Catalina 34 Tall Rig vs MK-II`

[The Anderies]

Gary... that is very helpful information. The responses to this thread is one of the reasons why we went with the Catalina 34' in the first place... we wanted a boat that had an active and supportive following/ community.

Thanks again   

[Roc]

Before you unscrew the tie-rods, count the number of threads so when you put them together again, you can place the nuts in the same place with the same tension.  Reason I say this, when you assemble everything, if you keep tightening them, you will get to the point where the plate will start bending. 

[Stu Jackson]

Rebedding Chainplates, additional hints.

1. Access to the chainplates is behind the starboard and port cushions. You will need two 5/8" box wrenches and some flexibilty  to reach without seeing your work.
2. There are standard thread, stainless 5/8 nuts, lock nuts, washers and spacers. Each chain plate is a set. Be sure to keep the parts together. There are different width spacers, number of washers and even length of bolts for each chain plate. So they are a matched set.
3. Study and follow Mainesails tutorial and use his butyl rubber. It is superior ! It is very easy stuff to work with and is not messy.
4. Clean the chain plates, nuts, bolts and face plates at home with a wire brush mounted on a 3/8 drill. You can house the drill and wirebrush in a vise and hold the stainless parts with a vise grip. Or if you have a bench mounted wire brush even easier. All parts will clean up like new. Don't rush. Take a cup of coffee to your work area and clean the parts carefully...take your time being immaculate with this work.
5. It is good to have help with the re-install. One person on deck and one below decks tightening the stainless nuts. There should be a nut and lock not on each. Mine was missing a number of lock nuts....go figure!
6. Do not use butyl ribber or any caulk below decks on the chainplates. You want to know right away if any water is getting by the deck faceplates so as not to get water into the deck core.

It is a very intuitive process and pretty straightforward work with the help of the board and its tutorials......just thought I would add what I have experienced in doing this job. Everyone will need to do this as preventive maintenance at some point.

Gary

Great advice, Gary, thanks.

1.  I bought a short handed adjustable wrench to get in there.

2.  True.  However, if you do one at a time...  There really is no reason to do too much with the nuts below.  Why?  'Cuz once you loosen the nuts below a little bit, you can take the shaft out of the coupling at the bottom of the chainplate that goes through the deck.  When it's loose down below, just unscrew the shaft from the top coupling.  Watch for the bushing, too.

3.  Perfect.  Use more than you think and just stuff it all around.

4.  Absolutely.  I do that on the boat.

5.  I get new acorn nuts & washers.   It's easy to do by yourself, too.  Once you do one, you'll figure it out.  By the time you do the other 5, you'll be an expert!  

6.  Very, very important.  You might actually find that this is the exact reason you have deck issues.  So important that I edited the chainplate wiki by Mark to make sure this was noted.

Gary's right about it being a maintenance item, preventative, that is...

Roc's right, too.  You can do the same thing with your turnbuckles.  I mark mine with the yellow crayon.  But those are just good starting points.  One at a time and match the shroud tightness with the other side for starters.  You'll have to check your standing rigging after, anyway.

As far as the inside nuts & threads, those too are starting points.  You'll see that the purpose of those is to both hold down the shrouds, but also hold up the chainplate to the deck, so the adjustment from below comes first, before you reattach or re-tighten the shroud.

Have fun, it's a really satisfying part of maintenance, and if you do the butyl right, you got another 20 years of no headaches.  

[The Anderies]

I think I'm well outfitted for the task, thanks to all the helpful tips and tricks.
This weekend we're taking it down to the gelcoat (PO never had barrier coat) and repainting, chainplates after that!

Happy Hump Day

[Clay Greene]

I didn't see anyone specifically mentioning this so I will add that you might consider sealing the through-deck penetrations with epoxy before you re-bed the chainplates.  That will help protect the plywood core if you do get any water through after re-bedding.  Obviously, this assumes you do not find wet core that is rotten and needs to be replaced - that would have to be done first. 

Also, there is mention that access is behind the cushions.  That is true for how the tie rods are integrated into the hull.  You can detach the lower chainplate from the tie rod and not have to mess around behind the cushions.  Access to the lower chainplate is much easier than to the tie rod connection. 

[The Anderies]

Well, it took a lot of hard work, but we gave her a brand new bottom, took it down all the way and built it back up and now after 28 yrs she has her first ever barrier coat. No blisters or anything pernicious that the pros or us could identify. While we had her out we replaced the cutlass bearing, inspected rudder tube, packing, etc. and conducted a number of other projects as well.

When we splashed her we decided to go the 300 mile off shore route rather than the ICW. Heading out of the jetties into the gulf we encountered 10ft+ waves and 20+ knot winds and then it calmed out until that evening when the winds kicked up. We sailed throughout the night with 20+ knot winds and 5ft. seas, but with a couple reefs in the main we made it through to morning just fine.

Overall first offshore opinion: Glad that we got the boat, she handles fine offshore so long as proper precautions are taken and there's a competent crew. 

[Noah]

Congrats! Sounds like a pretty exciting shadown cruise! Were you on the wind or off the wind most of the way?