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2011, Customizations, Dinghy Davits, Mainsheet

Garhauer Dingy Davit Installation

3 Comments

Jim Turner, Makana Kai, 2000 C380 #227

Mainsheet February 2011

When we moved up from our Catalina 30 to a 380, the extra room and ease of boarding certainly made life easier for us, especially given our crew includes a 50lb Portuguese water dog.  The two nice state rooms and ample salon means there’s even room for friends.   This allowed me to justify a larger more stable RIB to carry all the people, pets, and supplies.  While the 11’ RIB tows well, its bottom quickly fouls with growth if left in the water.  I also don’t like hoisting a 120 lb. RIB on and off foredeck, squeeze around it, or trying to spot objects in the water over it.  Towing the dinghy also overly complicates arrivals and departures, or docking, since we must reposition the dinghy often.  My initial inclination that davits weren’t in our future dissipated quickly, and it

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2011, Engine, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Westerbeke 42B Raw Water Pump Seal Failure

2 Comments

By Steve Riddle, Blue Heron C380 #194 (1999)

I have been having ongoing problems with the raw water pump leaking on my Westerbeke 42B. The engine has about 450 total hours, which is pretty low considering the age of the boat.  The raw water pump started leaking two years ago during the 2008 season.  On the Westerbeke, the pump housing has a set of weep holes which will theoretically drain any water that gets past the internal shaft water seal.  This serves two purposes.  First is to give you a visual indication of a leak, although the pump is unfortunately located directly over the forward port engine mount which will start to rust from the salt water dripping out of the pump.  Second, the weep holes should keep salt water out of the pump bearings, which are protected by an oil seal on the other side of the weep holes.

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2011, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Replacing Furler Bearings

4 Comments

By Bob Bierly

 

BACKGROUND: Recently on the Catalina Yahoo web site, there was some discussion about the 3100 Schaeffer genoa furler that many of us have as factory equipment.  My furler on C’mon Wind (Hull #255 vintage 2000) had been getting increasingly harder to turn over the last three years.  When new, it was wonderful never requiring more than a modest effort to unfurl or furl the 155% genoa. I never used a winch.  But age had its way with the furler and after several attempts at freeing up the lower bearing assembly, I recently gave up. [Editor’s Note – Remember never to lubricate the Torlon bearings with lubricating sprays, etc.  Just flush with fresh water – Steve]   I called Schaeffer Marine inNew BedfordMA (508-995-9511) and talked with Dave Anderson.  He told me that Schaeffer had re-engineered the lower bearing unit into a single piece. So for $110,

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2011, Mainsheet

A Note from the Editor – February 2011

4 Comments

Well, we are starting to see some signs of spring in the boat yard.  You know, the sounds of sanding, scraping and polishing!  I normally like to be ready to sail by around April 1 here in Virginia, even though nice warm sailing days still are still elusive early in the month.  So I need to get started myself.

This quarter we have an article on replacing the bearings in the Shaeffer furlers that were standard on many of our boats.  Second, I will share my findings and a response I received from Westerbeke on my raw water pump seal failure.  Lastly, I also will provide the quarterly summary of Yahoo discussions that I started in last quarter’s edition.

I hope that you have a great sailing season in 2011 and I look forward to receiving many future helpful and informative technical articles to publish here in Mainsheet.

—

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2011, Customizations, Mainsheet

Nav Pod Replacement – EP162

3 Comments

A few years ago I converted the Seaward engine control pod on my C380, hull #199, to the NavPod EP162 pod that NavPod supplied to Catalina for use on some later/other models, and was apparently designed to be used with the Yanmar engine.  The EP162 is very nice as its sleeker looking and aims the instruments upward for a better view from the helm, and NavPod is selling them for $99 right now (ad in current Mainsheet).  The gauges used with the Westerbeke all swap over perfectly and most holes are pre-cut.  This project is likely applicable to other Catalina models that use the Edson pedestal and the older Seaward pod.  Here is a rundown of the project.

First off, my boat was fitted with two wiring tubes from the cockpit sole up to the original pod.  The port side tube contained all the engine wiring and kill-cable.  The starboard

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2011, Mainsheet

Note from the Editor — December 2011

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Note from the Editor:

Unfortunately this will be my last Mainsheet article. After much soul searching, we have decided to sell our C380, Blue Heron. We have enjoyed our nearly eight years with her and I still remember how impressed we were with the size, comfort, sailing qualities – you name it – versus our old C34. However, she is a lot of boat for the limited amount day sailing we have ended up doing of late. You are supposed to have lots of free time in retirement, but it seems like there is always something else going on that makes it hard to block out the time for sailing. My calendar is much fuller than when I was working – go figure! She passed survey today so it looks like the deal we have to sell will go through. So, what is next? Hard to say. Probably something much smaller. However, I’ll wait a while to make a decision.

I’ve enjoyed my short tenure as the Technical Editor. We have a lot of high caliber technical minds in the Association and I am sure my replacement will serve the Membership well.

In this issue we have a couple of interesting articles for C380’s. First is an article by skipper Tim Porter on replacing the C380 engine control pod with the newer Seaward pod that angles the instruments upward for better viewing while underway. No more crawling on the cockpit floor to see the gauges! The second, related article by skipper Bill Ahillen is on replacing the standard 1-inch diameter cockpit pedestal guard with a 1-1/4 inch diameter guard to allow more room for electronic cables in the tubes. Something needed in today’s digital age with chart plotters, radar, AIS, etc. This article was actually a Yahoo post that I have edited for inclusion in Mainsheet. And finally, I will continue my regular listing of posts in the Yahoo list for the last quarter.

Again, I have enjoyed my tenure as your Technical Editor and I wish all of you “Fair Winds and Following Seas”.

— Steve

YAHOO TOPICS

September 2011

Lewmar Portlight Seals
Raymarine ST50 Speed Transducer Cable Splicing
Mast Rake Settings
LED’s for Cabin Lighting
Prop Shaft Anti-fouling Paint
C380 Pricing
Westerbeke 42B Running Hot
Folding vs. Feathering Props (also see Oct)
Close-hauled Mainsail Twist
Cunningham Setup
Mounting Plate for Cabin-top Clutches
Cabin Window Shades
PSS Shaft Seal Issues
Adding a Third Dutchman Line
New Sink and Stovetop Cleaner

October 2011

Galley Sole Alternatives
Holding Tank and Vent Issues
Rigging Setup
Lewmar Winch Maintenance
Gybe Preventer (Boom Brake)
Replacing Crazed Hatches and Ports
Yanmar Exhaust Elbow Corrosion
Steering Wheel Nut
Bilge Issues
Asymmetrical Spinnaker Size
Cockpit Table Support Replacement

2011, Customizations, Electric Winch, Reviews, Sailing

Winch Rite – Review

4 Comments

Posted by: “Joseph A. Revak, DMD, MAS” joenopain1@verizon.net joenopain1
Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:01 am (PDT)

Steve,
I do have the Winch Rite. I only use it for raising the main. It would be to bulky for jib sheeting. I like it for the main. I also have the Tides Marine Strong track system. When I first got the Winch Rite I used the slow speed to raise the Main, now I use the higher speed and it does just fine. A LOT less work for my back. It is usually Diane and I on the boat so, as someone said with the Strong system I could raise the main at the mast easily, but we always raise the Main from the cockpit and there is the additional resistance from the blocks.

Where I really like it is at the beginning of the season while I feed the jib into the furling slot, Diane can raise the jib’s halyard, which she had difficulties doing with a winch. I have not seen the electric winch handle on the bikini model. Warren I have seen some REALLY great premolars and molars lately though!
I hope every one is out on the water,
Joe Revak, C-387 # 74

2011, Mainsheet

December – Note from the Editor

4 Comments

Note from the Editor,

Hard to believe that summer is almost over. Hopefully you had a good sailing season. Mine was limited due to travel, hot weather, and no wind. Next we had the Virginia earthquake – didn’t impact sailing but my dockmates said the docks and pilings were shaking. And finally in came Hurricane Irene. So far I have only received one report of damage to boats in our fleet. That was the result of an anchored Peterson 42 dragging down on the C380 Oceania. It appears that the C380 won that battle with the Peterson being “T-boned” by Oceania. Oceania suffered some bow damage, but the Peterson was worse off. It is interesting that marinas on the Chesapeake generally allowed boats to stay at their slips, while Northeastern marinas seemed to require boats to vacate. Oceania was damaged as a result of that policy. On the other hand,

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2011, Asymmetrical Sails, Customizations, Mainsheet

“Bobstay” Strap for Asymmetrical

2 Comments

Reinforcing the Anchor Roller for a Spinnaker Tack Point;
Spinnaker Running Gear Ideas


By Tim Porter, C380 #199 Serendipity
Mainsheet, December 2011

The forward end of the C380 anchor roller is 20 inches ahead of the forestay attach plate, 10 inches ahead and clear of the bow pulpit, and on Serendipity was just begging to be used as the tack point for an asymmetrical spinnaker! The only issue was the upward load put on the anchor roller attachment in anything more than a light breeze. I solved this problem by having a “bobstay strap” made which attaches to the bottom of the anchor roller and the existing chainplate for the forestay located on the stem (photo 1). The strap has the additional benefit of strengthening the anchor roller in the downward direction, making it less likely you’ll damage it with excessive loading while weighing anchor (stuck anchor, pulling up a

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2011, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Rudder Reinstallation C387

5 Comments

Thomas Brantigan
C387 #96  Toccata in Sea

Mainsheet 2011

Boat repairs are like war; the plan only lasts until the first battle starts!

It all started when the boat was pulled at the end of last season.  I noticed that the lower rudder bearing was loose – something new since the boat was last pulled.  From there, I noticed a crack in the forward portion of the rudder so drilled a small hole in the bottom of the rudder and found that a small amount of water drained out.  As with many projects, had I known at the beginning what I knew in the end, I would have done a different project.  It was just one of those things that kept getting bigger as you went along.

Important to this discussion is that I have a C387 and not a C380.  Evidently the length of the rudder post is different

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