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Hi all,

I'm doing a cleanout of my house and threw away all my Mainsheet hard copies, knowing I could download them. Now I see that Mainsheet has moved to a new location, and unlike before they only offer the last two issues online. I've been a dues paying member continuously since 2016, so I'd like to get the missing issues. Is there an archive location somewhere that I can access?

They switched to Catalina Yachts when Jim Holder retired.  i recommend you write to them voice your concerns.  I agree, digitally it should be there "forever".

Write to:
holly@catalinayachtsstore.com and Nichole@CatalinaYachtsStore.com 

Please let us know what they tell you.

We know you have a great attention to detail from your previous posts and work.

Just thought these 101 Topics may help, just in case you haven't seen them.  While not for hard dodgers, I think the Lessons Learned and some details are just as applicable to both hard and soft dodgers.

Dodgers & Canvas 101  thanks to Maine Sail

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,8640.msg61526.html#msg61526

Dodger Height 101 with Pictures and Links

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,7161.0.html

[(I also wouldn't add more chain - this works perfectly in 25 to 30 feet of water - you let all the chain out and you tie off nylon at the preferred scope and don't bother with separate snubbers and chain hooks and all that stuff...)]

Jack,

The 101 Topics has some anchoring subjects.  It includes this. 

Steve's Anchoring 101

...with 100ft of chain.  The rest of the world can debate all they like.   When I pull into a place like Bodega Bay at midnight and the fog is so thick I can't see the jetty 50 feet away to make an entrance, I drop my hook in the rolling ocean swells with the surf crashing (Foster says it's like staying in a cheap Best Western beside the highway), and I sleep.  And in the morning I have a windlass to pull the beast up and I wouldn't trade it for anything.   (I also wouldn't add more chain - this works perfectly in 25 to 30 feet of water - you let all the chain out and you tie off nylon at the preferred scope and don't bother with separate snubbers and chain hooks and all that stuff...)

• T
  
  >>>>>>>>>>>>on the right bulkhead above the seat is a white object with an arched top.
  

I believe you may be referring to the trawler lamp.  It hangs from a hook attached to the wooden frame around the saloon hatch.  The white puck like objects on the overhead are downlights I added, one over the saloon table another over the galley sink.

Is the white thing mounted to the stbd bulkhead a cabinet?

In the galley?  Not sure about which photo and what white thing...

What do you have mounted to the fwd stbd bulkhead in the salon? Nice heater and installation as well.

Jon, that is a kerosene heater.  While it looks "nautical" I found it useless.  There is a reservoir under the V berth bunk with copper piping to the heater.  The kerosene tank needed to be pumped up with air, a bicycle pump.  To light it requires priming with alcohol in the basin under the burner.  It made a horrible sound and I think i only used it twice in 25 years! 

The most useful heater I found for the boat (other than electric space heaters - Caframo) are catalytic, using green propane bottles.  They're equivalent to 1500W heaters.

Jim what engine model is this for?  I have a dipstick.

Ken

Ken, his 1990 is most likely an M25XP.

Jm, please fill out your signature, like most of the rest of us have done, thanks, it helps us to help you.  Go to your Profile page to update it.

In 2015 I helped write much of the text of Practical Sailor's 20 year review.  Much of that text remains in this 30 year update.  Indeed, the photos in "Interior Notes" and "Critics Corner" sidebars at the bottom of this 30 year review are actually of my boat.  The 20 year review included all of the larger photos of my boat, which this 30 year review replaced with those pictures just lifted from yachtworld.

The 20 year review was added to the tech wiki but I just checked and that link now goes to this 30 year review, most likely because it links to Practical Sailor's website, although the wiki intro still says "2015 review".

[but unattached a large red that in the future could be connected directly from the alternator to the house positive]

So, putting together what I've researched on this site, my plan was to remove the two excess heavy red cables so all positive power goes through the 1-2 Both switch bidirectionally, to start the engine and charge batteries. 

Does all this make sense or am I missing something?  Thanks for any guidance and/or experience you can share. 
Brian McPhillips 

Basically, YES, it does.  However, see below...

I've been away for a few days, checking back, appreciate the input.  I have reviewed a lot of the above links.  My basic question is whether what I've outlined is good enough vs. ideal.  For better or worse, Beta wraps all of their large and small wires coming to and from the alternator, then spray paints the entire engine bright red making it difficult to identify wires accurately (at least for me). I'm intimidated by the prospect of modifying what Beta sent me. I'm thinking I can leave in place  but unattached a large red that in the future could be connected directly from the alternator to the house positive (with fuse, with or without external regulator).  My simple solution at start of this post is to use a single large red from the starter + to the 1-2-Both post to charge the house and echo charger to the starter (fused).  Also, I'll ask again if the Victron Cyrix ct sounds like a good option for my echo charger or if there is a better option.  Thanks again. 
Brian 

This is the HOWEVER.  You will kill your new alternator if the AO is disconnected when its internal regulator is asking for power. 

Brian, I've been thinking about your issue for the past few days.  Do NOT be intimidated.  LEARN what each and every wire means and what it does.  It is NOT hard to do that  I did it once, you can, too.

Alternator Regulator Wiring Diagrams - all three http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4548.0.html

Here is mine.  You can scale the height from the width of the transom.  I did this eons ago and made the mistake of using only one turnbuckle at the high split; it is CRITICAL to use two turnbuckles down at the base of each split.  You'll rarely have to use them, but when you need to...

The dwg is one I think Dave Davis did eons more ago.  I think I used those dimensions but with those blocks & tackle, I'd go higher.  Higher is better anyway.

I used a Garhauer split and Garhauer vang.  LARGE LONG D shackles at the bases.

Read both pages of this, too, found from a search on split backstay - there are many more, too.
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3672.0.html

Don't forget the toggles at the base, too.

Brian,

I hope you have read the Electrical System 101 topic, especially these:

OEM 1-2-B Switch Wiring History  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4949.msg30101.html#msg30101

1-2-B Considerations (New 2020 - Rod finally got around to diagramming what I had done in the above link in 2009 :) )
https://marinehowto.com/1-2-both-battery-switch-considerations/

Basic Battery Wiring Diagrams  This is a very good basic primer for boat system wiring: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,6604.0.html

This is another very good basic primer for boat system wiring:   The 1-2-B Switch by Maine Sail (brings together a lot of what this subject is all about)
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=137615

This is a newer primer for boat system wiring design with a thorough diagram:   Building a Good Foundation (October 2016)
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/building-the-dc-electrical-foundation.181929/#post-1332240

The Short Version of the 1-2-B Switch Stuff:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5977.msg38552.html#msg38552  This is a link to the Electrical Systems 101 Topic, reply #2

***************

The Universals did not come the way you describe what you found.  The PO changed the wiring.

Ron's right.

In the Quick Start Guide sticky on this forum I wrote, in 2009 - fifteen years ago:

"My PO, who was meticulous, did the wiring harness but NOT the alternator bracket or the traveler thru bolts.  How did I know about these things, like 10 years ago, before this board?  I read the material.  And this was before this MB.  He'd kindly provided me with the copies of all the Mainsheet magazines since 1987.  So, I contributed to the Association by actually creating the Index, which we then grew into the Tech Notes Online (available to C34IA members) AND the Index here (free for everybody)."

A few years ago I met a "new to them" C34 owner at a local nautical park.  She explained that she'd convinced her husband to get a sailboat after having motorboats for many years, and asked if I could explain some things about her boat to her.  Her most basic question, as I recall, was where the anti-siphon valve for the head plumbing was located.  I have a Mark I she has a Mark II.  It wasn't in the nav station locker and I finally found it behind the TP roll in the head.  But when I asked her if he'd looked at her boat manual...she was also unaware of our website.  Point being, you may be abler to save a new owner some time, but nothing beats learning for yourself given the enormous amount of information found right here, including just about every single manual, and nothing you can't find on the internet, you know all that stuff many of us did not have available a quarter of a century or more ago.  Good luck happy learning. 

[up through the hole the holding tank hose passes through to the main distribution panel]

Thanks.  I am with you until "under the floor across the bilge to the bulkhead".  Is there an "easy" way to get under there to pull it across the bilge?

You have omitted the rest of Jon's sentence which means you missed the context of it completely.

He wrote:  under the floor across the bilge to the bulkhead the macerator mounts to, then along that bulkhead up through the hole the holding tank hose passes through to the main distribution panel.

The underlined part is what you missed, and it answers your question completely.

From the forward part of where the water heater sits, you run the power wire across the bilge to the macerator compartment aft of the holding tank and then up to the distribution panel.

As you are replacing your standing rigging, you might want to consider raising your split backstay (if a PO hasn't done it already). Instead of one turnbuckle high at the meeting point you can use two turnbuckles (one above at each chainplate) and raise the split connection up higher, since you will no longer need a reachable turnbuckle in the middle anymore.

I believe this is CRITICAL.  I raised my backstay split eons ago and did NOT do this, and my remaining single turnbuckle is quite high for any easy maintenance and/or lubrication, it subsequently essentially froze!  It became a real effort to unfreeze.  Raising the split is a great thing to do, avoids head-banging, but needs to be done right.