cabin sole

[seanmcelligott]

I am looking to replace at least part of the cabin sole on my 1988 Catalina 34.  I was talking to my yard guy and he says that he once restored a 36 and was able to order all of the cabin sole pieces from Catalina.  He says he got them really quickly and believed that Catalina had them laying around (or can cut them quickly).  Any truth to this? 

[Stu Jackson]

Uhm, why not call Catalina and ask them?

[seanmcelligott]

I guess that is obvious enough.    I called Catalina and they referred me to a company called H&L marine who makes the teak and holly sole for catalina.  Apparantly H&L provides a certain cut to Catalina for the 34 and then Catalina does a final cut to fit.  So there is no ordering floorboards from anyone that are ready to go into the boat. The woman at H&L was very nice.  She told me they use "conversion" varnish when they do the varnish for catalina in case that is useful to anyone.  Anyone had a new teak and holly sole cut in the Connecticut New England area with good results?

[Craig Illman]

Sean - Have you seen the sole replacement kits at CLR Marine?

http://www.clrmarine.com/m4_view_item.html?m4:item=0TT%20C34

Chuck Reed even gives C34IA members a discount.

Craig

[waterdog]

So there is no ordering floorboards from anyone that are ready to go into the boat.

If you or your yard guy owns a router and you have the original floorboards and they fit well - you can take the rough cut boards and with a little double sided tape and with a flush trim bit produce a perfect replica in a matter of a few minutes.  The old floorboard is the template for the new one.   

[Jon Schneider]

Have you considered refinishing your sole?  While a new sole would no doubt be even nicer, I had really good luck with rejuvenating the sole on my 1990 (wish I could do the same for my soul) by stripping, sanding (you can sand more than you might think), and finishing with Ultimate Sole (miraculous product).  It might be worth trying the worst panel (perhaps the one at the companionway?) to see if you like the results before you go to the trouble of re-fitting all the sole with new boards.  You might be surprised at the difference.

[Jon Schneider]

If you or your yard guy owns a router and you have the original floorboards and they fit well - you can take the rough cut boards and with a little double sided tape and with a flush trim bit produce a perfect replica 
[/quote]

What's the double-sided tape for?

[Jeff Kaplan]

sean, 3 seasons ago i replaced the cabin sole on '86 #219. catalina will need your old sole to duplicate, so shipping across the country was too expensive. what i did was find a mill wright at a local lumber yard to cut it for me. it is had to find the 3/8" 4x8 teak/holly sheets around here, so i found a great place in fl., world panel products, 888-836-3379, www.worldpanel.com who shipped it to the lumber yard. the millwright took my old sole and used it as pattern to cut new. call some area lumber yards and ask first if they can get the wood and if not,can you supply it for the master millwright to cut. btw, the  sole will be cut out of 2- 4x8 sheets. the wood, including shipping cost me $709-.they sell 2 grades of the teak/holly, get the better grade. the lumber yard charged me around $300 to cut. if your yard is willing, have them do the cutting, and ship wood there. remember there is a bevel to the cut sides,and this must be done so the new sole fits into the cutouts in the boat. once you get the wood cut, there is another procedure to finish. only do the bottom first, then bring to boat to test fit, because i guarantee you will have to do a little sanding. once you get the fit, bring home and finish sides and top. you can e-mail me and i will give you the steps. after 3 seasons, my sole still looks brand new.

[waterdog]

What's the double-sided tape for?

Quick and easy way to stick the template (old floorboard) to the new floorboard to buzz the router around.  Shifting clamps around also works as would some temporary screws through the old floorboards and halfway into the the back of the new floorboards...

[Stu Jackson]

Current discussion on co.com (I'll have to change the link once it moves to their archives): http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/pviewall.tpl?&fno=21&uid=73200280089&sku=2007343104916.84

[Ron Hill]

Sea : One of the things that you need to check is the thickness of what you've got vrs the thickness of what you can buy.  I believe that you've now have is 3/8" thick and all new T/H flooring I've found is metric!!! 
A thought.   

[seanmcelligott]

Anybody seen the CLR laminate floor?  It looks pretty nice in the pictures.  Not cheap, but sounds like it is comparable to a new teak and holly floor.  After winterizing the boat this weekend and having antifreeze all over the floorboards from the hot water heater (don't ask) the thought of a synthetic floor is appealing.

[Jon Schneider]

I haven't seen it personally, but I do know of a couple of C36 owners who have raved about it.  Why not ask Chuck (the "C" of CLR Marine) if he'd be willing to send you a sample?

[Tom Glennon]

Boulter Plywood in Somerville, MA has the teak and holly plywood, as well as any other type of marine lumber you may need.   The have a fantastic inventory of milled and unmilled teak, at various thicknesses and widths.... they will cut to size too.  check out their web site.  Great place for the do-it-yourselfer!  www.boulterplywood.com

[Jeff Kaplan]

as i live not far from bolters, i tried them first, but they could only get 1/4" and 1/2" teak/holly sheets. that is why i stated above that it is difficult to find the 3/8" sheets needed. the only place i found was in fl. and i supplied the info. the lumber yard i used is very large and they couldn't find it either and that is why they had no problem with me securing the wood, shipping it to them for the millwright to cut...jeff