SS Cross Beam Rust Repair

[Windancer808]

Hello fellow CAL owners,

I have scrolled through the topics and not found any info on repairing rust damage to the steel crossbeam on my 1979 CAL-2-30. I was sanding the floor when I removed a round inspection hole to find substantial rust on the lower part of the beam. Does anyone have a picture of the cross section to see what this possibly entails? Any info is greatly appreciated. After about a year of repairing, glassing and painting I am horrified at the idea of having to cut into the glass to get to it, not to mention having to remove the mast, mast support beam and everything else in the forward section of the boat. Has anyone attempted this before?

Thank you.
Joe (Windancer808)

[rcvesselstyn]

Hi Joe. There is a lot of information on changing the beam out for Cal 29s. If you search " Richard Anderson Cal 30 'you can see what the Cal 30 beam looks like. If you search 'beam cal 29' you'll find a lot of posts on how the repair can be attempted. I have done the replacement of the beam, and I did not have to take down the mast or remove the rigging or tear apart the main cabin. It took a week and we were cruising to the island the following week. I did a very superficial review of the job in this site, I'll see if I can find it. The beam problem is not a death sentence. Good luck!

[rcvesselstyn]

Hi Joe. The synopsis of my repair is in the archives from when we were the Yahoo group. After you've done some research if you would like me to do a step-by-step list of how I approached the job I'd be more than happy to. Just let me know.

[Windancer808]

Thank you so much for your encouragement rcvesselstyn. When I looked through the inspection plate, it sent shockwaves to my brain. I have basically revamped 80% of the interior so far, including removing the old Yanmar. So I have done extensive work over the last 14 month. One gets tired after a while and needs to step away occasionally not to start hating the boat. I'll look up the available info this weekend. If you can send me additional step by step instructions that would be fantastic. Again, thank you. I am grateful for your reply.

Joe Hillje
Windancer 808

[rcvesselstyn]

So first a disclaimer. I've been working on boats for over 60 years and I have a vast skill set. If you only have a half vast skill set you may want to consider carefully before following my example. This is what I did to replace my main structural beam but everything that I did I have done before. If you were to attempt to follow my example be aware, if you mess up, the consequences are extremely dire. This is not the job with a beer in one hand and a saw in the other.
So now that I've scared off the faint of heart this was really a straightforward job. I will just try and list everything I did in order and add any notes about that aspect of the job. You might be tempted to skip over the notes because I'm old and I ramble a bit. I suggest that you read them anyway because there might be something important.

First, before I tackled any real work I scoped out the job. Quite literally. I used a endoscope to inspect the beam through every nook and cranny I could find. Borescopes or endoscopes are available cheaply through Amazon for about 20 bucks. In my old school ways I use a clipboard and write down notes about aspects of the job as I'm inspecting. Two underappreciated aspect of working on a boat are light and mirrors. a bright light shining on a complex floor pan attachment can answer so many questions and with the addition of a mirror underneath those attachments you can see exactly what you're getting into. Of course nowadays I also snap pictures with the cell phone so I can refer to them when I'm planning out my tasks. During this stage I make a list of the tools that I will need. There are a few things worse than starting a job and having to stop to get more saw blades or a right angled screwdriver.
My overall plan was to: 1. slack off the standing and running rigging. 2. support the base of the mast with 4x4s. 3. remove the forward floor pan. 4. remove the rusted remains of the beam. 5. replace The beam with a fiberglass covered 4x8 wood beam cut to fit the contours of the hull. 6. replace the floor pan 7. remove the structural support for the mast base. 8. retighten the standing rigging. Simple right?

JUST SOME NOTES

1. Slack off the rigging: Mark your turnbuckles so that you can count the number of turns you slack them off and write it down! You think you're going to remember but you won't. If you haven't adjusted your turnbuckles in a while give them a preliminary coat of penetrating oil (cover the deck so you don't get any on the fiberglass). And just because if something can go wrong it will, duplicate the shroud run with a halyard so if the turnbuckle snaps the mast will still be supported. I have roller furling on my headstay so the only way to relieve tension fore an aft is to back off the backstay turnbuckles dramatically. Don't forget to back off the running rigging. If you have your halyards stretched tight to the deck or to the pulpit, your boom vang tight if it is deck mounted, or your main sheet pulling on your topping lift, You're still going to have a fair amount of pressure on the mast. The goal is to relieve as much downward pressure as possible.
2. Support the mast base with 4x4s: I ran a vertical support through the deep keel access in the main cabin so it was resting on the encapsulated lead. I laid another beam across the full width aft aspect of the V-Berth. I placed a jack on the V-Birth beam and added a vertical support above it, and ran a horizontal beam between the keel beam and the jack beam. I considered using a Jim Beam but this wasn't the appropriate time. If needed I was going to add a block on the horizontal beam to compensate for irregularities in the cabin overhead. I I'm not trying to raise the overhead just relieve the pressure from the weight of the mast. It is a judgment call as to how much pressure it's going to take to relieve that weight. It's fair to say if you're rigging starts getting tight that you've overdone it.

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3. Remove the forward cabin sole: this is where all the notes and inspections really pay off. The forward aspect of the pan is just bolted to cross members at the base of the v-berth. I had already removed the head so using a oscillating saw (a multi-tool) I was able to trim off the thin strip of fiberglass holding the support for the head base. On the vanity side I just had to undo the screws holding the lower front panel and break loose the wood glue that held it together. I left the top of the vanity in place undisturbed. The cabin sold pan was now only connected by the cover for the beam. You have your choice where you can cut. I have seen people try and hide the line under the sliding door support. I chose to cut it just aft of the thickness of the fiberglass from the forward vertical plane. If the cut is going to show you've got to get it straight. I have heard people using reciprocating saws, and multi-tools. I ran a wood guide strip so that my line would be straight and used a powerful Bosch jigsaw and six carbide blades. After the cut I slid it out and put it upside down in the v-berth.
4. Remove the rusted remains of the beam.: For me this was really simple. There wasn't anything left except the tabs bolted to the main bulkhead. It was completely gone. Any thoughts I had of using it as a pattern for a replacement rusted away long ago.
5. Replace the beam: If you can't get a template of your beam another option is to construct your own as I did. This is the same way it was done on the 28. However the wood was not totally encased in glass roving, and those instances the beam would dry rot. That's why I imagine they went to galvanized steel. I left a substantial drain hole along the center of the beam. The beam was glassed to the hull in place.
6. Replace the floor pan: I slipped it back in place and put in the bolts holding it to the bottom of the V-Birth bulkhead. I put the face of the vanity back on and screwed it in place but did not glue it. I pre-drilled three holes and used large stainless steel screws to attach the aft aspect of the floor pan to the beam. On the main cabin side working from inside the compartment under the settee I added a angled strip of wood, washers and stainless lag screws connecting the main bulkhead to the beam.
7. Remove the added structural support: when I released the jack the overhead didn't move at all. Solid as a rock.
8. Retighten the standing rigging: as long as you didn't change the height of your cabin top you can just retighten the rigging according to your notes. You did write it down, didn't you?
Sent from my Galaxy

[Windancer808]

Wow, many thanks for sending this detailed plan. You mentioned that you have 60 years of boat working experience. I on the other side am 66, lifelong sailor, but limited amount of experience with this (heart surgery) type of work. Over the past 18 month, among a million other things, I've cut into my side decks and worked with a lot of 1/4" Coosa Board (compressed glass panels) to get the rotten side decks repaired. This involved a lot of cleaning, sanding, glassing and fairing. But I am not quite sure I am ready for this major structural repair, at least not in the water. On one side, your way of doing this would save a lot of money, by not hauling out. On the other side, taking the mast down, makes things easier by not worrying about the pressure from the top. It does not look overly complicated and doable, if I mustered up enough courage to attempt this by myself. The major part is relieving the mast pressure. You have done a super job by using the keel and the 4x4's structure to take the pressure off.

In case I do not muster up the courage to undertake this project alone, we now have a solid plan of how to start, even in the yard. I am sure, albeit not unusual in nature, even the yard does not perform this type of work on a weekly basis. Let me start by acquiring an endoscope and taking a closer look at the beam.

I can not thank you enough for your written and drawn instructions. Either way we tackle this, if and when it's time to start, we will take a lot of pictures, so other CAL owners may be able to perform this work as well. Every time I walk around our Ala Wai boat harbor I am pleasantly surprised about the large number of old CAL's still out there. However, none of the people I spoke to have undertaken this project. Either they don't know about it, or it may have been done before. Any boat built in the 7o ties has surely gone through a handful of owners at least. Aside from your very valuable instructions, I have yet to find someone who has actually done it.

Many, many thanks and Aloha from Hawaii!
Joe Hillje
S/V Kamahele

[rcvesselstyn]

Hi Joe. It sounds like you have all the requisite experience and skills to tackle this job without difficulty. I agree with you that you shouldn't tackle a job unless you feel comfortable with it though. I knew when I bought this boat that I needed to replace the beam having seen its awful condition on my preliminary inspection. So it was part of the purchase decision that I was going to tackle the job. That was about 10 years ago when I was 60. I ended up being off work for a period of time recovering from cancer surgery and so I was able to start the job four days after the surgery and still had enough time to take a week off at Catalina before I had to go back to work. I had planned to do more major boat work during the radiation therapy but the mate insisted I had to rebuild the bathroom instead. Now I'm hung up needing new rigging and the mate drew my attention to the fact that swinging around 40 ft in the air at my age might not be a good thing. In this case I'm just using her as an excuse I don't really want to be at the top of the mast anymore. So I guess I've reached a point where I can't do everything all the time and I actually will have to pay somebody to do some of the jobs. Oh well life goes on.

[rcvesselstyn]

If you need to see some pictures of the job. Go online and search for: sea fevers Cal 29 beam of death. The job he did was more invasive than my procedure but similar in many respects.