Cat 30 Survey

I was surveying a Cat-30 today….a couple of things about older sail boats. First – water always finds a way through inboard or deck chainplate penetrations – usually taking out the plywood bulkheads in which the shrouds - chainplate fixtures are attached to. The above picture is a plywood hanging knee which takes the load from the shroud into the hull structure – water has made its way into the plywood – you can see that delamination well underway. The fixture is pulling upwards and out through the damaged wood (inner plys are moveing upward with the fasteners). This is not good – but fixable. The point here is always inspect and re-bed those cover plates to reduce water leakage. Another point is to routinely check chainplate fasteners – they’re usually loose – and when the rig moves they move – round fastener holes become egg shaped – which eventually works the bedding under those chain plate deck covers – which invites water into the cabin onto the bulkhaeds. It’s a never ending circle. I usually recommended tightening the chain plate fasteners to the builder’s specs – but never crush the wood beneath the fastenings.