Siyrah's before pics

[Bikermouse]

Well, being as motivated and full of gumption as a half-buried rock, in the months since I brought the Cal-20 home, about all I've accomplished is to get the cushions and crates of stuff out of the boat, and get the biggest of the rain leaks plugged. I thought I'd post some 'before' pictures and see if any of my thoughts on changing them into the 'after' state are just dumb.

First up is the through-hulls that the P.O. put in in the head compartment of the v-berth. There are two plumbing through-hulls that look to me like he had originally either installed or planned to install an illegal in/out head, since there isn't anything like a holding tank anywhere inside. My plan at this point is to keep the knotmeter fitting, and remove the other two & just put a fiberglass patch over the holes. Question on that is, since it looks like there is a pan inside of the actual hull here, should my patch scarf be 8:1 for just the hull thickness, or should I go wider to account for the thickness of the inside layer?






Next up is the mast step. The stock step broke when I was lowering the mast at the yard where I picked it up. I got a replacement that's ugly, but stronger than stock. The blocks were on a plywood plate that pulled up. I'm planning on installing a stainless plate under the step with mounting holes for the blocks to lead the control lines back to the bridge.




Finally, there's the backing plates, or rather the lack thereof. As you can see from these shots, the chainplates were the only things that had anything like a backing plate, and they're just plywood. Looks like stock, but I'm not sure. Plan is to cut stainless plates just large enough to cover the bolt pattern of each piece of deck hardware. First, here's the chainplates above and below.



Stanchion/rail bolts.

And would you believe that this is the backing for the winches!



The keel is fiberglassed over, which excludes it from racing (not really an issue for me), but unfortunately it looks like some water got under the fiberglass and started to rust the iron keel again. I'lll wire-wheel this down to bare metal, and re-glass over it after filling and fairing with epoxy & miroballoons.


Lastly, there's a partial bulkhead under the cockpit sole that has come disconnected at one end. The wood doesn't seem to have any rot issues, so my first instinct is to just fill the gap with thickened epoxy and re-tab it into place.


Finishing out, here's some shots of a spreader bracket that needs to be replaced (I'll probably just make one) and the Barient No. 9 winches, for which I can't seem to find any old manuals or diagrams online.





Have I worn out my welcome yet?

[Rachel]

Okay, well it's kind of a lot to keep track of in one post, but I will give you some feedback from my point of view.

1) The through hulls.
Those don't look suitable for below-the-waterline use. If you don't want or need seacocks there, then I agree I would glass them closed. As far as how large to make the feathered area or patch, I don't quite understand what I'm seeing in those last two photos. Those look like they should be the outside halves of the fittings but that does not look like the outside of the boat (?)

In any case, I would patch them from the outside, for the main bulk of the patch. I would make the bevel/patch the right size for the hull thickness (I didn't measure precisely but when I patched mine the overall circle was around 6-8" in diameter, beveled.) If you make a good strong patch from the outside - and considering they are something like 1.5" machine-made holes - I would think you could probably not even patch them from the inside, although if it were me I would probably take out enough of the liner to at least make one layer of fiberglass on the inside of the hull (I say that not being able to see your exact situation there, mind you).

I did mine the way it was outlined in some other threads on here (which you might want to search out). In a nutshell, remove hardware to bare hole. Tape over outside of hole and fill inside with thickened epoxy, smoothing off on inside. Remove tape from cured epoxy, grind taper, and fill with 3+ layers of biaxmat. Fair and re-paint outside of hull. Optionally, add fiberglass layer to inside of hull.

2) Backing plates
Are those the stock style chainplates on the Cal 20? I'm not familiar enough with that boat to know. That's not to say I have not seen chainplates like that on other boats, but given the overall condition of the boat - and some of the "improvements," I would just want to check on that.

On the winches, I've actually seen that type of "backing plate" on them fairly often. Not that I'm recommending it. But I guess it works because the load is mostly in shear and there are a fair number of fasteners (?). Better backing plates would be nice though, and of course overdrilling/refilling any through-core holes (anywhere you find them on the boat).

3) The keel
I would want to know why it was glassed over in the first place. A good reason? A "last gasp" attempt to repair a real problem for as long as it lasted? Just because the person liked the idea of an encapsulated keel? I don't think I would want a glassed over meant-not-to-be keel, but then too, I would also want to know more about the situation.

4) The partial bulkhead
I'm curious to know a little bit more about what that does, overall. If it were in something like a Triton, I would figure it was just a tray lip or something like that. But since the Cal 20 is more of a flat bottom/canoe type hull, maybe it's part of a structural grid system or something? If it were my boat, and I knew what it was doing and why it came adrift, and felt it was not a bigger problem, I could see just re-filleting and tabbing it.

5) The winches
Here is a source for Barient winch documents; perhaps it can be of help?

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/indexes/winches.htm

6) Not on your list, but... since you sound slightly ambivalent about the project, I would just say that you might consider stepping back and asking yourself what your expectations and desires are for the boat, and for the level of "projectiness" you want to take on. Just to be sure (or as sure as you can be - one can always change one's mind) that you are on the right track.

Now, I hope I have not mis-spoken or got anything wrong - I really need two monitors so I can go back and forth from your photos and descriptions to this text box :)

Rachel

[Bikermouse]

Thanks for the input. You make it sound like I'm probably on the right track for most of it.

As for my intentions/expectations, once she's swimming probably 90% of her life will be daysails where we might never even go into the cabin except to stow or retrieve something. For the occasional week-end trip to Catalina, my wife and I are both expecting slightly better than tent camping, so fit and finish is a far second place behind functionality and ease of maintenance.

From what I've read, the Cal-20 keels, being cast-iron, were usually somewhat rough in finish at the metal anyway, so were faired and covered with a layer of epoxy by most folks. Since the P.O. is dead, I can't ask him, but I think that the layer of glass is probably primarily to give him a nice smooth base for fairing the keel. The boat will live on a trailer instead of a slip, so my feeling is that I can afford to do a more immediate, piecemeal repair instead of refinishing the whole keel. When it's out and dry, any further damage will become apparent instead of invisibly corroding below the water.

[Figment]

And would you believe that this is the backing for the winches!

Well, first I need to believe that this rig actually requires winches, but then yes. Yes, I would.

Pics good.
More pics better.

You have achieved "better".

[Bikermouse]

Well, I'm calling them winches because they're winch-shaped and you wind the sheets and halyards on them, but they're not actually geared, and have no real mechanical advantage to them. "Winch" is just a lot easier to say than "ratcheting drum".

[Quetzalsailor]

They're 'snubbing winches'. Not usually mounted with a jam cleat (at least, I've never seen one). They do the same job as a Harken ratchet block. My '50's Flying Dutchman has one made of Tuffnol. My dad's '50's FD had one too. Means that when you tack and throw the genny sheet over it, you've got a chance to get out on the trapeze and not loose to much of the sheet you've just pulled in.

[Hirilondë]

I had one on my Blue Jay as a kid (snubbing winch), mounted on the centerboard trunk. Only used it in heavy wind. It allows you to keep the sheet in your hand without the total strain otherwise experienced holding it.

[earlylight]

In my younger days (back in the 40's and 50's) I crewed on many a Lightning with snubbing winches that had cam cleats either attached with a stainless plate secured beneath the snubbing winch using the winch bolts or mounted behind the winches. Most of these classic wood Lightnings I sailed on came from the builders rigged in this manner.