Cal 20 general info

My club is being offered a Cal 20 as a donation. What are some of the things to look for that go wrong on these boats? What do you think of the suitability of this boat in a club setting. Our club is a university student club, so we continuously have new people learning to sail which translates into hard service. We are in the PNW so we have more light air sailing than otherwise. Thanks, John C Cal 40 Strider --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

John, Please don't hold my proximity to Misters C & R against me :) It's bad enough with the 24-7 helicopter noise around here. Heck, If my outboard backfires the secret service comes snooping around. -Tracey St. Michaels, MD 1974 Cal T-2

John Courter wrote: > My club is being offered a Cal 20 as a donation. What are some of the > things to look for that go wrong on these boats? What do you think of > the suitability of this boat in a club setting. Our club is a > university student club, so we continuously have new people learning > to sail which translates into hard service. We are in the PNW so we > have more light air sailing than otherwise. > John: I'm just back from vacation and trying to get caught up at work and on my e-mails. The big question on Cal 20s is the condition of the deck core, which is plywood. The main deck, the big raised one forward, is all plywood core, and you can see the condition of the plywood underneath if the overhead hasn't been painted. The cockpit seats and sole are also cored. Check for sponginess and too much "give" if you can't evaluate visually. I understand that your area is damp, so make sure that all deck penetrations are properly sealed to prevent moisture intrusion if the decks are OK now. "Properly sealed" means drilling oversized, cutting back core a bit, filling hole and void with epoxy, and redrilling a new hole in the middle, to create an epoxy donut protecting the core. I'll get around to it one of these days! The original backstay tended to fail, and Steve Seal makes an oversized replacement. Mine popped a strand so I bought Steve's larger one. The spreader brackets likewise were too thin, and tended to fail. Steve Seal makes heavier ones, and I have those now, too. My boat appears to have some sort of factory retrofit for the athwartship beam that supports the mast. It's a teak beam, with two compression posts, one on either side of the head space. Mine appears to have a crack, and it has been sistered with teak on each side, from post to post. It's so well done that it must have been "factory." Almost everything else falls into the minor irritant/small project/standard maintenance category. You need a gasket on the seat locker to prevent water from entering when you're on a port tack and heeled, or when the boat's rocking a bit in a big rainstorm. Buy wide neoprene self-stick foam at the hardware store. The keel bolts should probably be replaced. Steve Seal sells stainless ones. My boat still has her old originals, not looking rusted, but if I were in salt water, I'd look at replacing them. I may do that, two per year, anyway. My rudder gudgeons and pintles are a bit worn, but you can shim them easily with pop-bottle plastic. I have removed both thru-hull fittings for the old head and have glassed over the holes. My boat has the accessory cockpit rails, along the cockpit coamings. I understand that the racers remove them so they can hike out some, so they are available if your boat doesn't have them. I like them--something to lean against and to grab onto for security These are really great, sturdy, durable little boats. They're a bit undercanvassed for light air but when it picks up out there, I'm often the only other boat out sailing with the local tourist schooner. I think they're good-looking little vessels, too. With their big cockpits, they're comfortable for several people. My friends are all tired of hearing me gush over what a great boat the 20 is. Chris Campbell

Read "a classy 20 footer" by Steve Seal http://www.sealsspars.com/ Regards Robert Thomas CAL T-2 "Elysium" Crewman ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Campbell To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 6:26 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Cal 20 general info John Courter wrote: My club is being offered a Cal 20 as a donation. What are some of the things to look for that go wrong on these boats? What do you think of the suitability of this boat in a club setting. Our club is a university student club, so we continuously have new people learning to sail which translates into hard service. We are in the PNW so we have more light air sailing than otherwise. John: I'm just back from vacation and trying to get caught up at work and on my e-mails. The big question on Cal 20s is the condition of the deck core, which is plywood. The main deck, the big raised one forward, is all plywood core, and you can see the condition of the plywood underneath if the overhead hasn't been painted. The cockpit seats and sole are also cored. Check for sponginess and too much "give" if you can't evaluate visually. I understand that your area is damp, so make sure that all deck penetrations are properly sealed to prevent moisture intrusion if the decks are OK now. "Properly sealed" means drilling oversized, cutting back core a bit, filling hole and void with epoxy, and redrilling a new hole in the middle, to create an epoxy donut protecting the core. I'll get around to it one of these days! The original backstay tended to fail, and Steve Seal makes an oversized replacement. Mine popped a strand so I bought Steve's larger one. The spreader brackets likewise were too thin, and tended to fail. Steve Seal makes heavier ones, and I have those now, too. My boat appears to have some sort of factory retrofit for the athwartship beam that supports the mast. It's a teak beam, with two compression posts, one on either side of the head space. Mine appears to have a crack, and it has been sistered with teak on each side, from post to post. It's so well done that it must have been "factory." Almost everything else falls into the minor irritant/small project/standard maintenance category. You need a gasket on the seat locker to prevent water from entering when you're on a port tack and heeled, or when the boat's rocking a bit in a big rainstorm. Buy wide neoprene self-stick foam at the hardware store. The keel bolts should probably be replaced. Steve Seal sells stainless ones. My boat still has her old originals, not looking rusted, but if I were in salt water, I'd look at replacing them. I may do that, two per year, anyway. My rudder gudgeons and pintles are a bit worn, but you can shim them easily with pop-bottle plastic. I have removed both thru-hull fittings for the old head and have glassed over the holes. My boat has the accessory cockpit rails, along the cockpit coamings. I understand that the racers remove them so they can hike out some, so they are available if your boat doesn't have them. I like them--something to lean against and to grab onto for security These are really great, sturdy, durable little boats. They're a bit undercanvassed for light air but when it picks up out there, I'm often the only other boat out sailing with the local tourist schooner. I think they're good-looking little vessels, too. With their big cockpits, they're comfortable for several people. My friends are all tired of hearing me gush over what a great boat the 20 is. Chris Campbell