Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Did some Catalinas come equipped with the pop top cover snaps already embedded in the deck?? I recently acquired a pop top cover but now I’m reluctant to drill several holes in the deck for attachment points. Any advice??
When I purchased my boat back in 2005 it did not come with the pop top cover but I do have snaps screwed into the vertical teak bordering the companionway and snaps screwed into the fiberglas cabin top starting above the companionway and parallel with the rails along the cabin top. I suspect the snaps were installed when the boat was built but not 100% sure.
Below is a photo link from my website of snaps on the cabin parallel to the rails. There are a few addl photos on my website but one photo may be of interest - On my website opening page, scroll down and the last photo shows the snaps as they converge from parallel to the rails converging across the top of the cabin.
I have a set of snaps all around the cabintop of Passage where my pop-top cover used to go. Unfortunately, I lost my cover in my garage fire a few years back. Since then, any time my snaps showed any signs of leaks, I took them out and filled the holes with Marine-Tek epoxy. If I had a pristine cabin top I would be similarly hesitant to drill a bunch of holes in it. Could you glue down some 2”x2” pieces of starboard and attach the snaps to them? Kinda klugey but you can reverse the modification if you need to.
I would also be reluctant to screw snaps into the cabin top unless I was able to ensure that the fiberglass thickness exceeded the snap screw end depth and that any starter holes I drilled would also not penetrate the fiberglas thickness.
The snaps that were already screwed into my cabin top - I do not believe any of them penetrate the cabin top thickness. In the past, I have had one or two leaks from the cabin top but they came from the teak rail's threaded studs that penetrate the cabin top. Several years ago, I had removed the rails, refinished them, and when I reinstalled them, I rebedded the rail supports utilizing butyl tape and I have had no further leaks.
Several years ago, I started to use the snaps that border the companionway - I utilize a Sunbrella cover that now covers my companionway, cabin top rails and trim. I decided to teak oil my companionway, rails and trim and the Sunbrella cover significantly extends the time before I have to clean and re-apply teak oil. (However, the downside is that I have to remove and reinstall the cover every time I go out sailing. It does not take that long to do this but just another chore that adds time to before heading out and coming back in before departing for the day.)
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.