In article ,
Don W wrote:

Speaking of delamination and repairs, I'd appreciate your advice on
how to proceed on some repairs to my 1979 Catalina 27.

snip of a fairly standard rig
The problem is that the deck around the aft cables is losing its
strength due to a delamination occuring underneath the side window.
The deck is still very sound to walk on, but no longer has the
strength to take the large tension loads from the rigging. The
problem is only with the aft cables.

WHOA! I wouldn't diagnose that one long distance, though I believe I
know what you're saying.

Get a surveyor or, better, naval engineer to take a careful look and
recommend the method. Perhaps (probably?) he'll recommend a change to
the rigging and attachments.

Our surveyor (also a NA) told us how to do ours, and how serious it was
("maybe next year, perhaps" In other words, not an issue unless I saw
certain indicators). One factor is that very little load is carried by
our deck; it's almost all carried internally.

I don't believe yours is trivial. Frankly, I think you've been lucky.

The area can be stressed to several tons under certain conditions. Doing
it right will probably be a once in a lifetime fix if you correct the
original error(s). Doing it wrong could lose you a rig at exactly the
wrong time.

[is there a good time to lose the rig?]

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/