Category Archives: Repair/Replace/Maintain

Electrical/Electronics, Repair/Replace/Maintain

C387 Microwave Replacement

Leave a comment

My husband and I are in the process of buying a 2004 Catalina 387. The boat has a microwave sitting on the counter that does not fit the space in the cabinetry.. Now that I am reading this discussion from 3 years ago, I am wondering if it will be possible to replace it with one that fits. Any suggestion?

Thanks,
Sharon Pierce

Sharon,

When I looked last year, I found one that fit.  I ended up with an Emerson.  The issue I had was mounting it securely.  I ended up mounting the microwave to a piece of plywood, then attaching the plywood to the bottom of the cabinet.

Jim Sullivan
WASOKI
C-380 #174

I just had to replace mine this year as well.  I found one at Wal-Mart for about $79 that fit right into the cabinet without any modifications.  The only thing I had to do was drill

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Repair/Replace/Maintain

Hatch Covers

Leave a comment

I do not want to sew them myself. Does anyone know a company that can make them?

Thanks,

Sharon Pierce
s/v Aquarius
C-387 #48

Sharon

call Annie at 903-523-5994. Tell her you want some hatch covers like she just made for Woody’s 387. She is in Gordonville.

Jim Rushing C-387 #101

Sharon, I purchased my canvas hatch covers from JSI in St. Petersburg, FL. They make all canvas and cushions for our Cat 387s. They were able to go to Catalina Factory and make the correct sizes. They were not cheap, but well worth it. Well constructed. I’ve had mine for about 6 years.

Bob Aguilar
Cat 387 # 68 “Swept Away”

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Repair/Replace/Maintain

Cleaning, oiling, and varnishing C387 interior teak

Leave a comment

Our 2004 C-387, new to us, looks like it could use some interior teak cleaning. I was told by the broker that it has a water-based varnish inside. What product should we use to clean it? My husband bought some kind of oil at West Marine. Doesn’t seem like oil is the right thing? We need to clean it and there may be places where we need to touch up the interior varnish. Interior, not exterior.

Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

Sharon Pierce
Aquarius C-387 #44

Hi This is what Catalina uses ,

EM2000wvx WB-Alkyd Varnish:

https://www.targetcoatings.com/product/em2000wvx-wb-alkyd-varnish/

Regards
Paul
AVID II   380   #148

Sharon,

I use Zinolin Furniture Oil (Polish) which was recommended by my prior owner. It works great treating the wood but not leaving an oily residue. I bought mine at Dania Furniture which handles scandinavian style furniture and is for teak and other hard wood materials. I use

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Electronics, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Raymarine C80 Tide and Current Problems?

Leave a comment

We noticed on our cruise that my Raymarine C80 was displaying incorrect tide and current data. Traced it down to the Raystar 125 GPS sensor which was having Deja Vu, and believed it was still 2AM in 1983. This was kind of insidious since you don’t note that the time and date information is off unless you check the GPS status page on my C80. That and the current was clearly against us when it was supposed to be with us. We picked up on this right away thanks to several smart phones being used on board.

After checking around…several experts indicated that this is a known problem, due to a design flaw and a buffer overflow. While Raymarine acknowledged that this was true of the older Raystar 120, they denied it applied to the newer 125, and that it must be failing. I wonder how forthright Raymarine is being

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Rudder

Rudder design flaw

Leave a comment

I am in the process of having the rudder replaced as the original one bent and sheared at the post. Apparently there is a design flaw that was corrected at some point. The post for the new rudder has about 150% wall thickness as the old one. Our rudders are the same oned used on the C400. A friend of mine with a C42 who recently completed the Pacific Cup race replaced his rudder as a precaution after reading about a number of failures. The old design used a tube with thinner walls and a second tube inserted into that tube. The weld for the second tube happened to be right at the entry point into the lower bearing where all the load is. CY now makes them without the inner tube and just a thicker walled single tube. I am referring to the rudders used with the fin keel

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Repair/Replace/Maintain

Shopping for Cockpit Cushions?

Leave a comment

My cushions are beat up and smell really bad. Found “Bottom Siders” online which seem like a great product and available for the C380 including helm seat and stern rail seats. Anyone own these? Open to other suggestions. I want something that can take a beating and is completely water-proof and absorbs no water.

Leon
Akula-SF
C380#144

Another option is C-Cushions. Like Bottomsiders, they are closed cell foam, and can stay out in the rain. A friend of mine tried sample cushions from bothvendors and liked the C-Cushions better. He is in his second set of them and I’m in my third set (for both of us, it was changes in boats, not the cushions going bad that prompted the replaceements). The only caveat with the closed cell foam cushions is that they are slippery when wet.

Steve Magennis
Alchemist C-380 #71

 

A couple of options for you to

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Engine, Thru-Hulls

Blowing out raw water line and strainer

Leave a comment

Editor:  A discussion ensued on finding a top for the raw water strainer where you could hook up a garden hose to blow out blockages.  Warren provided the following interesting approach:

I took another approach..found a special “expandable” plumbing fixture that works great…and is “dirt cheap”.

It’s called a “Mechanical Test Plug, with By-Pass”.  This is essentially a short pice of steel pipe [maybe a foot long] with a rubber “donut” attached to and surrounding the pipe, and has a large wing nut; the latter squeezes the rubber so that it expands, filling and sealing whatever its inserted into.

This is made in many sizes/diameters.  Our ID of top of strainer is 2″, so I bought test plug rated for 1.5 to 2.25″.,

Got mine from McMaster-Carr, p/n 2644K21, $8.17.     nj.sales@mcmaster.com is shown on p.o., but website available.

To make it easier to pour in a bucket or bottle of

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Repair/Replace/Maintain, Rudder

Composit Rudders

Leave a comment

Here is the thread I mentioned where Bob Perry discusses carbon fiber rudders:

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=80490&st=0

Here is a link to a specific message in the thread where Bob included his design for a carbon rudder:

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=80490&st=0

In response to my question he guesstimated $7K to $9K for a cf rudder but suggested contacting Phil’s Foils.

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Electronics, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Dim glowing of Reverse Polarity Light

Leave a comment

When using my Honda 2000 generator, I noticed that the reverse polarity light glows dimly.

Tom,

The reason you see the reverse polarity light glowing is because the Honda generator has a floating ground, meaning that there is no connection between neutral and ground, like your shore power connection has back at the service on shore.

If you want to eliminate the flicker, and operate the generator more safely, where you’re GFCI outlets trip on fault, make up a plug with jumper wire between the ground and neutral and plug it into one of the generators AC outlets.

Jim Turner
“Makana Kai”, 2000 C380, #227

LEDs are low voltage (about 2-4 v), low current devices and so require a series resistor to drop typical circuit voltage into their range, thereby also limiting the current to reasonable (operating) values.

The 25 k resistor referred to allows the led to operate near

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.

Customizations, Engine, Repair/Replace/Maintain

Engine Compartment Cooling

1 Comment

Jim,

May be able to suggest a way to improve the air circulation and cooling in the engine compartment.

I’ve been holding off installing the larger Ample alternator and Balmar regulator until I could figure out how to improve cooling in the engine compartment.

Last trip to the boat I completed replacing the flimsy ventilation hoses with nearly indestructible Hi temp thermoplastic rubber duct hose and rerouted the positive ventilator discharge duct from under engine to top of engine and alternator to scavenge rising heat more effectively. I’m heading up to the boat Wednesday and should be able to complete a number of projects, including rewiring the blower to automatically run when the engine is running, and for a 15 minute cool down period after shut down using a delay board (should be able to re-utilize the fan switch as an off switch). Then install the alternator, regulator and sensors.

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this content.  Catalina380-IA members, please login.

To join please fill out a membership application (Association->Membership Application) and send a check to the address on the form.