Fabricate a new one
I just finished fabricating new sole panels for our 36. It actually turned out to be less demanding than I expected. I couldn't find 3/8" stock anywhere around here, and the shipping from H&L Catalina's source in CA) was prohibitive. I did find a local specialty shop that had 1/4" teak and holly sheets at $150, and 1/8" luan for about $15. I used contact cement on both sheets and ran a heavy rolling pin over the surface to bond them. I took the old floorboards and used them as templates (fortunately the holly stripes were the exact same distance on the new plywood). After lining up the stripes, I used the exisiting screw holes to run pilot holes into the new panel, and screwed the two together. This both clamped them well together, and gave me perfect alignment for the screws for reinstallation. I then used a hand router with a 1" pattern cutting bit to trace around the old panel to give me an exact copy. I ran around the edge of each panel again with an angle bit to chamfer in the appropriate edge shape. From there it was just finishing. I used 6 coats of satin polyurethane on the tops and 1 coat of expoxy on the underside and edges. I was very pleased with the result. Matt Boulton C36 #843 Andelain Groton CT
