[C320-list] Problems at survey

[Jack Brennan]

Hi Graeme:

I hope you’re not getting out of sailing altogether.  Good luck, in any case.

My understanding is that Catalina used solid fiberglass in the deck where fittings pass through, although this may not be the case for the first 320s. If so, rebed with butyl tape and sell.

If there is balsa core in some or all of the locations, it’s probably of no consequence. Balsa in newer boats tends not to rot in large patches the way it did in older boats, so it’s not a structural concern.

The acceptable procedure is to douse the holes with acetone to help remove moisture. Let the holes dry for a few days if you can.

Then overdrill the holes, fill them with thickened epoxy – tape the bottom of the hole – and redrill smaller holes for the bolts. You certainly would not want to cut open the deck and replace the balsa for  something that is not causing a structural problem.

Among most older boats, some rotten balsa core is a fact of life and generally does not affect the safety or performance of the vessel.  I believe Catalina understood this well and took steps to minimize the problem in its newer boats.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.






Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

From: Graeme Clark<mailto:cg at skyflyer.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2022 11:00 AM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com<mailto:C320-List at catalina320.com>
Subject: [C320-list] Problems at survey

I’m selling my C320 and the initial survey on behalf of the buyer has identified some water ingress from beneath forward stbd stanchions as well as small weeps from beneath chainplates causing small amounts of rusting on the nuts that are in underside of saloon ceiling
To be honest I just always accepted this sort of thing as part and parcel of owning a 26 year old boat
Inevitably though there will have to be a renegotiation on price to allow for the new owner to get this issue fixed - or I remove the boat from the market, fix it myself and then readvertise
Can anyone tell me what’s involved in such repairs and whether it’s likely that any serious (ie structural) damage has been caused by not sorting it out sooner?
Many thanks
Graeme Clark
#366, 1996
UK


Sent from my phone. Excuse typos!