Cal Sailboats

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A place for the Cal owners to talk about anything from there day sail to their bottom paint.
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Any Cal 24 or 25 owners out there

by Martin Klos

Oct 4, 2009

We just pulled our Santana 20 for the winter so it is time to start working on our Cal 24 restoration. The boat had been stored until 4 years ago full of water in the interior (up to the gunwales). So a lot of the interior needs redoing.

On to my question; benches and flooring are relatively easy to replace, (I think). We need to strip the boat from the front bulkhead all the way back due to wood rot. But there are two bulkhead type panels that run from the floor up the side of the boat, glassed in to the sides of the boat, that are partially rotted out. They may be supports for the roof just abow of the opening hatch area. Does anyone know if these bulkheads are necessary support structures for the roofline? Or are they simply decorative panels? If we can remove them and not suffer structural strength, then we can make longer benches for sleeping inside (going to use the boat for a weekend cruiser).

Anyone out there with experience or knowledge about this boats' design who can help out with ideas?
Martin
  • up

    CaptRick

    Hi Martin,
    I used to own a 1967 CAL25. My friend Bill owns it now and I still sail and work on it occasionally. We've done a lot of work on it. If your CAL24 is the older version and not the 1984 one, and thus similar to the older CAL25 then the bulkhead you are referring to is structural and will need to be replaced. On our CAL25 the chain-plates were attached to it and the beam supporting the mast too! Generally speaking, if a bulkhead is glassed in, it is probably structural.
    1

    Feb 3, 2010

    • up

      CaptRick

      I'm not familiar with the differences between the 25 and the 24. On the 25 there is a laminated beam at the top of the front(v-berth) bulkhead. the mast support "square" is above the beam. It is a common problem on the 25s to have rot in the mast "square" and or the beam. The mast step needs to be re-bedded periodically to prevent water from going down the screw hole. Another way for it to get in is through the forward hatch. Where the 4 pieces that make up the hatch frame are bedded to the deck it can leach into the deck plywood and travel laterally into the mast support block.
      As far as what king of wood to use for the blocks, any good hard wood will work. I probably would stay away from plywood as it can compress. If you want to go nuts, use a naturally rot resistant wood like Ipe. Remember that rot is caused by a fungus that feeds on the moisture. If you don't remove all of the wood at least 6-12inches from it then treat the area with a fused borate treatment. Fused so that it can't "wash" away. I'm not an expert on this stuff so keep that in mind but hopefully this will give you some info to look into. Also check out www.cal25.com
      1

      Feb 3, 2010