I wanted to share with all of you the outcome of the companionway hatch
cover that I wrote about a few weeks ago. Here is what I said at the time.
Mine, a 2000, hull 226, I guess is what Warren described as the “old” slider
version, which is all smoked acrylic. I have a similar problem –hatch
sticks and, depending on the weather, it is almost impossible to open and
close. Two companies in the yard (general maintenance and a fiberglass
expert) have looked at the hatch and the hatch frame and both concluded that
the “sticking” problem is caused by a structural problem with the framing.
According to both, the cabin hatch frame has a wood base that the hatch
frame screws into. According to one person who looked at the framing, a
certain amount of non-orthodox adjustments were made to build up the frame
to accommodate the
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After about 10 years of light use of our shower, the sealant failed at the bottom of the wall in which the shower door is mounted. This resulted in water getting trapped along the bottom edge between the inner and outer seal of that wall. This only became noticeable when I was trying to replace the factory-installed sealant that had started to crack along its full length just below the shower door area in the head area. When trying to remove the old sealant, the Formica covering the area blistered off because the water leak had broken the bond between the wall material and Formica (see Photo 1). The real damage probably occurred during winter lay up when the boat is blocked nose up. This nose-up attitude causes any small amount of water or snow leaking into the shower
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My boat did not come with any type of latch or bumper to keep the head door from swinging into the shower doorframe. So the door was always left closed. However, while in a seaway, the latch would work and the door would eventually swing open. The head door handle would then start banging into the shower door frame and eventually put a dimple in the shower’s aluminum doorframe. This did not seem healthy to any of the parts involved. I evaluated the cost and appearance of standard doorstops available in marine and hardware stores. Nothing looked right and the marine stuff cost well over $50, more than I wanted to spend. After some creative pondering, I came upon the idea of using a white eraser. I cut it to a pleasing shape and mounted it to the shower
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I get tired of the tangle of genoa sheet tails in the cockpit. They usually end up at the ends of the “T”, but they still get under foot and in the way. I also find the cockpit bins are too far forward to stow and easily reach winch handles from the helm area when tacking short-handed. I started looking at various options for pre-made sheet bags and various winch handle holders, but did not find anything that fit the bill. I have a canvas sewing machine so I also looked at making the bags mysef, including a kit from Sailrite. However, I quickly figured out I could just buy the materials and save some money versus the kit. Plus I could custom fit the bags to the “T” ends and include a pocket for the winch handles to
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This month we have two articles regarding portlight and hatch issues that tend to plague our C380’s. First, is an article from Captain Tim Porter on sealing those bothersome leaks around the Lewmar side ports. I can relate to this one and remember the rainy delivery cruise up the ICW when I bought Blue Heron. My crewman assigned to the middle cabin had a series of plastic cups positioned under the ports to collect the drips so he could keep his bunk and gear dry. We weren’t able to get pictures of the fix in time for publication, but I think Tim’s description is clear without. Second, is an article from Captain Skip Wilkins on replacing the plexiglass companionway slider with Starboard. It is a different approach versus trying to retrofit a fiberglass C387 slider onto the C380.
As always, I am looking for new ideas, or
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By: Tim Porter, C-380 #199 “Serendipity”
Mainsheet – August 2010
If you have an older Catalina, your Lewmar portlights are likely what are known as the “Old Standard” portlight. (note: these are NOT the overhead hatches, which are “Ocean” series hatches) These portlights can be identified by the split in the upper and lower frames on each side. If you have these portlights, you have probably been battling hard-to-find leaks. [My 1999 vintage C380, #194 still has the “Old Standard” ports. – Steve]
Most of these leaks are not from the seal or the latches, but rather from those splits in the frame I noted above. The frame itself is a hollow extrusion and the two halves are joined with a plastic insert that is pressed into them which is then staked into place by dimpling the backside of the frame. Over time, the sun and age takes its toll
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The sliding companionway hatch on “Bellatrix” C380 #43 was made of ½ “ smoked Lexan or Plexiglas and had become crazed and sagged. The sagging allowed water to lay on it and it had become very hard to slide. Looking for an alternative, I called Warren Pandy at Catalina. He told me they no longer made the Plexiglas slider but now made them of fiberglass and the new material eliminated the problems of the old. I ordered the new slider. After I received it and took it to the boat I noticed a couple of problems. The new hatch was domed and would not fit under the sea hood. It would require cutting the sea hood, raising the sea hood and trimming the new slider (See Photos 1 and 2). The color of the nonskid on the new slider was a fresh seagull gray
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I started the winter with good intentions and a pretty good list of projects for Blue Heron. Mostly in the “would be nice to do category.” However, with the exceptional cold and snow we’ve had, plus other commitments, I’ve gotten nothing done. Zilch. Nada. Sometimes that is just how things go. Then, if spring ever does come, it will be much too tempting to slip the lines and head out for a couple hours of sailing instead of tackling the project list. So I expect that many projects on the list will be waiting for me next winter! I hope you did better on your project list than I did and that you will be ready for some good sailing when the weather warms. I am looking forward to hoisting the new 135% genoa I bought at theAnnapolis boat show last fall. It should make our
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John Szarek, C387 #129, Magical Dreamer, AnnapolisMD
Mainsheet, May 2010
I have always been amazed by LED’s, ever since that star wars LED watch I had as a kid so I thought it would be interesting to experiment with upgrading my lights to LED. Before I get to the fun part of replacing the bulbs, I want to explain a few semi-technical things about LED’s. I will be extremely general so all the EE’s out there please forgive over simplification of some parts. So the first problem I ran into was looking at my 10 watt halogen bulbs and trying to figure out how to match them to LED’s since LED’s are rated in lumens. One does not relate to the other directly as a watt is a measure of power and lumens are a measure of perceived light. On average most incandescent bulbs (DC) produce about 10 lumens per
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Well, it is that time of the year again. The adventurers in our group have headed south toFlorida, theBahamasand beyond. However, most of us in the Northern hemisphere are getting the baby ready for her long winter’s nap. Not that we aren’t adventurous. Sailors are adventurers no matter what type of sailing we do. However, it is the other commitments in life that keep us tied to the dock, or on the hard, during the cold winter months.
The winter does become the opportune time to tackle those projects that we find hard to work on when the warm winds of summer are teasing us to head out on the water. How many times have I gone out to work on a project and ended up sailing instead? But now we pay the price as we work on those deferred
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