To solve the problem of toilet seat in the head going too far open and stretching its hinges too much, we decided to install a teak book rack as shown in West Marine catalog page 810 ( a teak paperback book holder works just as well but is not in the 2002 catalog). We attached 2 L Brackets (5-1/2 in) from Home Depot with stainless screws and attached the book rack. We placed the brackets so the seat would contact the rack and keep it in a more or less vertical position, and in the bargain we got lots of extra storage space for toiletries. Cost of rack plus hardware was about $55. (Not to mention $100 for a cordless high speed drill to drill the holes.).
Warren Elliot asked a few questions of Ted, and here’s his response:
Warren–re the
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Being a sailboat owner, I truly dislike having to run the engine during good sailing conditions. Bringing our boat home to Portland, OR from our summer cruising grounds in Washington’s San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gul f Islands usually offers such conditions, once we round Cape Flattery and head out into the Pacific and down the Washington coast. It’s a 30-hour broad reach in 17-knot northwesterlies followed by two days of spinnaker run up the Columbia River. We do it short handed – the autopilot is very necessary. Unfortunately, at about 65% of battery charge with the stock Exide 4D marine house battery bank (wired in parallel), the autopilot starts complaining like a series wound DC motor will when it’s getting more of its power from current than from voltage. With the refrigeration cycling at about 33% and the autopilot
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The May issue included a short description and photo by Forrest Lott of his smaller dinette table. I had a few questions, the answers to which didn’t quite make publication deadline, so here they are.
His picture showed a nice sketch of a sailboat centered in the table top. I wondered at Ted’s artistry; however, he reported the sailboat figure is part of an acrylic dish that his wife found in Walmart! It’s usually under a pile of chips! Oh well, just shows how different perspectives can be.
I also inquired how Forrest swaps old and new table tops easily, and where the unused one is stored. It turns out that they leave the new one in place all the time as it is so convenient. The old one is stored under the vee berth cushions without the mounting flange, which is
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The shelf above the sink that was intended to store plates, mugs, and such, was totally inadequate for our needs (worthless). We wanted a “china cabinet” (or in our case a plastic cabinet). The plan was to build a cabinet using the existing shelf as a base and make some kind of a cabinet which had a shelf in the middle. We considered building the cabinet out of wood, but it seemed that this would not only block the light from the large port window, but it would not fit the open styling of the interior. We decided to make the cabinet out of a clear material. The cabinet was made using an acrylic material purchased at the Home Depot called high impact “Lucite Tuf”, it is 3/16 thick. We also purchased some 1 ½ inch diameter oak ½
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Double Bow Roller
Tom Lincoln
11/5/2002
Hull #: 205
We’ve been chatting on the Sailnet e-mail list on the desirability of a double-bow roller, particularly for extended cruising, for over a year.
Catalina has recently responded by providing this feature on new C380’s & 390’s. But what to do if your boat doesn’t have this? Following is the first of at least two articles on retrofitting your boat to gain the advantage of two bow rollers. This is from Tom Lincoln, # 205 “Ridge Runner”, who is on quite an extended cruise.
We prepared our C380, Ridge Runner, for cruising and living aboard. For the past year and a half we have cruised the Great Lakes, The East Coast from NY to Florida and next year: The Bahamas. We have done many things to make the boat a better and safer cruiser. One of the most important, and possibly one
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Storage for the Bar, New Trash Container, and New Hatch Board Holder
Ed and Sharyn Dahn 2/1/2002
Hull #: 111
Storage for the bar.
The next issue was where to store liquor bottles. The setup for the waste basket (next to the sink) seemed to be really poor. The waste basket was very small, and some trash always missed the basket and wound up in the area where we stored pots and pans. We decided to throw out the trash container and to use the compartment to store bottles. This works really well, six large jugs and a couple of small ones fit nicely in the space. We intend to install a shelf above the bottles and enclose the sides. This will be accessible by lifting up the cutting board in the counter top. It will be used to store knives and cooking utensils.
Making room for the new trash
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We required davits for our Quicksilver 300 inflatable powered by a 15 HP Merc. After reading the C380 mail on Sailnet we ordered davits from Ocean Engineering. We had the same type of davits from other manufacturers on two previous boats and in the past there was some cutting, welding and a lot of fiddling. We ordered the Ocean Engineering davits specifically for our vintage 380 and also ordered all of the optional braces. Once installed, it became clear that the system as supplied would not work with the weight of our dingy. The stern rail deflected with load and the dingy would bounce around giving one the impression that the stern rail would permanently bend or break. Additional struts were required.
The struts shown below were fabricated from stainless steel flat stock, 1” by ¼”.
New Strut
The lower end
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STEERING, BOOM HEIGHT, CLEATS, GPS
Wolfgang Doebel, Warren Elliott
2/1/2002 Hull #: 336
The following was emailed to me from a new 380 owner from Canada:
Hello Warren, Have you ever come across one of the following? Do you have any ideas to help?
The steering mechanism on my C380, at times seems, to get partially hung up, especially when moving through the neutral position. The problem is not severe but it takes out a lot of fun from steering. Also one must always expect some problems to happen if the cause of the concern is not fully understood. There is an Autopilot ST6000 plus connected to the rudder post, but it does not seem to be the cause, as the problem does not exist when traveling under power alone (no pressure on the rudder, not much tension on the cables). I have investigated the mechanical condition of the
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This is a follow-up on the February issue, which included an article by Ed and Sharyn Dahn describing their davits installation, among other things.
They had found that additional bracing was needed, and had their own brace design fabricated. About two weeks ago, I received an emailed picture of another C380, also with Ocean Marine’s Davits installed. As this seemed to show an alternative method of bracing, I thought it would be of interest to all of you who may be considering installing davits. I contacted both Ocean Marine [Mike Thomas], and the owner of the pictured boat, Marcia Ayres, who was nice enough to provide a write-up on their installation.
Warren-
We bought the Ocean Marine Systems Davits after talking to Mike Thomas. He assured us that he had davits that would work on our boat. We discussed our needs as
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I would like to share this with the other owners. I saw this idea on other boats at shows and Linda really liked it. I told her I could buy a bigger boat or make one. In the C380, the sink is built with a lip all around it, so I measured and made some plans. At West Marine, I purchased a piece of acrylic (12″ x 27″) #479736, $28.99 plus tax. From this acrylic, I cut two pieces that fit on the lip of the sink, which supports these pieces. On the left piece, I cut the curves using the cutting board as template. On the right piece, I cut out a “U” shape for the fingers to fit in to lift the cutter board. In each piece I drilled a 1″ hole for a finger to lift out the acrylic.
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