalina27/
