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2009, Customizations, Mainsheet

C380 Helmseat Alternative

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By Bob Bierly

Mainsheet, November 2009

Many of us have struggled with what to do with the stock C380 helm seat insert.  It is too low to sit on while steering the boat, the rubber hasps do not hold the insert securely enough (just step on the rear lip to see what I mean), and it is cumbersome to handle when you want to access the stern step.  Several skippers have considered the “Helmseat” advertised in Mainsheet.  Bob Bierly, our Association Secretary/Treasurer and who skippers C’mon Wind, shares his solution:

Attached are a couple photos of my helm chair.  Photo 1 – “The Chair” shows my complete seat assembly in place.   Photo 2 – “Chairbase” shows the wooden box (or bridge) I built to replace the factory provided fiberglass seat insert behind the helm, to which is mounted a simple fishing seat. The bridge also allows fore and aft

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2009, Mainsheet

Note from the Editor – Mainsheet, November 2009

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When To Call In The Professionals

Mainsheet, November 2009

A recent exchange on the Yahoo list where one of our owners was venturing into unknown territory (for him) prompted me to raise this subject.  We sailors in general tend to be a pretty independent lot.  We also tend to be a bit “frugal,” so we look to get a lot of “bang” for the boating buck – especially versus our powerboat friends.  For the price of a small power cruiser with a single V-berth we get a luxurious 38 foot sail boat with two sleeping cabins, a nice galley and head.  Plus we benefit from free wind so our fuel bills are pretty minimal.

This frugalness tends to carry over into maintenance and upgrades to our boats.  As a result, we are largely do-it-yourselfers, and hate the thought of calling in someone from the boatyard to do work for us. 

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2008, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain, Water

More on Anti-Siphon Valves

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More on Anti-Siphon Valves
Warren Elliott

February, 2008 Hull #: C380 #44

Although there is more than one of these devices on our boats, the anti-siphon valve for our engine is very important, as discussed in the previous few Mainsheet issues. If it fails in the closed position, water is likely to back up into the exhaust manifold and damage the engine. At least one of our C380s engines was badly damaged this way, and more engines out there may be in trouble.

In case some of you are not aware of this device, it’s mounted on the forward side of the bulkhead just above the engine. See our section of the May 2007 Mainsheet for the original article on this subject, including photos.

 

In the previous [November] issue, it was concluded that the best way to monitor the valve’s operation [engine off] was by inserting a small screwdriver,

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2008, Customizations, Dinghy Davits

Davits Alternative – Weaver Davits

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Davits Alternative
Craig Spear

February, 2008 Hull #: C-380 #273

A much simpler and much less expensive alternative are “Weaver” davits, whose description is included here to present a more complete picture of dingy storage. For a much more detailed description, refer to our section in the November 2005 Mainsheet; that article is also included on our Tech CD. –Warren

I installed the eyes that attach to the side of my inflatable (RIB). The other half of the system is a pair of hooks that are mounted on the stern of my C380, just below the swim platform. To raise the dingy, first maneuver it to attach the two eyes on the dink to the hooks; then pull a line attached to the far side of the dingy, rotating it into the vertical plane with the bow and stern athwartships. (See Davits photo).

The advantages include much less weight

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2008, Customizations, Dinghy Davits, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain, Stainless

Caution- Davit Stress Corrosion

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Caution- Davit Stress Corrosion
Richard Herbst
February, 2008 Hull #: C380 #93

According to Keith at Kato Marine (katomarine.com, 410-269-1218), earlier models of their davits were built using 304 stainless steel (including early 1998 when my boat, hull #93, was built). If they are continually stress-loaded (i.e., carry the dinghy all the time on the davits) while used in the tropics or similar climate, they may develop stress corrosion (i.e., cracking) of welded joints. If stress corrosion is evident, his advice is to have a qualified welder re-weld it and, in addition, add a gusset (about 1-inch triangular piece of filler metal) on each side of the broken weld. The gussets provide extra insurance against joint failure; it is impossible to know what is going inside the tubes by way of additional deterioration. For the same reason, Kato also suggested not drilling holes in the davits [eg: for wiring].

My

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2008, Customizations, Dinghy Davits, Mainsheet

Dinghies and Davits Go Together

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Dinghies and Davits Go Together
Bob Bierly
February, 2008 Hull #: C380 #255

Recently, on the C380 sailnet site there have been several sessions devoted to the proper choice of dinghy and motor and the pros and cons of mounting davits for dinghy transport and storage. Simply put, like many other aspects of outfitting your C380, there is no perfect universal solution. What may be useful to cruisers are the following thoughts.

Dinghies and Motors:

The real issue with a dinghy and its motor is to identify their primary purpose.

CASE 1

If, for example, you plan to cruise away from home, perhaps for lengthy stays (couple of weeks, months, even years), consider that your dinghy will be your basic local transportation. In this situation, I recommend that you (1) buy the largest, most stable dinghy (10 to11 feet) you can handle and, (2) obtain a big, reliable motor to

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2008, Air Conditioning, Customizations, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Easy Air Conditioning

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Easy Air Conditioning
Warren Elliott

May, 2008 Hull #: C380 #44

 A fair number of our C380/387/390 boats have air conditioning which was installed either as an option by Catalina, or by the Catalina dealer who was the commissioning agent. And, per our lively Sailnet email chat group , some Captains have put in A/C themselves. Of course, most of these boats are located in the south and southwest, where summer heat can be oppressive, requiring some form of relief.

On the other hand, those of us in northern climes have more of a choi ce: we could do nothing, possibly suffering a bit for those few really hot days, or we might go “full up” with an A/C system [usually two unit totaling over 20,000 BTU], perhaps suffering only pocketbook distress. Besides requiring at least a few “big bo at-bucks”, these units take considerable space which might otherwise be

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2008, Customizations, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Electric Head Upgrade for C380

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Electric Head Upgrade for C380
Steve Riddle
May, 2008
Hull #: C-380 (#194)

You know the drill. The pump on the old manual head starts working hard. So you pour in a little head lube and hope to get by for a few more weeks, months, or even years. Finally, the inevitable rebuild can not be put off any longer. Then you are off to the trusty marine store only to find the rebuild kit costs almost as much as a new head! I never did care for the manual head but it was ok for occasional use. We also had one for many years on our previous C-34, but the units are small and not intuitively obvious for your guests to operate. Plus the rotten egg smell from stagnant sea water after it sits idle for a summer week is awful.

The advantages of a nice, big, fresh-water electric

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2008, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Eliminating Bilge Odor

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Eliminating Bilge Odor
Richard Herbst
February, 2008
Hull #: C380 #93

My Catalina 380 had excess water collecting in the aft bilge area which resulted in unpleasant odors. This bilge is adjacent to the galley counter and its door/trash bin, and includes one keel bolt. Removing the floorboard that wraps around the galley island is the only access to this area. [Ed note: this is the third bilge section; the first section is immediately aft of the compression post and contains the bilge pump and/or pick-up for the pump; a small hatch provides easy access. The second section is immediately aft of the first, and also has easy hatch access on boats newer than about 1998 (older boats have no access hatch)– Warren].

Adding a small a bilge pump in this section is possibly the easy way out but would not get rid of all water; due to the

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2008, Customizations, Sailing

“Noodles” Stop Wave Slapping

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“Noodles” Stop Wave Slapping
Bill Weaver
May, 2008
Hull #: C380 # 54

 My wife and I have sailed our C380 on Lake Michigan since it was delivered to us new in early 1997. Since I retired two years ago, we’ve logged about 1,000 miles over several weeks each of the two summers.

There are few things that annoy us about our C380, the main one being water slapping noise in the stern cabin. It seems that we too often end up with an aft wind, causing small ripplets or larger waves to slap against the hull. We’ve solved this problem by using swimming “noodles”. We string two noodles onto a line and secure it to the stern cleats or to the stern rail. One seems to work well if there are only small ripplets; otherwise two will usually do the trick. The photo shows our boat after a rough

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