I have a SOLO 16 class catamaran that I bought second-hand (?) back in 1980s. It needed a cosmetic overhaul then which I accomplished easy enough and was used fairly regularly up until the early 1990s then nothing for the next almost 30 years. With 8 grandchildren coming along now, I feel it's time to introduce them to the joys of sailing but I have discovered that, whilst I thought it was protected from the elements sufficiently, the back of one hull has completely rotted away. I am going to have to replace some frame members plus the ply, then fiberglass the entire hulls. I need some advice as to what timber I should use for the framing pieces. I cannot identify the original timber. Also, I want to spruce up the aluminium frames and mast. They appear to have been painted ... or maybe anodised ... at some stage but the boom is quite nice polished aluminium. What should I use to clean up and polish the other pieces? The third issue I have is on the other hull. Two holes have appeared at the top of the channel [for want of a better word] where the dagger boards go. Obviously they need to be filled but I will need a very long arm [!] to get to the inside of the hull from the inspection cap! Should I cut them out and replace the ply deck and maybe the bottom after the holes are filled?
Any advise or suggestions would be appreciated. Bear in mind that I'm from Australia!
I can add photos but not sure how to do that in this forum as I'm a newbie!
Cheers,
Malleeboy
Edited by malleeboy on Oct 11, 2020 - 02:27 PM.
