I was just reminded yesterday about water intrusion and what it can do. Sad tale follows, get kleenex.
We have the winter cover off the boat, she has been buffed, waxed, re-striped and our name is on her, she looks fantastic, all the mechanical and electronic upgrades are done and working. We are ecstatic.
It rained, finally, two days ago first time since the cover was off. One bolt leaked on the traveller. I figured no biggie, pull the traveller and rebed it. But before I did that I put the moisture meter on the cabin top from the inside and I got a huge shocker. There is an area extending 6" behind and to the side of that bolt that is in the 20% range for moisture. That will rot, and from the dozen or so exploratory holes I drilled, I believe it has started, I can get movement when I put a small allen key into the core and press so while the wood comes out on the drill bit looking bright and smelling OK, it is soft. It is also either a factory void on the bottom side of the core or it has started to delaminate, the drill bit goes through solid glass then takes a slight jump and then hits the core. Oddly enough it sounds OK when hammered, probably because the underside glass is so thick, appears to be between 3/8" and 1/2" of glass. No doubt it has been leaking for some time given the total lack of maintenance this boat had from the PO, it has to have for the moisture to spread that far from the bolt.
This was missed by the surveyor (and me) because it was only tested from above and in front of the blocks the traveller is mounted on, from there it tests normal. I checked again yesterday and it still tests normal from above. The cabintop/side decks were not tested from below. The dodger on this boat is attached at the front through a metal strip that sits right behind those blocks making it impossible to test this area from above.
Our surveyor did a gloss over with his meter, I wasn't worried because I'd already done the whole thing from above and it looked good. He glossed over an area I already knew was wet, I called him on it and he re-tested it with another meter and then noted it was "a bit high". 18% is more than "a bit high" in my book. And why the difference with two meters, both of which read lower than mine? Suspicious? Damn right. Surveys are done because insurance companies demand it, in my experience they are a waste of money. I've been involved in 3 different ones now and every one missed significant structural issues involving wet core.
Morals of the story:
If you are buying a boat you should insist your surveyor moisture tests every accessible surface, above and below decks.
Every hole in a boat should be treated as a potential wick for moisture into the core. The ones that are blind ie:don't go through below so you can't see water dripping, are deadly dangerous. Those screw holes in the eyebrow fall into that category.
Surveyors miss a lot of stuff, expect it.
And if a boat looks unloved, it's not likely just cosmetic, there's going to be other problems for sure.
I am a tad depressed about this, I thought we were in the clear with this boat and now this problem pops up. Core wet enough to rot, possible delamination in a very high load area. Two days before splash. Looking at a long wait now for the moisture level to come down enough to fill with epoxy from below (you haven't seen messy until you've done that) and then get some big stainless steel plates made to replace the tiny little washers below these bolts, for aesthetics and strength. I will always suspect this area now. Not nice at all. Don't underestimate what a hole in a deck can do. Fill 'em.
What do you intend to do about it? We bought a 1988 36' two years ago, and are trying to get our hands around a pretty significant problem. First thing is to rebed everything. Next, how to fix it?
Mark Villano
Ideally I would do this in winter when the boat's tarped. I would pull the offending hardware, grind the core out around the hole at least 1/4" back and then drill holes into the core in the least conspicuous area possible either from above (assuming the boat's in storage for winter and under a tarp) or from below. Then let it dry out for several months. Keep checking with moisture meter and when it's down to a reasonably safe level you can start a permanent repair. If the core has some rot, inject epoxy into the holes you drilled already. There are epoxies made for that purpose, they will penetrate into punky wood very well and solidify it, this stuff is not for filling voids though. Fill any remaining voids with thickened regular epoxy. Fill the hardware hole with epoxy and re-drill it, this prevents water from getting into core from that hole ever again. Then fix the holes in the gel coat. If your holes are small, like 1/8", and you put them in the lowest part of the non-skid diamonds, they are not terribly noticeable once you put gelcoat in them. From inside, the headliner has a dimpled texture to it and the same is true.
Right now with our problem we are in a holding pattern waiting for the moisture level to come down. I drilled holes from below since the boat is in use.
This type of repair is only feasible on small areas of wet core that aren't in too bad shape. If the core is really bad and covers a larger area then you have to remove the inner or outer skin and re-core it and that is a nasty big job and not something us amateurs can expect to do and end up with a nice result. Even the "pros" are hard pressed to do this well, I've seen a couple of "professionally repaired" decks that were horrific at least cosmetically. I've also seen some done so well you couldn't tell. Skill counts.
It takes a long time for the moisture to get out of the core through those small holes, some people put a fan on the holes or inject acetone or similar volatile stuff into it supposedly to absorb and evaporate the water away. I prefer to just let time do the job.
Hey Bud I know what your feeling, One thing that will help is now and the use a vac on the drill hole to suck any moisture out as I have done that on certain areas. When we had of first boat a Catalina 30, we could not sell it as it was wet by all the chain plates. The marina wanted over $6500 to fix it. So I took and cut a 1 foot by 6 foot section of the top decking out and pulled the wet plywood out and replaced it with wood and glass. I have my own moisture meter and would not be with out it. Once I got it all done they were very curious how it came out.To my surprise I got a thumbs up from them and they wanted to know I wanted a job. Lol Knowing what I know now and how it came out, I would not hesitate to cut into the top side and pull out the wet wood and replace it. Keep working at it as it can only get better, Randy
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
I"ll try the vacuum Randy never thought of that. We have a moisture meter as well, bought it when we went looking for a boat last fall and it is an excellent tool, ruled a boat in or out in minutes. And it gave the surveyor a bit of a wake up call when I called him on the spot he missed.
Now I pass it around the stanchions and chainplates and anyplace there is a hole in the deck every now and then looking for any increase in moisture level. Early detection against a leak is the best insurance. You are a brave man and clearly very skilled as well! That is a tough DIY job and to get a good result speaks volumes.
We've been keeping up on reading your blog, good stuff!
can you give me a little info on the moisture meter you have? What kind, what it costs, where you got it, etc.? sounds like that might be money well spent, if I can diagnose any leaks and take care of them beforehand.
I had a pair of VERY leaky cap shroud chainplates. They leaked from the factory and had discolored the varnish at the top of the bulkhead on both sides. I had the dealer seal them and install trim to cover up the damage, prior to agreeing to buy the boat.
Still leaked. This time they removed them completely and rebedded. I started to get trickles of water on the starboard side a couple years ago, so I removed and rebedded all the stbd chainplates, sealing the sides of the holes with epoxy to boot.
I'd like to check all the stanchions and chainplates to see what needs rebedding. I think that meter would be money well spent vs. the repair costs.
Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay
Gary, I have an Electrophysics CT33, I bought it from a dealer in Canada off eBay for $160. There are more fancy ones but this one works very well and seems to be well regarded. Lots of places selling them just Google that to find some.
Very easy to calibrate and use, but you need to do some reading on how they work, limitations, things that can cause inaccurate readings and so forth.
As a further precaution, when I have time and the boat's out of the water I pull deck hardware and do the "grind out core/fill with epoxy/redrill the hole" exercise. So far I have all the chainplates done and the front 4 stanchions. This fall/winter I will do some more stanchions that go through core, some of them go into plates and those *should not* be a problem. All those little snaps and so forth that they put on for dodgers and biminis are also a problem if they drilled into the core.
The chainplates on these boats are really cheesy, at least in terms of the covers keeping water out. I rebedded all of them this spring after the epoxy thing was done and already the starboard cap shroud leaked and I had to rebed it again. I used Sikaflex 291LOT the first time, I am using 3M 4200 fast cure this time.
I don't know how they expect that flimsy little cover with two tiny screws to do much good. Our boat had been leaking a lot at the starboard cap shroud for a long time, there was a lot of rot in the bulkhead that wasn't apparent until you started taking things apart. I have stabilized that bulkhead with injectable epoxy and it is solid now. The worst area of rot was at the bottom of the bulkhead behind the seat cushions, the water can run unnoticed behind the chainplate down there and it sits on the fibreglass were the bulkhead ends and rots it away. I drilled 1/8" holes all around all the bolt holes that bolt the big chainplate to the bulkhead and into the boat structure and injected the epoxy into those areas, repeated that process until the whole area behind the chainplate was saturated fully with epoxy, it is now pretty much solid composite. This repair can't be seen because the big chainplate covers it all up. Then put a layer of thickened epoxy over any surface areas that flaked off at the bottom. The bottom looks ugly but it's hidden behind the seat anyway and at least now it should be stable (he says hopefully). In the end it might have been easier to just change the bulkhead but at least now I am pretty sure that any water that gets in there cannot do further damage to the bulkhead.
The chainplates on the 28 were far better, basically kind of an upside down version of what's on the 36, the big heavy piece is on top of the deck through bolted to another big heavy piece under the deck. I had 3 years of sailing on that boat when we sold it and no leakage, so far with the 36 it's 3 months and a leak. I also used 5200 on those chainplates, they are huge and you can really pry on them without damaging anything, that and marine formula would loosen the 5200 when needed. Can't use 5200 on these little plate things for sure, you can bend them with your fingers.
BOAT = WORK
thanks for the info, I'll look into that.
I've used silicone caulk for rebedding; so far so good. It seems to stay flexible, and lasted about 7 years before I got another leak. Fortunately, the water ran down the face of the chainplate, so it was evident. I've always treated the little plates as trim, just to hide the ugly holes and cover any errant caulk.
One spring I had water stains on the aft cabin shelf, right where it meets the hanging locker. Could not figure out where it came from. Finally noticed that the sealant under the last starboard lifeline stanchion had all been squeezed out from under the plate. I figure some water had gotten in there, frozen/expanded, thawed, more water/freeze/expansion, all winter until it had pushed all the sealant from under that plate. Rebedded and all is well. Wish I had a cover for the boat, but not in the budget.
Will be rebedding things this fall. meter will help me prioritize.
Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay
Hey Bud, you might want to try the 3M 4000UV fast set instead of the 4200. I found that any exposed 4200 will yellow over time, whereas the 4000UV does not. The 4000UV is recommended for above and below the waterline just as the 4200.
Tom & Janis Grover
C36 #0949
SR/WK, M25XP
Midland, ON
Gary,
I also have an Electrophysics CT33, as recommended by Maine Sail in this article:
[URL]http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/moisture_meter[/URL]
Rodd used to own a C36, and is eminently knowledgeable in just about all matters marine. I bought it before I started searching for a new boat last year. It's an awesome piece of electronics. As it turned out, the surveyor I hired had the same meter, and I watched him use it. It definitely takes some practice. You can't just turn it on and expect a magic "wet" or "dry" answer. In response to what I know will be the next question posted, on the advice of several owners who use moisture meters in their professions, the officers of C36IA decided a number of years ago to NOT purchase one for "Tom's Tool Box" for just that reason.
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Bud,
You are aware that anything below about 15% reading on the CT-33 is considered basically dry. You are barely into the moist area and provided no more water gets in your deck it should be solid for a long while. Re-bed it well and prevent any further ingress and be done with it but do keep an eye on it.
Contrary to marketing claims epoxy injection does not work well, or at all, so if you really want to dig into this, and want it done right, you'll need to do deck surgery. Deck injections are really a feel good DIY measure only unless you have a massive vacuum system and specialized tools but even then deck surgery is still often required.. I have repaired many decks over the years and I would not even touch a deck below 20% unless it was also showing signs of delam from spot soundings. I have also seen first hand how and why injections do basically nothing. A good buddy of mine who does marine fiberglass work for a living dyed some of the penetrating epoxy then drilled a 1/4 inch hole in some balsa that was laminated to a 1/8" skin of glass. Even with bone dry balsa the dyed penetrating epoxy penetrated at the most 1-2 mm. When wet or even damp it penetrates even less. He used this to show customers why he won't do injections.
Even bone dry solid fiberglass can read upwards of 8% on the CT-33. Try not to over think this or stress about it and just have fun sailing. 18% is really nothing to worry about. I have seen and felt all levels of wet balsa from slightly damp to dripping coffee grounds and 18% is not wet comparatively speaking. I know one boat that had a 20% reading in the early 80's in one area of the deck. This was picked up on multiple surveys throughout her life. Today nearly 30 years later the deck still reads about 20% in that area and the spot soundings indicate no core delamination or softening.
Monitor it with spot soundings and the meter and if it worsens then address it but I doubt it will get worse if you stop the ingress of moisture.
-Maine Sail
https://www.marinehowto.com/
Maine Sail,
Firstly, thanks for all your advice, musings, and guidance. We are better for it here in the boating community for what you have continued to share. I do have a question though.
Do you have any more comprehensive writings out there on this topic. I am faced with some water intrusion issues and need all the information I can gather as a primer in order to formulate a plan of attack.
-Thank you,
From Boat-Owners-The-World-Over
Mitch
1986 Catalina 36 MKI
S/V "Blessing"
Kema, TX
Hull: #584
M25 w/ Oberdorfer Conversion
Has anyone ever used a pin-type moisture meter for this?
For this one would have to drill two tiny pin holes and then push the meter's pins into them, but this sounds no worse than the "exploratory drill holes" in the above thread.
The reason I ask is that I have both a pinless (like the ElectroPhysics) and a pin moisture meter.
The pinless shows high moisture in some areas, but I question the accuracy due to that article link Tom showed above (and googling this subject, where opinions vary widely).
It seems to me that the pin-type moisture meter would be more accurate, assuming it can penetrate to the wood core.
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
I have both types, I pretty much don't use the pin meter any more because on any hardwoods it can barely penetrate the surface where as the Electrophysics gets into the heart of things, so to speak.
The deck is so thick on our boat and the core is well down in it, my pin meter would never reach in to the core so the Electrophysics is the only option I have. Plus I don't like drilling holes into cored glass, if you didn't have water before, you might just be opening it up and ensuring you will have water.
I don't have any issues about accuracy with the Electrophysics once it's calibrated. For finding moisture in core I think they are the best and most affordable tool available.
On hard surfaces, the pin meter instructions recommend drilling two tiny holes before inserting the pins. The holes must be NO GREATER than the length of the pins, i.e. the pinpoints must both touch a surface.
There are already dozens of holes in the deck. Two more tiny ones, later to be filled with a bit of epoxy seems like a low-risk diagnostic procedure. But if you are concerned about drilling new water intrusion points, you could (often) drill the exploratory holes on the underside of the deck in the cabin.
What's so special about the ElectroPhysics? Aren't all these pinless meters using basically the same technology? I bought an inexpensive pinless digital Ryobi at Home Depot. When I run it over the sheetrock in my house it shows high moisture content...everywhere there is a stud. Before I bought the meter, I had read this in an article somewhere, i.e. that these pinless meters make great studfinders. I found that hard to believe. Now I don't. :-)
To be fair, it does find water to 1/2 inch depth, just as claimed in the instructions. If I lay it on my hand, it registers 100%.
I think the problem with the pinless meters (from what I've read and confirmed on my own) is that you are going to get a lot of "false positive" readings. I'm thinking you are going to get a false positive on your boat if you run across a metal backing plate that was bedded into the core during initial construction. It won't be in the spec, so how would you determine if it is metal or water...unless you drill and use a pin meter to check it...or drill and just watch the water flow out? :-)
In what ways is the analog ElectroPhysics vastly superior to the inexpensive digitals now on the market?
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
I don't recall saying it was "vastly superior" to anything. It is better than a pin meter for my purposes based on my experiences. And when I bought it, I believed it was the best, most affordable meter I could get, it was most often recommended and it was readily available to me. If you don't mind drilling holes in your deck knock yourself out, I just try to avoid doing that unless there's no other way.
I have never had a "false positive". If it said there was water in the core, exploratory surgery found it was right. I pretty much know where there is metal on the Catalinas now so for me that's not an issue. I don't do stuff on other people's boats, just mine, and I have a baseline to work from so I am simply looking for changes. Metal in the core is an issue no matter what tester you use though.
It made a liar out of a surveyor who passed over an area I already knew was high with two other units and said it was fine. After I called him on it he recalibrated his, passed over it again and said it was high. Which says more about surveyors than it does moisture meters.
There's likely better ones, or cheaper better ones. No idea. It does the job for me just fine, but might not be the right unit for you, I'm simply telling you my experience with it. YMMV.
Ben
I think Maine Sail touched on it on a eailer post. There is a learning curve with with the non pin type meter as I am sure there is with the pin type. We had a Catalina 30 that I did extensive deck repair and I learned in seeing actually what the meter was reading to what I was seeing. Now that I have seen it for my own eyes I understand what the meter was telling me. Yes it will give you false readings if you do not know what is under the deck or in it. I am like Bud. I would not want to drill holes either top side nor bottom side just to find out. Knowing my meter and how it reads now I am very confident in finding wet decks. Over time you will learn with your pin type meter what your reading. Plus you get to learn to epoxy.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
Sorry, bstreet. I didn't mean to imply that you said it was "vastly superior". That was just a general question to the group.
If I already owned an ElectroPhysics, I'd probably keep it too. I would not go out and buy a second pinless one....but if I didn't own any pinless meter yet, I would question whether it is worth paying 3-5 times the price vs buying an inexpensive but reliable one at Home Depot which I could easily return if it didn't work well... unless of course there is some feature the ElectroPhysics has that makes it vastly superior. When I first started shopping for one, I read on the woodworking forums, where some of the pros make a pretty good case for the pinless meters in the $300-400 range! That was my point/question.
Mutualfan, if, as you say, the meter can give you false readings if you don't know what's under the deck, then how can you know what's under the deck unless you either (a) rip it up or (b) drill a few small exploratory holes? Seems like that is the only way to go through the "learning curve", right?
I'm just dying to learn about epoxy. :-)
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
Well I guess you could call it a play with words here. For the deck for me there is ON the deck which is top side. IN the deck whiich would be inside it and within the deck makeup such as the core. Then there is UNDER the deck which would be backing plates, ect. Inside the cabin.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
Ok, let me rephrase using your terminology:
If, as you say, the meter can give you false readings if you don't know what's in the deck, then how can you know what's in the deck unless you either (a) rip it up or (b) drill a few small exploratory holes? Seems like that is the only way to go through the "learning curve", right?
Obviously, I don't want to drill any holes, even small exploratory ones, if I can avoid it, but based on the thread responses thus far (and my other readings on the internet regarding this subject), I don't see a way to avoid it.
Results of my first exploratory holes:
When I set my Ryobi pinless meter to "Wall" setting and then measured the port locker cover (in the middle where it has plywood glassed in), it showed about 40% moisture. Wow! I then drilled two 1/16" exploratory holes in the underside (where I had just measured with the Ryobi of course)...UNDER the deck as you might say. :-) I then inserted my General digital pin meter into the holes. It read 14%. I then changed the Ryobi setting to "Softwood". It measured 14%. Could be a coincidence, but it's a good start on calibration of the Ryobi.
I'm pretty sure that the pins reached into the wood in that locker coz the glass is relatively thin, but I can see how (as bstreet says) the pin meter would not normally reach into the deck area due to the thickness of the glass. As I recall there are some other inexpensive pin meters with longer pins that I think would reach. Will have to check that out and get back to you.
Is 14% moisture content high? or is that about the moisture content of the plywood when it was glassed in at the Catalina factory?
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
Ben,
According to those that know much more than I on this subject, 14% is just about the baseline for moisture readings. Check out the link to MainSail earlier in this thread. It tells a lot.
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Perhaps, but note that he's talking about the CT33, so that may depend on the meter brand and its calibration. My Ryobi (again on the "softwood" setting) shows an average of 5% across most of the deck beneath the main cabin.
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
Ben.
Yes your right at some time you will have to drill a few holes in your deck with the style of meter you have. The style I have is a non contact but works by resistance as in moisture in the deck. Before I ever even seen the wet wood that I removed from under the top layer of fiberglass I took and went over pretty much the whole deck to get an idea of what I was seeing in numbers on the scale on the meter. I then took and mapped out an area that covered all 3 of the chain plates on each side on our 30 which ended up being like 7 ft by 18 inches. Using what numbers I figured that is was dry wood I then used that to map the area out. Once I was able to get the top layer of glass off I was dead on with the meter in what I had mapped out. So yes you will go through a learning curve. Good luck in your findings.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.
I have an area of delamination that I will probably have to remove. How did you get the top layer of glass off?
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
I used a Fein multimaster to make the cuts. Then used the smallest wonder bar to get the layer started parting then used bigger ones with a nylon hammer. But take your time as pulled the whole skin up on both sides with out breaking them.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
Just watched a youtube demo of the Fein multimaster. What an amazing tool. Did it work out well for you on the fiberglass?
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
I would not use nothing else. It is one tool that stays on the boat.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
This was supplied to me by Catalina. Hope folks find it helpful - breaks out the reinforcements, coring and laminates used all over the deck, cockpit and cabin sides/roof.
Brent Farler
C36 'Salsa Caliente'
Lake Texoma, Texas
Brent and Janie Farler
"Salsa Caliente"
1987 Catalina 36 Hull #719
Lake Texoma, TX
Interesting. Thanks for posting it.
Ben Ethridge
Miami, FL
1984 MK1 Hull# 263
That Deck Laminate&Reinforcements.doc document should go into the Technical References library. That's valuable information.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
That's an interesting document.
Did Catalina alter the construction methods over time regarding the use of coring -- at least in the cabin roof? I ask because the Deck Laminate & Reinforcement document (dated 9/26/01) that Larry attached/referenced indicates that the cabin roof has 1/2" balsa coring, but in our '85 C36 I've never encountered any coring materials when I've drilled into it; seems to be solid fiberglass throughout (even when I cut a 4" hole for a solar vent in the head). (Did find coring in the cockpit floor)
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
that document was originally released in May of '87 so no it would not necessarily apply to an '85. Contact Tech Support at Catalina and they may be able to give you more information.
Brent and Janie Farler
"Salsa Caliente"
1987 Catalina 36 Hull #719
Lake Texoma, TX
Bruce Campbell
Evergreen Dreams #1409
I just completed a re-bed of the starboard center (stbd upper shroud) chainplate and was amazed at the amount of fiberglass in that deck area. There was NO core visible. It was solid glass, about an inch thick. The holes the factory cut into the deck had the recommended beveling around the upper end of the holes to allow the bedding material to seat properly. I don't see how (on my 2002) boat moisture could enter core material in that deck through the center chainplate. The other chainplates I can't address, as I didn't open them up. I resealed with the butyl that Mainesail sells, which is sticky stuff indeed.
I'm afraid I caused my chainplate leak myself by over-pressuring a pressure wash early in the season.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Catalina tech support told me they changed their construction process to back the coring away from the chainplates by several inches and only use fiberglass in the area by the chainplates. Guess they did so before 2002. One problem you won't have to worry about.
Brent and Janie Farler
"Salsa Caliente"
1987 Catalina 36 Hull #719
Lake Texoma, TX
I started this thread way back when and it's time to end it. The fact is that I was mistaken from the very beginning about what I was seeing when I used a moisture tester on the INSIDE (cabin headliner) of this area. Despite all my efforts to "dry" this area, the readings have never changed. That is because this area is extremely thick, over 8" and from what I now know it is composite. A moisture tester is almost useless on that structure. There is no water in there and quite likely if any water got in there not much if any harm would result. Sometimes a little (mis) information is truly a dangerous thing. Chainplates and stanchion bases that don't go into deck plates need watching, but this area not so much.