Today I went to Everett and made arrangements to put the Tomcat in dry storage near the boat launch. Then I drove to Bellingham to pick up my CD 22. I'd taken it there about 2 weeks ago to get some gel coat work done by the guys at the factory. Scott and his crew took good care of me and fixed a several cracks in the gel coat, one big rock chip and a bit of gel coat break out where the boat hits the trailer roller. SeaDNA is looking good thanks to their great work.
I had planned on having them also do some work on the interior but based on my available cash, I found it necessary to do the work myself (imagine that - doing work myself!). The main thing that needed to be done on the interior was to deal with the numerous floor penetrations created when the factory installed the cabinetry and the water system. As Thataway Bob has noted previously, the previous factory did the Decraguard interiors with galvanize L-brackets and screwed them into the floor without sealant or epoxy. That's the way my interior was done. So, while I've been meaning to fix this for about 2 years, the need to sell it motivated me to fix it and fix it right.
So this afternoon I got started. I removed all the L-brackets that connect the cabinetry to the floor. I took apart the cabinetry on the port side where the water tank is install and pulled the water tank to access the L-brackets underneath that. Following the procedures I learned here from Dr. Bob, I cleaned the floor and hull sides and drilled out all the floor penetrations. I then used a Dremel tool with a 1/2" grinding head to under cut the balsa. I cleaned everything out. To my surprise, even though the steel brackets were crusty and rusty, the balsa was in good shape once I got about a 1/4" from the center. Since the holes I cut out were about 5/8" in diameter and I further under cut 1/4" on all sides, I was able to get into clean and dry balsa in all cases. So far, I've done all the brackets in the cabinets under the sink and under the aft port seat. I also hit the holes associated with routing the water tubing from the tank to the pump. So far this is ..... wait for it.... 28 penetrations in the hull! Yes, the guys at the factory were hole happy back in 2003. Strange thing is that there were several holes just for clamps that hold the tubing that carries water from the tank to the foot pump. In most cases, those clamps could have been easily affixed to a horizontal surface instead of being attached to the floor.
I also stopped today at West Marine to pick up some West systems epoxy, hardener and silica for thickening. Tomorrow AM, I'll fill the holes I've drilled out so far and get started on the penetrations that are further forward. There shouldn't be too many more. When I'm all done, the interior will be better than when it was new.
A few comments on this:
1) I learned of this problem and how to solve it from excellent posts by Dr. Bob on Thataway. Now he's in poor health and I wanted to be yet another C-Brat who takes an opportunity to thank Bob for all that he has taught us. Thanks Bob! I would have never had the courage to drill into my hull without your good explanations and pictures. I know the repairs I am doing now will make the boat better than new. Thanks so much for your excellent training on this.
2) I will point out that these hull penetrations were done in 2003 back when the factory was a dealer and under ownership a few owners ago. Many here idolize that particular group of owners (me included). However, their QC and productions methods weren't perfect as this method of cabinetry install shows. Not a big issue as I'll have it fixed in the next few days. Nonetheless, I just felt a need to point out that each owner of the C-Dory brand over the past few years has had good points and bad ones.
3) IF this boat had the molded fiberglass interior that so many here complain about, this hull penetration problem would be a non-issue. My new-to-me TomCat has the molded interior and I see both good and bad aspects of it relative to the decraguard cabinetry.
4) I asked Scott Boysen where they get their stainless L-brackets. He was kind enough to give me a package at no cost so I could do my repairs. Also, I forgot to take the 5-pin flat to 6-pin round trailer electrical adapter with me from my Tomcat when I went to pick up the 22. Scott lent me one of those too. Scott and Triton are looking better and better to me each day.
While TD-16 runs up the East Coast bringing lots of rain to the outer banks where we are. The boat sits in the yard at Manteo Marine, I plan to put it in up around Kitty Hawk, probably on Friday after the storm passes and hopefully have two good fishing days to take out the crowd here in the house.
