Companionway on my 2005 Catalina 34 sticks

ellispe · February 09, 2009, 02:47:44 PM

Fellow Catalina 34 Owners.

The companionway on my Catalina 34 sticks and is very difficult to slide forward or back. Over the weekend I cleaned the surface that the companionway slides on. But it did not seem to help. I currently need to jiggle it from side to side to get it to slide in. Have you ever heard of this before, and do you have any recommendations on how to revolve it.

Many Thanks

Peter

Steve Sayian · February 09, 2009, 03:10:52 PM

Pete,

The PO of my boat put thick teflon tape on the fiberglass runner under the sliding hatch.

It slides very freely.

Steve

horsemel · February 09, 2009, 03:33:59 PM

We put a couple of high molecular weight (I think that is the term) plastic in the track and it made a difference. Also, ours is 1988 boat with the wood trim and scraping off excess layers of varnish helped a lot also.
Mark Mueller
Blue Moon #815

ellispe · February 09, 2009, 03:34:38 PM

Steve,

Is this somthing I can get at Home Depot ?. Is this somthing that sticks on ?

Many Thanks

Jim Hardesty · February 09, 2009, 04:58:38 PM

Peter,
The hatch on my 2001 rubs on the underside where it slides over the head liner. I improved it by taping emery paper on the hatch and back and forth. I think that the (high molecular weight) tape on mine is from the factory, due to it being so far under the sliding hatch. It was coming off, I fixed it with carpet tape.
The hatch on my boat was not well done at the factory. The hatch slides are not flat and level. It sticks, more when hot. The sea hood leaks water, then doesn't drain, till people are in the cockpit, then it drains about 2 cups of warm water onto the seats. Embarrassing.
I will, when the weather permits, pull the sea hood and redo the hatch, hatch slide, and pitch to drain. And replace the tape.
Wish I were sailing, but would settle for just working on the boat.
Jim

tonywright · February 10, 2009, 02:35:34 PM

Someone posted the following recommendation a couple of years ago on the Catalina 36 site:

"I bought a tape from Mcmaster.com and it was a perfect replacement for the original. The part number and description is:
76445A762 STRONG & SLIPPERY UHMW POLYETHYLENE TAPE, 3/4" WIDTH X 5 YARDS LENGTH, .0115"TOTAL THICKNESS

It was easy to install after cleaning off all the old residue. Total cost for the tape and tax and shipping was under $10"

I have this on my to-do list as well.

Tony

Wayne · February 10, 2009, 04:26:22 PM

Peter, I have a 2006 and had the same problem; as a matter of fact there was a thread on this board right after I became a member; seems that this problem is pretty common.
I talked to Kent at Catalina, and he said that sometimes the hatch is either a little warped, or the pocket it slides into is a little tight. His suggestion was to remove the approx 4'x4' piece of deck immediately in front of the hatch and start sanding (I forget if sanding the slides, or sanding to make the space above the hatch a little taller. Must have been to make the space a little taller, because he also suggested the possibility of putting bushing washers under the screws that hold this piece of deck in place. My dealer did this once, and it helped. I twisted their arm do do it again, and they finished the job. Sanding, no bushings, and now my hatch slides freely.
I have the 'slippery' clear tape in place also, but with time the edges gather dirt, wear, and 'fray' into burrs which makes the hatch slide stick. Making the pocket a little taller was the real solution, at least on my boat.

horsemel · February 10, 2009, 05:17:20 PM

Just to clarify yesterday's comment. The plastic I used was UHMW, ultra high molecular weight plastic. I got it from a local company that does custom fabrication out of plastics. Some of the wood working catalogs sell the stuff as well. I have not tried the UHMW tape.
Mark Mueller
Blue Moon #815

ellispe · February 10, 2009, 08:23:35 PM

Many Thanks to you all.

This is a bit of a bummer as it seems that Catalina must have known about this recurring problem. I am supprised that they did not change somthing to fix it. Based on what looks to be replaced calking, it looks as if somone tryied to fix this once already.

Peter

Jim Hardesty · February 11, 2009, 12:29:24 PM

Peter,
I got to my boat and took off the seahood and hatch. My sticking problem is where the hatch slides over or into the headliner. I need to sand off 3/16. Does anyone know if that will be a problem? By the way, it was a bear of a job to get that off. After it was off I saw that it was the right way to fix it. Due to my seahood leaking it was very dirty inside, still wet after being dry under a cover for 3 months.
Jim

Stu Jackson · February 11, 2009, 01:42:29 PM

I've never tried to (or had to) remove the sea hood. What steps are involved?

horsemel · February 11, 2009, 02:07:35 PM

Jim,
Just remember that you can't put it back on after you sand it off. I would scribe a line to the point you think you need to remove material. A belt sander should do the job. Leave the line to see if you then need to take more off.
Mark Mueller
Blue Moon #815
1988

Jim Hardesty · February 11, 2009, 05:13:26 PM

Stu,
I just removed the screws. Cut through the sealer,I used a snap-knife. Then carefully worked it up and out, help to hammer a 1/4 thick strip of plywood between where the seahood sits into the deck. Debated removing the traveler but decided that would have created more problems, I wasn't sure what was on the end of the mounting screws, they are hidden by the headliner.
Jim