Cal 34 Questions

[juanacruz]

Hi all, Just wondering if any Cal owners have any advice/info on the steel beam that is bolted to bulkheads under the mast compression post. I have seen some photos of Cal 27's that show a steel beam with a U shaped lower piece of steel attatched to beam matching the hull shape. But on my boat it appears that it is just abeam that shows light rust(as far as I can tell due to limited acess) anyone w/ experience. Also a separate issue albeit connected issue; how bad does a bulkhead and or tabs have to be before total replacement. In my opinion the chainplates and backing plates seem insuffecient for this boat. The bulkhead tabs are only separating in 6" to 8" here and there, I'm planning on grinding away any separated section of tabbing and re-epoxying them. and installing larger /stronger chainplates and backing plates. The top two layers of the teak ply at the chainplates is rotten but rot does not extend too far. This is a lot of info. Thanks for advice... Juanacruz

[cal40john]

Most of the Cals have that beam. The beam on the 34 is similar to the beam on the 29 and the 40. Cal owners have been renting or buying borescopes to inspect their beams. A previous owner of my boat put inspection ports in the fiberglass wall to inspect the beam.

I've never heard anyone worry about the chainplates for the uppers. Apparently though at some point Jenson put a bigger backing plate on the aft lowers (IIRC, or it could have been the forwards, I need to go look at my friend's boat again to be sure.) as they are just supported on the flat of the deck.

The bulkhead is the tie from the chainplates to the beam, so it's an important rigging component. The beam and bulkheads tie together the mast compression and shroud tension loads.

The tabbing is well known to be on the light side. Other than gaining access to some of it, it is not that hard to repair.

Good Cal resource:
Cal_Boats : Cal Sail List

John

[andrewafterfive]

hi.. i have a cal 2-27 that has mast compression - if you have pictures on how to rectify them please send them to me

andrew

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by andrewafterfive

hi.. i have a cal 2-27 that has mast compression - if you have pictures on how to rectify them please send them to me

andrew

I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean the wood compression post in your cabin is rotten and needs replacing?

John

[andrewafterfive]

Hi John.. thanks for your response.. no it is not the wood.. but the fibreglass that it is sitting on ..it is raised fibreglass - so you step into the head/vberth area but it is now concave and showing some cracking.. i hadnt noticed it and neither had my insurance surveryor but i suspect it has been for sometime because about 3 years ago the door to the head didnt shut properly and the latch didnt fit . i needed to drill another hole so that the catch would close.. about 3/8" higher so the main support for the mast had dropped.. 3/8" - i wasnt too sure if this is an issue with Cal's or this is particular to mine

Andrew

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by andrewafterfive

Hi John.. thanks for your response.. no it is not the wood.. but the fibreglass that it is sitting on ..it is raised fibreglass - so you step into the head/vberth area but it is now concave and showing some cracking.. i hadnt noticed it and neither had my insurance surveryor but i suspect it has been for sometime because about 3 years ago the door to the head didnt shut properly and the latch didnt fit . i needed to drill another hole so that the catch would close.. about 3/8" higher so the main support for the mast had dropped.. 3/8" - i wasnt too sure if this is an issue with Cal's or this is particular to mine

Andrew

Slacken of your rigging a tad.... to many folk over tension thinking bar taut is good and strong... does not work that way... just bananas the boat and tries to drive the mast through the bottom..
A popular trick in the UK on older designs without a compression post is to get two pieces of scaffold pole threaded at one end and plate welded to the other ends...
then a screw collar done right up so's its an exact fit from bilge to bottom of mast base the unscrew and slowly push the compressed/depressed area back up... then leave in place...
Dunno if it makes sense to you but I've done it on 3 boats with great results.

[andrewafterfive]

hi . yes you are probably correct.. but the damage is done and now have to come up with a way to fix it.. .. without stripping the boat apart completely...
is that you in portugal.. i am actually in mexico right now.. staying away from the damp and wet of the west coast of canada...

andrew

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by andrewafterfive

Hi John.. thanks for your response.. no it is not the wood.. but the fibreglass that it is sitting on ..it is raised fibreglass - so you step into the head/vberth area but it is now concave and showing some cracking.. i hadnt noticed it and neither had my insurance surveryor but i suspect it has been for sometime because about 3 years ago the door to the head didnt shut properly and the latch didnt fit . i needed to drill another hole so that the catch would close.. about 3/8" higher so the main support for the mast had dropped.. 3/8" - i wasnt too sure if this is an issue with Cal's or this is particular to mine

Andrew

The wood post under the mast is what holds the deck up. The bottom of the wood post sits on a beam that goes across the boat transversely. Most Cals this beam is steel, I don't know for sure on the 27s. This beam is bolted to the bulkhead and the chainplates are bolted to the bulkhead. So the shrouds are pulling up on the beam, which pushes up the compression post which holds up the deck. For the deck to sag either the post has to get shorter or the beam under the sole has rotted away and come adrift and the sole is sagging as well.

Unless you are talking about a small area. On the Cal 34 I sailed on alot, since the mast is bigger around than the post, when it flexed forward it cracked the mast step on the deck which allowed more load to happen in front of the post and put some cracks in the underdeck and maybe bowed it down in a small area. For a large area to sag the compression post isn't doing its job.

I was just re-reading your post. Are you talking about the raised part of the cabin sole that hides the beam as being sunken and cracked? Not the underside of the deck?


John

[cal40john]

See post #7 on the below link:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ous-11867.html

Again, I'm not sure whether the 27 has a steel beam or something else.

Do a search through the Yahoo Cal_boats forum or join up and ask. More than one has done the dreaded beam replacement.

John

[Ita]

Go to yahoogroups cal_boat

Lots of information and pictures of how to..

[Adelie]

Try this link which shows what one guy did to replace the beam in a Cal 29.
Wilkie's Sailboat Page
Click the red tinged box at the top of the page for progress photos.

[andrewafterfive]

thanks for the input . the raised part of the cabin sole is what is sunken (concave) and is cracked... i didnt know if there is a beam under the glass or not. or just he fibreglass itself..

andrew

[Adelie]

What you can do to check the beam is get a deck plate like this ( BECKSON MARINE INC Screw-In ABS Deck Plates at West Marine ), cut a hole for the plate in a convenient spot on the fore or aft side of the sill under the main bulkhead. Now you can inspect the beam and cover it back up at your convenience. Get the plate first so you know how big a hole you can cut.

For inspection you will need a flash light and inspection mirror to look transversely along the beam unless it is apparent that beam it toast just looking into the initial hole.