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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Aft Cabin Seat Storage
Forest Lot
5/1/2002
Hull #: 90
If there’s one thing every cruising sailor looks for, it’s more storage. We seem to have more stuff than places to squirrel it away. The C380 has an opportunity for a couple of large storage lockers than can be accessed very easily. These are located under the port and starboard seats in the aft cabin.
When Susie and I were in the process of buying Andiamo!, we had a marine survey done just to better understand the boat and find those few things we did not know needed fixing. In addition to a few corrections that were made prior to delivery, the surveyor noted the apparently inaccessible areas under these two seats. He said the Coast Guard objects to such spaces and that we might be able to put the space to use.
The amount of space can be guessed
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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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Those of us with hull numbers up to about 100 have masts made by Z-Spar [now US Spars]. One issue with them consists of a relatively high gate: the opened part of the slot or tunnel where our mainsail slides do their thing.
The gate allows the slides to enter or leave the tunnel for installing/removing our mainsail. With the sail installed, the gate is “closed” via an angled handle that locks into the mast just above the opening thus retaining the slides. Two problems ensue with this configuration: first, the 1st reef cringle cannot be brought down to the boom, as it should be for a proper reef; Catalina authorizing the installation of “jack lines” solved this on my boat.
Second, the height of the sail’s headboard requires climbing the two mast steps to attach/detach the halyard and
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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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This is a follow up to my article in the August Compass. I had originally intended this space simply to mention some additional items on this subject, but recent events have forced a change, as you’ll see below. Sail magazine [Aug. ’02] contains two appropriate articles; one of them suggests putting portable electronics in the oven when a storm is likely–probably a good idea. Note however, that the door seals are non-conductive; a couple of rolled strips of aluminum foil wedged into the door/frame gap should help.
Now to bigger news, at least to me. A few weeks after my lightning protection article was published, I got zapped!! This has to be the ultimate irony! And my external protection system was not in place! My only excuse:
no significant storms were predicted. Man, did NOAA and local TV [and me]
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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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There’s been a good deal of discussion on this topic in many places, including our Sailnet email discussion group. I have my own opinions [these are not endorsed by Catalina], generated by many years working with antennas/electronics for military aircraft. However, as lightning protection is so uncertain — there are no guarantees — it’s a good idea to review some reference material, so you can make a so-called informed decision as to what, if anything, to do. This whole topic can be pretty controversial: I invite [as always] any comments, contrary or not.
The basic reference is the ABYC lightning protection standards [section E-4], which are included in your C380/390 manual [note that a 1998 change requires minimum grounding/bonding conductors to be #6]; it’s also available at www.abycinc.org. Another reference is Professor E. Thomson’s [U. Fla.] extensive website at www.thomson.ece.ufl/lightning/. On the
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