Welcome to sailing joa

We are back with another snippet from our sailing life diary.

We bought an old Edel Cat 33, a sturdy catamaran known for its great sailing performance. Our plan? To give a new life into this old catamaran and continue our journey on the water.

Looking back, we should have gotten a humidity meter.

Having a humidity meter and knowing how to use it could had given us in idea of the condition of a boat, especially when considering a purchase. It’s a relatively small investment that can potentially save a lot of time, money, and frustration in the long run.

(Some of you can already see where this is going)

The real adventure began when we started peeling off the anti-fouling paint from the hull. The port side is fine, but as we moved to the starboard hull, something strange caught our eye. Bubbles under the 6 old layers of anti-fouling paint! On further inspection, we discovered water in the keel. A sailor’s nightmare, right?

We made a small hole to see if there was any water, and voila, out gushed about 5 liters of water.

We dived deeper and discovered the keel is indeed full of water.

Also it seemed that the expanding foam inside the fiberglass was soaked.

This is only the tip of the iceberg lettuce salad.

Our hearts started beating hard, for a moment we panicked!

After a cup of tea, we panicked some more. After we managed to calm down.

We decided to sail straight into it. Armed with some tools we started the process of disemboweling the starboard keel from the inside. As we cut through the fiberglass, we finally saw the expanding foam! Our suspicions were correct, it is soaked to the core.

Behind the wet foam, signs of previous attempts to fix this issue from the outside were visible. Thinner spots on the fiberglass shined under the sunlight, unveiling the secrets of past repairs.

Now! We are faced with a soaked foam and a hull in need of reinforcement.

The plan is simple but it will take some work. We need to remove all the wet foam, reinforce the hull from both inside and outside.

But now, here’s our dilemma – to foam or not to foam?

This is the question that is in our minds!

We’re considering our options. Foam has its merits – buoyancy, insulation, and structural support. Yet, the threat of water retention is big. We’re thinking about alternative materials but we are not professionals at all. We just want to make sure that we take the safe choice.

The road ahead looks very long, but we want to make sure that the boat is safe and seaworthy. Every day, we learn and adapt to the problems that come our way. And guess what? We try to document every step of this journey, sharing our experiences with you.

We hope our experiences helps you in your own sailing adventures, whether you’re refitting an old boat or planning to. Remember, a sailor is never alone when they have the wide, supportive net of the sailing community to fall back on.

Until our next update, fair winds to all!

Sailing Joa