Messages

John

Haven't had a leak there.  New leak on old filter or new leak on new filter?  Remember to lube the O ring and threads with diesel or oil before installing a new filter.  

On my M25, the nut on the top of the filter housing is THE place to get the air out of the system.  I do not fill the secondary (engine mounted) filter with fuel, since it is a bear to get back there and put a strap wrench on it, no less getting my hand in to get the threads started.  If it is empty, I can't spill any fuel.  It is difficult to avoid spilling fuel when I remove the old one.

Once the new clean secondary filter is on, I just open that bolt, run the electric fuel pump by turning on the key switch at the panel, wait till the air is gone, close the bolt, and I'm done.  Even opening the knurled knob is unnecessary, sometimes. It never hurts to crack it but only after the bolt on the secondary filter housing is dispensing fuel.  I tried just the knurled knob, but that didn't work. Shucks!  But the bolt on the filter housing is relatively easy to get to with a long extender on a socket or just a combination wrench (9/16 sockets, better with a combination wrench).  I wrote more details up on "bleeding" earlier.  

The fuel pump will pump through BOTH the Racor AND the secondary filter.  I re-plumbed our Racor to be ahead of the electric fuel pump on the fuel line from the tank.

I would normally just cut & paste the direct URL on the search for "bleeding" for you, but for some reason, the way this board is working recently, is that I can get the search result up on the screen, but the URL ends with "=results" and NOT the actual WYSIWYG.  So if I paste that, you don't get the search results.  I have to go into one specific post from the array from the search, and can get that URL, but not the full search result.  Sorry.  If you just try the search, on "bleeding" you'll find all of  those posts.

This is one of them:  www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1431&highlight=bleeding

John

I don't particularly agree with Casey about underlying structural defects.  many of the crazed areas I have seen (other than some crew! ) are around stanchion bases.  One other place is near the traveler and dorade fiberglass assembly where the cabintop and the fiebrglass assembly meet - most likely from hull flexing on an almost 90 degree joint.  There surely is plenty of support at the stanchion bases, and at the traveler assembly.  The Mark IIs don't have the dorades, but there is some fiberglass build up for the traveler track.

Rather, I would consider that the gel coat may happen to simply be too thin at those spots or subject to more wear and tear, causing the crazing because people tend to pull on stanchions.  Consequently, it could very well be that the site of your crazing may be near the swim ladder connection.  I'm not that familiar with the geometry of the sterns of the Mark IIs, so can't tell without a picture.  Since the gel coat is merely the last thin surface coat, that could be your issue.  I would doubt that the dealer knows more about it than Don Casey.  How big is the crazing, and is it anywhere near the swim ladder?  Any chance of a picture?

All the best,

Jim

Good idea.  Our rigger recommended we use it for the four aluminum allen head set screws that go into the titanium base of our ProFurl system.

These products, Tef Gel and Lanacote, are less of an "anti-seize" than a material the keeps the different metals from actually touching each other and causing galvanic corrosion between the metals that are different.  I think of "anti-seize" as something that's used on the same metals, with no possibility of galvanic corrosion, to assure that they can come apart when you eventually want them to, like in hot applications of connectors on engines, for instance.

Thanks also for the source, Tef Gel is sometimes hard to find locally, even here.

[your mainsail]

Tim

The first picture was taken with the apparent wind at 25 and building, heading northwest across the Golden Gate about a half mile east of the GG Bridge.  Winds built some more as we got further north.  I didn't do the math on the true wind, but we were close reaching at 6, with the main single reefed.  

Two weeks ago we had our 110 and a single reefed main out in a race where it was blowing 25 true and gusting, but we do strange things when racing.  

Just keep in mind: It's not what the jib will do in high winds, it's how much you reef your mainsail.  The question is not how much wind the 85 or any other jib will handle - and you can sail on just a jib in really high winds.  I've discussed this before, since our boats are built to use the jib as the driving force.  Try sailing on just a jib, then just the main in the same winds, uphill, and you'll see the difference.  

As far as wind ranges go, I use the 85 all summer and the 110 (our "BIG" sail) all winter except when racing.  Winter's less windy here.  If the wind was light and all I had was the 85, it'd keep the boat moving.  I don't use the furling gear to reef, I change sails for the seasons, and like the convenience of not having to hank.

Also, in our neck of the woods, the winds usually build all day, so they start out light and get heavier, so we sail in cruising mode, with something smaller to start off with.  We do not have the changes in wind direction and speed that most other venues have on a daily basis, rarely thunderstorms, big gusts after no wind, etc.  That's something to take into consideration in understanding how I use our two jibs.

The jibs, the 85 or the 110 - if built properly, and with the fair leads moved aft - can take more wind than 25 kts, so will the boat, I may choose to not do so.  

Tim

Here' one with our 110 up.  In the background to the right, you can see Dave Davis' #707 flying a much nicer 130, lower to the deck - good comparisons.

Quick link:

http://www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2049

John

Intriguing solution.  Earlier posts on this that I recall include this one:  http://www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1744&highlight=st4000.

Seems the pins a real issue.

All the best,

Bill

All the best with your new C380, nice boat.  Phill Klein in Chicago made the same move, so maybe you can hook up with him and the rest of the C380 sailors on their 'site.

Hope you told your new owner about us and got him to join the Association.  

Fair winds, and thanks.

Tony

Discussed very recently, go here:  http://www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2042

Roland, there' a for sale section on this board, too.  Click on C34 Forum Index above, scroll down.  So many websites, so little time...

Tony

It's not only the floor, but the length of the boat and the size of the tubes.

We have a Cadet Fast-roller HP air floor 10-2 Zodiac and we like it.  Sometimes wet, but chop will do that to almost any dinghy.

The floor is stable when motoring with our 9.9 hp outboard, and can plane with three or four people in it.  We like it very much.  Another member bought a plywood floor of the same size boat because he fishes and didn't want to ding the floor!  We put outdoor carpeting on our floor.

A large 6 gallon gas tank was too much, so I bought a transom mount 3 gallon this winter, have yet to try it out.

Tim

Here's a picture of Aquavite in June 2002.  We're using our 85% jib.  Note the high tack off the foredeck.  This is from placing the base of the ProFurl high off the deck with long link plates, which we did deliberately for ease of anchoring, but it sure kills us when we race.  The jib in the picture is our former Leading Edge Sails the PO had purchased with the boat in 1998 (not a Catalina OEM) 110% that was cut down because the original sunbrella material had deteriorated - we couldn't get the jib down with our old CDI furling system and had to wait until we got the boat bucks together for new standing rigging and the ProFurl.  The jib sheets go to the original fairlead track which starts between the fixed portlights, and seems to work fine.  Our 110% (purchased used, also not a Catalina sail) also sets reasonably well.  We have midships cleats at the forward end of each track, so we do miss the one forward-most track hole for the jib fairlead.  Seems that you should be able to work around the standard track with your sail maker, although your idea about a high clew appears necessary.  There are advantages to a high clew - visibility, anchoring, etc.  The windier it gets the more comfortable I feel being able to see under the jib.  Many of our colleagues here sail (race) regularly with 130% jibs, but reduce sail size occasionally for cruising and higher wind conditions.  I'm sure they'll chime in with other ideas.

Jim

Steve's idea is great and I'll bet there's quite a bit more on the web if you try a Google search.

There is also an excellent article in the April 2005 Cruising World magazine by Bruce Bingham, well written and with pictures!

Steve

There was a post within the last month from a skipper with a lot of water on the inside surfaces of his boat.  It's been, if I recall some discussions, a kind of strange winter for y'all - hot, humid, cold, snow, hot, cold, etc.

My guess to the riddle is that the changing weather patterns ended up creating a lot of internal condensation, even if the boat is well ventilated.

Do we get lollipops if we guess the answer correctly?  

Jerry

Some of the links to the old chainplate messages discussed being able to re-bed chainplates with your mast up.  There is no reason you can't do that.  That said, Steve's recommendations on sealants seems to answer all the rest of the questions.  No reason to do anything but seal the rectangular openings at the chainplates, especially since they are still solid.  Thats' what the sealant is for.  It sounds like you had a leak, it got  by the old sealant but didn't mess up the core.  That's great.  Good luck, you'll really enjoy a drier boat.

Jerry

Catalina Yacht's phone # is 818-884-7700.  Probably on their website which is found from the links on the C34 Homepage.  Recommend NOT using email, they don't do email very well, use the telephone.