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Hi all,

I need a little hand-holding.  Is a potentially leaky exhaust flange gasket a risk to the engine, i.e. from coolant flooding the block?

I just replaced my motor mounts yesterday.  While lifting the engine, I had issues with the exhaust riser getting in the way.  After cursing about the extra gasket replacement work I'd be creating for myself, I tried unbolting the flange.  It appears quite new, and the nuts came off easily, but the flange wouldn't budge.  Then I noticed it dripping antifreeze and put on the brakes.  As the rest of you already know, the freshwater coolant manifold is also sealed by that flange, and I didn't drain it first...

I never actually pulled the gasket apart, and was able to stop the leak by re-torquing the nuts.  I was also able to replace the mounts without removing it after all.  My only concern now is whether coolant might be able to find its way back into the engine if the gasket is compromised.  Is a full coolant drain + gasket replacement necessary, or can I just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't start dripping?

Thanks!

Stories to keep you awake at night

When I bought my boat a year ago, I noted some small cracks in the paint on the prop strut.  I sanded it away and found some hairline cracks, as well as some "pinking" in the metal.  The cutlass bearing had a tiny amount of play.  I put it on my to-do list but didn't end up getting to it last spring.  During the course of the summer, I also found a couple of the motor mount bolts had vibrated loose.  But as far as I could tell without separating the coupling (which was rusted / frozen on), alignment seemed OK.  Engine shake was no worse in gear than at idle, although that's not saying anything.  Fortunately, I sailed all summer without any major issues.


With magnification:


At haul out, the cracks had resurfaced through the new paint and the cutlass bearing was totally shot, so no more putting it off (not that I planned to).  I ordered a new strut from CD, new motor mounts, and set about removing the old shaft, which I had also decided to replace.  That's when the fun really began.

Pulling the stuffing box, I discovered the shaft was nearly resting on the bottom of the log, even while mated to the transmission and seemingly in alignment - likely because the worn cutlass bearing allowed it to sag (and also: likely the cause of the worn bearing).  It called to mind justinsteele's post a couple of months ago where the bottom of his shaft log was totally worn away.  I was lucky, and mine appears intact.


However, some cracks in the fairing on the underside of the hull mean it must have seen some stress / vibration and I'm in for some grinding and/or fiberglass repairs to make sure it's still firmly attached.


The shaft coupler was, of course, frozen on.  After exhausting all other options, a sawzall and some cutting fluid made short of work of it.  My advice:  if you know you're not saving the shaft, don't even bother trying to get it off the regular way.

Next up:  getting the shaft out.  The issue was clearing the rudder.  I had read that one can get the shaft out without dropping the rudder if the cutlass bearing is removed, but I didn't have a strut-pro.  The new strut has the bearing pre-installed, so as long as the shaft is installed before the strut there will be no need for fancy tools.  Worst case I could have pulled out the sawzall again, but I hoped maybe the wear would be enough to let me sneak it past.  No such luck, but when I pulled on it I could see the strut's crack widening!  A couple of good heaves later it split wide open and I could slide the shaft out easily   


There's nothing like the feeling of vindication after you've already decided to fix something...

I discovered this fall that the seemingly minor smile in my C34 was weeping rust.  To make matters worse, I came back a couple of weeks later and found that it was (a) still wet, and (b) had a drip of orange bilge antifreeze on the leading edge of the keel. 

I've already arranged with the yard to have the keel dropped + rebedded before launch, but now I'm agonizing over the "proper" way to re-bed it.  I came across an earlier post that said Gerry Douglas recommended polyester or vinylester resin but I also read through a bunch of posts where people talked about using "Satan's glue" 5200.  I can imagine both benefits and drawbacks to having a little flexibility.

So I want to know:  if you ever had your keel dropped for repairs or inspection, what did you re-bed it with and how has it held up over time?

Alternately...am I going too far?  Given it's a small crack that likely compromises only the frontmost bolt and there is ZERO evidence of grounding damage, I could just try to dry it, seal it inside + out, re-torque, and cross my fingers...

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

We anchored in a nice cove last night.  Bedded down in the aft berth.  Shortly thereafter some small (very small) waves started to come up from abeam of where the wind was pointing us.  We were awakened by a loud "thwap thwap" against the hull, even a bit of a banging noise, about the speed of a clock ticking.  After letting the dinghy further out (it had come up and was kissing us) and securing the wheel, I finally realized it was coming from under my feet, so I opened the lazarette and observed water sloshing back and forth violently in the tank.  Running the faucet for a minute or so didn't fix it, and we didn't want to drain the tank, so we ended up moving to the V-berth.  Good thing the kids weren't aboard!

So...was this just a freak thing or is it a fairly common occurrence?  It's my first season with the boat so I'm still discovering its personality.

I think I'm in love.  Almost a full month after launch, the weather up in ME (and my schedule) finally cooperated enough to sail my C34 for the first time.  Now I understand why Catalinas are so popular!

As intimidated as I was, single-handing off the mooring and docking (to pick up my family) were a breeze.  I was even more impressed at how easily she glided along at 6 kt in a modest breeze, practically upright: I would have been happy to get 4 in my old Hunter 25.  Even in a light breeze she kept up 3 easily.  Meanwhile the accommodations were plenty roomy for my family of 4 and felt positively luxurious by my standards (HOT running water!?  I'm easily impressed ).  The kids particularly loved the aft berth.

Many thanks to all of you on this forum - both for questions answered (a couple), old topics that addressed my questions/issues (many), and the tech wiki / manuals.  Getting to this point would've been so much harder without you.  I'm honored to be part of the community and will do my best to pay it forward.

Going to launch + step the mast for the first time on Wednesday.

I think I understand the process but can't figure out what sealant to use for the mast boot.  The Catalina manual just says "caulk."   I've seen mention of silicone on the forums, but after removing a bunch from my leaking chainplates I don't want the stuff anywhere near my boat...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

For my P.O. apparently the answer was "no."  I can hardly blame her - it took me a while to build up the courage to contort my body in there - but I recommend taking a look if you haven't in a while.  When I surveyed my boat I noted rust and evidence of water leakage around both the exhaust hose and the bilge pump hose.  I just finished replacing them today.  The exhaust hose came apart in my hand when I tried to remove it from the fitting!     (also:  Catalina used a threaded fitting for the thru-hull!?)  Pretty much every wire fell out of the refrigeration unit when I checked it.

I also noticed a number of machine screws without nuts, including several for the aft rail and all four bolts for the swim ladder!  Is this some fiberglass technique I've never heard of, or did someone fall asleep on the job!?  Somehow it's held up for 33 years, but I'm not going to try my luck on the 34th.