TOPIC: My New Delaney Cat... And First Ever Boat :)

Hi all,
I am band new to the community, This is my first post and I am super excited about it. I recently acquired (as of saturday) a 1967 Delaney 13 ft Cat. I am a complete newcomer to boating and boats in general. I am totally in love with my new boat and was extremely excited to put her in the water today. I bought the boat from a member here Spokane Dave. I didn't know he was a member at the time but after trying to do some research on my new boat I came across a thread he started trying to gather information about her.

Anyway, my uncle who is a member of this community told me that I should join and post pictures of my boat and tell everyone about it. Then I could get advice and help and whatever else I need. So here is a shout out to him -Thanks for sucking me into classic boats EDUARDO I love mine .

But to get to the nitty gritty i'll tell you how she handled on the water. I am a poor married college kid so I had to borrow my grandfathers 3.3 hp mercury that he uses with his old town canoe. But man was it fun. She cruised nice and cut waves beautifully. When i first got her wet the river was almost smooth as glass and it felt like we were riding on silk sheets. MAN it was amazing. Being the captain of your own ship sure is something else. But anyway I cruised her around for almost an hour and then the wind picked up. And for any of you who have ever spent any time along the lower columbia river you know that the waves can get pretty nasty. But I was lucky the biggest waves I ran into were only about 2 to 2 1/2 ft high. But boy was I surprised I hardly noticed them. I was standing up doing about 12 mph and ramming right through them with hardly a shiver through the hulls. She rides Smooth, I'm telling you. It was awesome.

My intention was to try and do some walleye fishing while I was out but my plans were foiled when I examined the left hull floor and noticed that it was damp. THERE WAS WATER SEEPING IN THE HULL SOMEWHERE!!!!! I kept the boat in the water for about 8 hours and kept a careful eye on the damp spot and watched it slowly grow until the whole floor on the passenger side hull was soaked. So enough I decided- i pulled her out. After some examination I found what I think is responsible for the leak.

Now I have no idea what to do. I kind of noticed the spot when I was examining the boat to buy it but I had no idea it was going to be a problem. I dont know how to do fiberglass and I have never painted a car let alone a boat. So if anybody has any good ideas or input on how to fix my boat or what to do I would appreciate it.

here are some more pics

Welcome to the FG family. Nice looking cat. That darn uncle, right?
That hull is begging for a 60+ horse engine!
Where on the Columbia are you located?
Neil

Thanks

And it IS all his fault. His boats are so beautiful. And the new one he just picked up is going to be amazing.

I grew up in Boardman, OR and thats where I am now. Doing my student teaching here in my hometown high school.

Also I would love a 30, 40 or even a 50 Horse on her. But unfortunately i am hunting for that rare great running motor that you can get for $100 I blew all my budget ( a meager 750 lol) on the boat.

HellCat,

WELCOME.

yours, satx

welcome hellcat,that new boat your uncle got,he got from the the 1st person to welcome you(neil).lol.a great guy with a really nice collecion in his own right.

your uncle is also a darn nice fellow,with some great boats,john

Welcome aboard. I'd love to have that cat. Nice boat. You will find all the help you need here. You need not have a pile of money but it does help. Now that you got your feet wet Get your uncle to show you the way into the world of Fiberglass boats. I have not found a cure. So enjoy it.

Hellcat, Whoo-Hoo, another member that overdosed on fiberglass and water. Welcome to the bunch.
Go big on the motor, if you start small you will just be getting more and more to satisfy yourself and before you know it you will aquire a stable of old classic motors to go with a few boats that we all know you will see on the side of the road and drag home.
Cal

HellCat,

POST some 3x5" cards at on every supermarket bulletin-board that you can find & you will, i predict, find at least 3-4 perfectly suitable < $100.oo OB motors that will run for FEW dollars. - my ad below, finds me 2-3 GOOD ONES every month!
(my TEXT for those 3x5 cards: WANTED by collector, old oldboard motors. need NOT run but must be complete. CASH WAITING. please call my cell: 000-000-0000. THANKS, Tex)

fwiw, i usually pay 50.oo or LESS for each one.

yours, satx

Hellcat
Here are a couple you can have. A longshaft Javelin, two short Seahorses, and a 40 horse Sea King shorty. I am assuming the cat is a short transom.?
I think it is great that you are teaching in your own high school. Teachers have a huge impact on young peoples futures.

Neil wrote:

Hellcat
Here are a couple you can have. A longshaft Javelin, two short Seahorses, and a 40change horse Sea King shorty. I am assuming the cat is a short transom.?
I think it is great that you are teaching in your own high school. Teachers have a huge impact on young peoples futures.

Neil, that's a very nice offer you are giving my nephew, Andre. I'm sure he'll appreciate that very much. That's awfully nice of you my friend. He spent most of his extra money working over the summer for this boat and with a little bartering he got the Delaney for a good price. I'm sure Andre will post here soon. He's probably fishing in his Cat as I write this.

Eduardo

Welcome aboard nephew. Glad you decided to join in. These guys are great and anything and everything you need to know about glassics (classic fiberglass boats) these wonderful folks are here for you. Ask away.

About my nephew, I love his enthusiasm and his excitement about his new old boat. Reminded me of how I was when I first got my first boat. I warned him about how addicting this hobby could be. He first saw my boats when he and his then new wife made a visit almost three ago and stayed with us for a few days. That's when I think he was drawn to old boats. Andre saw the Reinell Jetflite I got from Neil over a month ago, and it was Andre who helped me get the Reinell boat from his father's next door neighbor during that same time.

I'm just as excited for him as he is about his new glassic. I'll be making a drive up again to see the family in Oregon soon to take care of the Reinell that I left behind and to spend more time with his family. In the meantime, I'll put together a gift boat stuff package that he can use on his Delaney. So Andre, get the small leak patched, so I can get a ride in your new old boat. Deal?

Tito (Uncle) Eddie

Well Andre, welcome aboard!!!!!!!!!! Glad to have you here. post some pics of what you think is causing the leaks and we can give you tips/pointers/etc as necessary. lots of very smart folks here who can help, just need some pics so we can get you started. Again welcome aboard, always good to have new blood addicted to our hobby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

Wow I am speechless at your generosity Neil. And thanks to all for the warm welcome. Tito Eddy told me that everyone here was really nice but I didn't think you all would be this nice.

Neil I will PM you and see when I can set up a time to get over to your neck of the woods. Again thank you so much for the offer.

Thank you Bob,

I will try and get some more pictures up tomorrow for sure of where I think the leak is coming from. I have 1 picture that I took last night I thought I already put it up but I'll post it again right now.

The cracked area is about 8" long and right on the leading edge of the left sponson. Sorry for the bad resolution on the photo, i took it with my phone.

And just as a side note, I have been thinking about how to describe the way that I think my boat handles and I think I have figured it out. It handles the same way a fully locked rear wheel drive vehicle feels on a loose gravel road. When you turn its kind of like a power slide kind of feeling. Anyway thats just something interesting I observed. I've never noticed that before in another boat but I have never been in another Cat before.

Oouch, well I'm guessing that crack goes all the way through, hence the water intrusion. If it were me I'd attack that from the inside. Others can jump in here but it would be better to lay glass over it from the inside where it can't be seen and you don['t really care if it blends in so to speak. If you go at it from the outside it will take larger pieces to blend it in so it doesn't look like a a lump/hump so to speak. You might be able to get away with just grinding out the crack and fill it with epoxy and micro balloon mixture, but I doubt it. It will need to be blended in the inside too. That's just my opinion, others who've done more glassing than I have can probably give better help here.

Bob

So i have to give a shout out to Neil and tell everyone how awesome he is for giving me some motors for my new boat. He is a really nice guy I am glad I got to meet him. He even went out of his way a little to deliver the motors to me, How awesome is that. On your next trip through hopefully I will have the old girl up and running good so you can stop and go for a little cruise.

You're the man Neil.

Here are some more pictures of my leaking crack. Tell me what you guys think.

And Some more

Hello! I have just recently acquired the same boat as you have in the photo! I don't know anything about it other than the woodburn Oregon badges on the sides. I don't see any hull numbers or coast guard plate on it. What size engines have you seen on them? Im searching for a 50+hp four stroke to put on there.....

Welcome, You're replying to an 8 year old posting.
I would suggest you post new on the main forum and you'll get some answers.