Catalina 25 cracks in bilge

[CHDtrt]

I am looking at purchasing a 1985 Catalina 25. I have seen cracks in the bilge on many boats and have generally been told they're not a big deal. In this case, they have raised up a bit and when knocking on the raised part it sounds hollow. Curious if this is something that should be a concern?

[JPA Cate]

Looks to me like the boat had a hard grounding. If you clean all the rust out of there, you'll probably find more signs of damage and and water ingress. Look with great suspicion of problems at the area around the aft end of the keel, too.

Most things wrong with old boats can be fixed, but the question is do you want to do it? A proper repair for that boat will involve a lot of fiberglass sanding, and re-laminating with fiberglass and epoxy; it may need stringers glassed in, too. But you have to start the repair process and then see how much is needed. [Long story, but we had a similar problem on a former boat, costs included the exterior repair, which did not hold; a re-do of that repair, then my Jim cutting out old stringers, Epoxy products, lots of fiberglass for the interior repair; and sanding and grinding fiberglass below decks was not adequately contained by the painters drop cloths we taped up, so the cleanup was a bear.]

You will need a suit to keep the fiberglass dust off your skin, and all the special little tools for working with the resins. You should also use a respirator, so as to avoid the epoxy fumes, otherwise you risk epoxy-caused emphysema.

I wouldn't risk that particular boat, but I wouldn't like the boat turtling if the keel fell off.

Ann

[JimsCAL]

I would walk. Lots of boats out there without problems like this one seems to have.

[CHDtrt]

Thanks Ann. Not sure if this changes anything, but that isn't rust in there, it is dust. The bilge was hardly damp.