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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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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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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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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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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Aft Cabin Mirror
Bob Bierly
11/21/2001
Hull #: 255
I removed and reinstalled the aft cabin mirror on a cleat mounted on the underside of the steps and through the head wall. I now store screens, trays, between the back of the mirror and the bulkhead. I cut a 10” inspection port into the seat on the port side of the bed. The storage area inside is amazing. I installed a board between the storage area and the manufacturer-installed drawers at the foot of the bed to keep errant stored items from finding their way into the vicinity of the prop shaft coupling and stuffing box. That was the only thing I had to do to make this a very sizable long-term storage area.
The side toward the fridge port side is left open. The storage is formed between the bulkhead, the head wall on the starboard end and the
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I have added the following items to the anchor locker:
(1) A West Marine (SJPRO#960012 @ $26.95) line holder. I have also mounted one in the port lazarette holes line up exactly with ones in place for the seat latch no drilling.
(2) I have mounted a reel of Ankoralina line for deploying a lunch hook. Very handy and does not take much space. The reel has about 185 of polyester strap that has approximately the same strength and stretch as ½ nylon three-strand line. The Ankoralina does dual duty as a jackline.
I have mounted a 25# Danforth High Tensile on a piece of teak using the bracket that is typically used to hang a Danforth style anchor on a stanchion (West Marine #488353 @ $34.99). At the bottom of the teak board (that runs the full depth of the
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Flatware and Utensil Storage
Bob Bierly
11/1/2001
Hull #: 255
Flatware storage: I bought a standard wooden flatware storage box from a popular regional kitchenware store; I mounted it with hinges under the hanging shelf, with the hinges toward the settee and the opening toward the galley. I use a bayonet catch to hold the box up against the bottom of the shelf when its closed and use a short length of lifeline cable to hold the box when open at about thirty degrees. This gives my wife an accessible flatware storage, which seems to have been omitted in this Catalina. My wife misses the drawers from the Catalina 34 galley.
Utensil storage: Many chefs like to store cooking utensils in a crock or like item immediately adjacent to the stove. I mounted an open topped wooden box about 3x3x5” box in the open space behind the stove to serve
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Our 380-390’s come with eight seacocks [aka: thru-hulls]; these are, of course, critical to the operation and safety of our boats. Mishandling or severe damage to any thru-hull could allow flooding which our bilge pump may not be able to handle – not a happy situation! While we could add more pump capacity [see Scott’s write-up in the previous issue], “an ounce of prevention….”. So this is an important topic; it is also very relevant, as at least two captains have had a “problem”, me being one of them! But I’ll get into that later.
The Forespar seacocks are made of Marelon, a particularly tough plastic which, in normal use, will probably outlast much of our equipment. Many of you are probably aware of the controversy over seacock material: bronze vs. plastic. I’m sure this discussion will go on well past my
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I simply placed a plastic storage box (milk carton with relatively few holes) and hang it from the edges of the lazarette using four antenna holders (West SFANT#4142SS @$7.99). The hooks are bolted to the milk carton. I had to cut and bend the back ones to support the back end. This works best in the starboard lazarette due to the presence of the bilge pump in the port lazarette. We use the removable box for our inflatable life vests, safety harnesses, emergency horn, spotlight, etc.
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