Considering purchasing a Capri 14.2 (1992). It is in fair condition and looks like it has seen quite a bite of use. Additionally, it has had a repair done to the forward bulkhead just starboard of the cutty area where the bulkhead meets the seat. The repair is about 4"x4" in size and is a rough repair that has not been smoothed out and repainted and re-gel coated. A line cleat has been affixed to that area. I am concerned about the structural integrity and what would be a good dollar amount to offer? I was thinking $1,000 would be fair. Would it be prudent to offer no more than $1,100.00 if negotiations ensued? The seller received the boat as a gift and thus anything they would get would be pure profit. Can anyone help?
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Capri 14.2 damage
- Thread starter mcgarrpd
- Start date
Dave Lilley
New Member
1. Does the boat come with a trailer? (If so, what condition is the trailer in?)
2. Can you post a picture of the repairs?
3. Does the boat come complete with all the gear it needs to sail?
4. Is there any other damage or sponginess in the fiberglass?
From my own experience, I just finished doing repairs to my boat that I bought used earlier this year. So far, I have invested several hundred dollars and a lot of time. Nevertheless, if the repairs hold, the boat will last longer, look better, and in the end, may be worth the time and money I have invested. If you can get it for a thousand or so, it may be worth your time and money if you choose to fix it up. If you can live with the boat as is, then a thousand dollars could be a good really deal, assuming there are no other problems.
(I had to fix major cracks on either side of the cubby, right next to the seats. From what I have read, this seems to be a common area of cracking for some Capri 14.2s.)
Dave
2. Can you post a picture of the repairs?
3. Does the boat come complete with all the gear it needs to sail?
4. Is there any other damage or sponginess in the fiberglass?
From my own experience, I just finished doing repairs to my boat that I bought used earlier this year. So far, I have invested several hundred dollars and a lot of time. Nevertheless, if the repairs hold, the boat will last longer, look better, and in the end, may be worth the time and money I have invested. If you can get it for a thousand or so, it may be worth your time and money if you choose to fix it up. If you can live with the boat as is, then a thousand dollars could be a good really deal, assuming there are no other problems.
(I had to fix major cracks on either side of the cubby, right next to the seats. From what I have read, this seems to be a common area of cracking for some Capri 14.2s.)
Dave
14.2 damage
Thanks Dave. It does come w/trailer and all gear if you are referring to main and jib, sail and gear bag, oars, etc. Don't know if it is spongey or soft. Will need to check before purchase. Can a spot repair like this be sanded out, repainted and re-gel coated without a lot of hassle and be made to look right?
Thanks Dave. It does come w/trailer and all gear if you are referring to main and jib, sail and gear bag, oars, etc. Don't know if it is spongey or soft. Will need to check before purchase. Can a spot repair like this be sanded out, repainted and re-gel coated without a lot of hassle and be made to look right?
Dave Lilley
New Member
It takes time and a bit of work, but it is not too hard.
If you have is the one area, it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix. I may be a simple matter of grinding the patch smooth, adding filler to feather the edges, sanding again, and then painting it with an epoxy paint. (There are places that will apply a real gelcoat patch, but the ones I found were fairly expensive. There are small gelcoat patch kits, but most are for small scratches.) The paint may not match exactly, but it you feather it too, and then wet sand it once it has cured, it should look pretty good. My boat doesn’t look perfect, but I don’t grind my teeth and scowl when I look at it now.
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With my boat, I simply followed the instructions I found on several sites that discuss fiberglass repair.
1. I removed all hardware from the affected areas.
2. I cut out or opened up the affected area with my Dremel, and then cleaned up the area with acetone. (In the cases of the cracks, I used a Dremel to open up the crack a little for the epoxy filler, and drilled out the ends of the cracks to keep them from “running� more.)
3. I treated the good remaining wood behind the fiberglass with penetrating epoxy resin (Gluvit).
4. I removed the bad wood, as deeply as I could, with a pick.
5. I filled the voids left by the bad wood with West Marine epoxy and a filler designed to bond to the remaining good wood.
6. I filled the surface cracks and patched the exploratory holes liberally with Marine Tex.
7. I then sanded the excess Marine Tex smooth. Since it was white, it blended well with the boat.
8. I wet sanded the repaired areas smooth and painted some of the affected areas with a bottom coat, white epoxy paint.
9. Finally, I re-bedded all of the hardware.
I also had a soft spot on the deck. To fix it, I crawled into the hull, and fixed it from underneath. I drilled up, stopping just short of the top deck. (If you go slow, and use a slow setting on your drill, you will feel the deck and should be able to stop before penetrating it.) I drilled a series of holes in and around the affected area. I then inject West Marine epoxy that had a small amount of filler into the holes until the epoxy came out another hole. The epoxy created a bit of a high spot at the injection point, so my son then pushed the deck down to squeeze out the excess epoxy until the area was level with the rest of the deck. I then sealed the holes with Marine Tex Putty so air would not creep back in the deck. Finally, since the soft spot wanted to pop up, I placed weight on it while the epoxy cured, making sure to keep the correct curvature of the deck. When it was done, after a week of curing, the deck was as hard as the surround good area.
Like I said, it was mostly time consuming, and the epoxy wasn’t cheap, but I think it makes my boat look much better than it had. In addition, these fixes should protect my boat from future water damage and give it a little longer life.
I hope this helps, and sorry for being long-winded,
Dave
If you have is the one area, it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix. I may be a simple matter of grinding the patch smooth, adding filler to feather the edges, sanding again, and then painting it with an epoxy paint. (There are places that will apply a real gelcoat patch, but the ones I found were fairly expensive. There are small gelcoat patch kits, but most are for small scratches.) The paint may not match exactly, but it you feather it too, and then wet sand it once it has cured, it should look pretty good. My boat doesn’t look perfect, but I don’t grind my teeth and scowl when I look at it now.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With my boat, I simply followed the instructions I found on several sites that discuss fiberglass repair.
1. I removed all hardware from the affected areas.
2. I cut out or opened up the affected area with my Dremel, and then cleaned up the area with acetone. (In the cases of the cracks, I used a Dremel to open up the crack a little for the epoxy filler, and drilled out the ends of the cracks to keep them from “running� more.)
3. I treated the good remaining wood behind the fiberglass with penetrating epoxy resin (Gluvit).
4. I removed the bad wood, as deeply as I could, with a pick.
5. I filled the voids left by the bad wood with West Marine epoxy and a filler designed to bond to the remaining good wood.
6. I filled the surface cracks and patched the exploratory holes liberally with Marine Tex.
7. I then sanded the excess Marine Tex smooth. Since it was white, it blended well with the boat.
8. I wet sanded the repaired areas smooth and painted some of the affected areas with a bottom coat, white epoxy paint.
9. Finally, I re-bedded all of the hardware.
I also had a soft spot on the deck. To fix it, I crawled into the hull, and fixed it from underneath. I drilled up, stopping just short of the top deck. (If you go slow, and use a slow setting on your drill, you will feel the deck and should be able to stop before penetrating it.) I drilled a series of holes in and around the affected area. I then inject West Marine epoxy that had a small amount of filler into the holes until the epoxy came out another hole. The epoxy created a bit of a high spot at the injection point, so my son then pushed the deck down to squeeze out the excess epoxy until the area was level with the rest of the deck. I then sealed the holes with Marine Tex Putty so air would not creep back in the deck. Finally, since the soft spot wanted to pop up, I placed weight on it while the epoxy cured, making sure to keep the correct curvature of the deck. When it was done, after a week of curing, the deck was as hard as the surround good area.
Like I said, it was mostly time consuming, and the epoxy wasn’t cheap, but I think it makes my boat look much better than it had. In addition, these fixes should protect my boat from future water damage and give it a little longer life.
I hope this helps, and sorry for being long-winded,
Dave
Cracks
Just a note about structural cracks. It's been my experience that gel coat cracks are quite common in the older Capri 14.2s, (Mod 1 and 2) but I've never seen any in Mod 3s. I can't understand why this is so. The easy explanation is the Mod 3s are built heavier, but we've weighed some, and they're the same wt. as the Mod 1s. Perhaps Catalina is using a better layup procedure now, or better materials...I dunno.
Anyway, you can usually live with most gel coat cracks, but you need to keep an eye on them, especially the ones in the seats. The weight of people flexes the seats, putting a lot of strain on them, and sometimes the cracks deepen from just the gel coat into the structure itself.
Or you can bust open the piggy bank and spring for a Mod 3. That was my personal solution.
Just a note about structural cracks. It's been my experience that gel coat cracks are quite common in the older Capri 14.2s, (Mod 1 and 2) but I've never seen any in Mod 3s. I can't understand why this is so. The easy explanation is the Mod 3s are built heavier, but we've weighed some, and they're the same wt. as the Mod 1s. Perhaps Catalina is using a better layup procedure now, or better materials...I dunno.
Anyway, you can usually live with most gel coat cracks, but you need to keep an eye on them, especially the ones in the seats. The weight of people flexes the seats, putting a lot of strain on them, and sometimes the cracks deepen from just the gel coat into the structure itself.
Or you can bust open the piggy bank and spring for a Mod 3. That was my personal solution.