Cal 35 Cruise refit

[Charles Gladden]

I am in the planning stages of refitting my new to me 1973 Cal 35 Cruise. Two of the bulkheads are rotten (leaky chainplates) and one of the fuel tanks (under cabin sole) needs repair/replacement. I have ripped out the salon, chart table, galley furniture and will be headed to the yard shortly.
I would like to build back with zero wood because of the superior moisture resistance of composite materials, and am considering Coosa Bluewater 26 3/4" for the bulkheads that carry the chainplates for both sides aft lowers. I am also considering nidacore or divynicell for the interior furnishing, and I am considering coosa for the cabin sole. I plan to laminate all panels with polyester resin so that I can use CSM, and finish in gelcoat, but will tab into the hull with epoxy for its superior secondary bonding.
My two main questions are; are there materials with better characteristics for the described jobs?
What would be the recommended laminating and tabbing layup schedules for each?

 

[bajansailor]

Welcome to the Forum Charles.

For general reference for other readers, here is a link to your Cal on Sailboat Data -
SailboatData.com - CAL 35 CRUISE Sailboat https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/cal-35-cruise

Your proposal re using Coosa and Nidacore or Divynicell sounds inherently reasonable to me, but I am sure that others like Ondarvr, Rxcomposite and Fallguy will be along soon to offer a much better opinion that I can.

It sounds like your rotten bulkheads are the aft bulkhead of the heads to port, and the bulkhead forward of the galley to starboard?
Are you happy with the existing bulkheads for attaching the chainplates for the cap shrouds and the forward lowers?
Are they 3/4" plywood?

Re a laminating schedule, is this for building panels with your proposed nidacore or divynicell core? What thickness panels will you be using?

Do you have any photos that you can post of your Cal 35, and of the areas that have been stripped out?

 

[Charles Gladden]

You are correct on bulkhead location and (not counting the veneer) thickness . I am indifferent to the existing bulkheads for cap shrouds and fwd lowers as the tabbing is robust and intact. The Ply is dry and the veneer is in good shape, so trying to avoid making more work than I already have.
Also thinking about converting the chainplates to titanium since I'm replacing them anyway, and am converting to synthetic (dux )rigging.

I was asking about lamination schedules for the bulkhead panel and tabbing lamination as well as panel and tabbing lamination for interior furnishings using either nidaore or a close cell PVC foam like divynicell, but leaning towards the foam options for their ability to bend into rounded corners.

I will be building a hard dodger and an electronics console as well, but I can just mimic the layup schedule of the place where I helped build stuff like that. I definitely want to make sure I get it right when it comes to the structural components, and fairly expensive materials. I am ordering "The Elements of Boats Strength" so I can attempt to properly educate myself, but there's nothing quite like interactive learning, so here I am.

Here's a Picture of the salon/chart table area. The wiring and plumbing has been removed since.