Need advice on repairing traveler damage!

[ThreadenSails]

I could really use some advice/guidance here- I'm a total noob at this. Sailing yesterday in a stiff breeze, my traveler came right out of the deck on the port side- and fairly loose on the starboard side. I was able to secure the boom so as not to cause any more damage, but now I need to repair it. Unfortunately, I’ve really shot through my spring boat budget on other projects, so I need to try and do this one myself. The boat is still pretty new to me, and I have zero experience with fiberglass repair or bedding deck hardware- So I guess it’s time to learn.
Apparently, this is not an uncommon problem with the early Catalina 34s. The traveler is not thru bolted into the cabin. I suppose it’s amazing that this didn’t happen sooner. Catalina sells 9” bolts to fix the problem, and I ordered some. While I am waiting for them to arrive I need to fix the area I damaged. There is a steel plate underneath the fiberglass that the bolts go through, and then there was a layer of fiberglass over it, and the track on top of that. Am I right in thinking that first I need to clear the area, then epoxy down the steel plate, and then fiberglass over the whole area. Then when I get the new bolts I re-bed the traveler track all the way through the deck? Is this the sort of project a complete noob can handle?
What sort of products do I need to purchase?
Do I need to replace the steel plates as well? It looks as though they are in two halves, and only one half came up. I doubt it was one piece and that the force was strong enough to rip it in a straight line…

[Orion Jim]

This is probably your best source of advice specific to the Catalina 34.
Catalina 34 - Index

[Seeking Solace]

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/...aintenance.pdf

and

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/...-Finishing.pdf

Both are from the site above and should cover the repair you need to do. You'll want to make sure the backing plate is capable of supporting the loads being put on it. If you need to beef it up it's easy enough to do. The West Systems books above are pretty straight forward and easy to follow. There's some pretty good videos on Youtube on gelcoat and fiberglass repair too.

At least nobody got hurt when it broke. Yet another reason to keep things as trimmed as possible. One good thing about an older boat is the issues have usually been sorted out by someone else before you and left a warning of what needs fixing and upgrading. That's a pretty good Catalina forum once you start using the search feature.

[thinwater]

And change your jibe technique. There shouldn't be an severe impact. Haul the sheet in as you start the jibe, and then ease it quickly, but under control. No slack.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Remove, & toss the steel plates. Bond some 1/2" (or thicker) G10 to the top of each tower, & lay up a good thickness of glass overtop of it, thus tying the G10 to all 4 sides of the towers. Then drill & tap it for the traveler track bolts.

Alternatively, if the towers are solid glass, or close there to. Then rebuild them to look pretty again. Oversize the holes for the bolts, & bond them in place to a significant depth. You don't really need the steel plates, as shown here, & in lots of other WEST System publications. WEST SYSTEM - Projects - Testing large bonded-in fasteners

[Seeking Solace]

Originally Posted by thinwater

And change your jibe technique. There shouldn't be an severe impact. Haul the sheet in as you start the jibe, and then ease it quickly, but under control. No slack.

That's solid advice that will prevent it from happening again. The uncontrolled gybe is dangerous and damaging. Timing and following those steps can stop 90% of them or more. You can haul in and ease out in a pretty smooth motion with a little practice. It's much safer and easier on the boat.

[ThreadenSails]

Thanks for all the help everyone- I've joined the Catalina Association forum and spent hours reading on the west systems website. That place is like a library! A bit overwhelming, but I think I can handle this.

Also like the idea of using the g10. I do want it to look nice so I may try building it up with fiberglass- but being brand new to working with it I am a little concerned I may not have the skill to pull it off. Guess it's a good spot to try though- since most of the surface area will be covered up by the track.

Thanks for the advice on jibing, but surprisingly enough it wasn't during a jibe. We were just sailing along- I guess that's proof it was really in need of repair and it's my bad for not catching it on my own before it became critical.

Unfortunately i'm still stuck on the step where I get the old bolts out of the traveler. I've tried impact driver, pb baster, heat. The damn things will not budge. I may just have to go ahead and replace the whole track.

[liquidice]

The p.o. of my 83 cat used those heavy duty plasticky cutting boards as backing plates for repairing the stays where they meet the deck, tooling them to fit. Look great, low money, unremarkable in the cabin but solid.

[JPA Cate]

I may be way off base here, and your C 34 forum can probably tell you for sure, but those plates that broke looked like aluminum in the pictures you posted. If that's so, no wonder you're having trouble getting the bolts out! If they are aluminum, and the s/s bolts were not put in with some form of effective anti-seize, the s/s interacts galvanically with the aluminum, and aluminum oxide forms, wedging the bolt tight against the aluminum. It can be the very devil to break loose. Something that sometimes works is successive heating and cooling of the fastener, to try and expand and contract the s/s enough to then get it out with the impact driver.

If, in fact those plates are s/s (weird that it should have broken that way), more banging will probably get the bolts out.

Ann

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by liquidice

The p.o. of my 83 cat used those heavy duty plasticky cutting boards as backing plates for repairing the stays where they meet the deck, tooling them to fit. Look great, low money, unremarkable in the cabin but solid.

Plastic cutting boards, & similar materials have No Place anywhere even remotely structural onboard. They have crap for strength, & will even split under the loads just from fasteners over time.

As to freeing up the current traveler bolts. Cut them in between the track & the current plates. That way the track will be easier to work on. And if they're giving you too much trouble, see the help of a wizened dockmate. Or barring that, a machinist. Though usually there are a few of those in any marina.

Many of the common removal techniques have been mentioned. But in conjunction with; heat, cold, & penetrating oils, try an impact driver, & a high torque screw gun. Use these, including first attempting to tighten each stuck fastener a little, prior to trying to unscrew. Sometimes it's enough to break the bond of the corrosion which is freezing up the fastener.

Also, get as large a screwdriver as will fit the heads of the bolts, one with a square shaft. And insert it's tip into the fastener, leaning down on it will all of your weight, while you or an assistant attempts to turn the screwdriver via a crescent wrench tightly fitted onto the screwdriver's blade down low.

I've yet to have any fastener under 1/2-3/4" not succumb to the above techniques. Albeit, yes, if you've got the coin, buying some new track is an option.

Dare I ask what it is about bonding in some G10, & then structurally glassing it into place, has you spooked? And keep in mind that it's quite often a good idea to practice working with new materials (& techniques) on a non-critical project. Including things completely non boat related. Or plain old practicing on some scrap material around the shop in order to tune up one's techniques.

Keep in mind too, that by drilling the bolt holes slightly oversized, & pouring epoxy around the bolts, you're literally gluing them in place. And they'll likely be stuck as firmly as if they were through bolted. Assuming the material into which you're drilling is structural.

Also, some guys will drill the holes oversize enough so as to be able to insert the bolts with a nut attached at the end. And then pour epoxy into the hole, around the bolt. So that it's possible to later unscrew the bolts, & then also to re-insert them. Albeit you'd probably want to coat the bolts with mold release if going this route.

[AKA-None]

Or butyl in the holes and under the track

[Suijin]

If you're going with the 9" bolts, then you have a bit of latitude in how you handle the top of the towers. I would probably replace the existing plates with 1/4" G10, and I'd encase them in epoxy and glass. Then I would drill holes for the 9" bolts and bed the traveller down. Make sure that where stainless (bolts and nuts) meet aluminum (traveller rail) that you isolate them from each other with Tef-gel or similar.

For this job I'd use West Systems 404 filler when you get to it. Difficult to sand, but solid as rock.

Take your time with the glass and fairing work, and if you screw it up, just grind it off and start again.