Hull Page

Important: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors to these pages, and not those of the Catalina 380 International Association or Catalina Yachts, Inc.

It is also important to note the hull number of the boat referenced in the comments by the owners. Catalina is continually making changes to the design of the boats. Changes that were made on an older or newer boat by an owner may not be needed on your boat.

Catalina Stripe Fix

Submitted By: Hal Breliant Hull #325 11-5-02

Subject: Hull

Purchase a piece of weather striping with an angled seal. This consists of a roughly 1" piece of extruded aluminum, with a 3/4" vinyl insert. [This is sold for door thresholds and usually comes in 30" and 36" lengths -ed].   The exact dimensions aren't critical. I used a section about 10" long under each of the deck drains. Mount each piece at the underside of the rub rail, tight to the deck/topsides lip. Seal it with silicone. [I suggest cleaning first with a solvent- ed]. I used two small screws to hold it in place while the silicone dries. The water runs off the strip into the bay instead of running back under the rubrail onto the hull. It works!

The photos [see photos 6, 7] show views looking up at the underside of the rub rail.

I just bought an all vinyl version as I am concerned about the aluminum corroding, especially in salt-water. I haven't tried installing it yet, but will let you know how it works out. Meanwhile, Hal's version is more likely to remain in place after you've sideswiped that piling!

Lazarette Shelves

Submitted By: Hal Breliant Hull #325 3-20-02

Subject: Hull

The storage lazarettes under the aft port and starboard seats aren't extremely usable as each is a 5' 6" high vertical shaft. I wanted to add a shelf that was easy to open to allow access to each well. In the starboard well, I glassed 1-1/2" treated lumber to the back of the well across the forward wall of the stern-platform locker at 1-1/2" above the height of the lip on the cockpit /deck joint lip which is forward within the well. Spanning the top of the joint lip and across the bottom of the glassed-in 1-1/2", I ran two 1-1/2" treated members to act as a front to back support for a forward transverse member. There are too many obstructions to use the lip surface as the forward transverse support.    It helped me to run these past the glassed-in member one either side of the outboard aft locker on the stern platform. Of course all of this happens within the well and is not exposed outside.

There is a pocket on either side of the aft locker. Forward, I ran the pieces to sit on top of the lip. Then I added a member just aft of the forward obstructions on top of the fore/aft members to act as a forward transverse support. Both of my transverse supports are run as far as I could go. This allowed me to shelve the full width of the well, even around the corner adjacent to the starboard side of the starboard stern locker. This gave me a flat surface to mount a shelf.   Nothing ingenious about that. I think I have seen a number of shelves put in. The part that makes this shelf different is that I did not use solid plywood as my shelf. I picked up some 1 X 3 clear pine that I cut about 1" short of the overall span. Most of the pieces have to be fitted individually. I drilled four holes in each piece of the pine so I could lace them together and made a flexible slatted shelf. Space the holes to so that two are close to the forward edge and two close to the aft. The holes need to be in line, because you are lacing slat to slat. I drilled two holes forward, in line and two holes, aft in line. This permitted me to have just the lacing exposed in small loops at the top of the slats. All knots are on the underside of the slats.

I fastened the port-most slat to the transverse supports, and on the starboard side I used a loose 5/16" X 2" bolt as a drift pin to keep the end slats in place. I can pull the bolt and open up a larger area to access under the shelf if I need to get something large in the well (Like Me).   I then made a split in the middle of the shelf.  To do this I put in two 2-1/2" bolts on one of the middle slats. I double-nutted them so the bolt heads projected above the slat about 3/4".   On the adjacent middle slat, I ended the lacing with a loop. I then can tighten the shelf by pulling the two middle slats together, and hooking the loop over the bolt head. Because the two sides are laced, this makes for a very rigid shelf. Give yourself 5/8" to 3/4" between slats. I worked all the slop out of the lacing by tying knots on the underside at the appropriate spacing. It also made the spacing uniform. That took a little trial and error.

Before assembly, I eased the edges of the slats and painted the slats white. I used blue, 3/16 line for my lacing (Very Nautical). I did the starboard well first. In that, I store cleaning equipment and tools and various fluids in a low bucket.

Since there is no other place to store fenders, in the port lazarette I did the same thing, except that I lowered the shelf about 8".  I put my glassed-in member 8" lower. Then on the side of the cockpit joint (forward), I bolted in two 1-1/2 X 1-1/2" galvanized angle irons vertically to give me mounting points 8" lower than the joint. On the outboard side I did not run my slats the full width of the opening because the refrigeration unit is in the way. On the inboard side of well, I held the slats back enough to allow me to slide in shafts such as boat hooks and dingy oars as well as some cleaning equipment with long handles. On the shelf, I can get 3 large or 1 large and 3 smaller fenders in. Underneath I store snorkel gear, electrical supplies, dingy repair, spare props and the like. My fluxgate compass is located at the center bottom of the well, so I try to avoid storing anything iron at the bottom. My toolbox sits on the top shelf and does not affect the fluxgate.

One piece of advice, if you are over 6' and 200 pounds get somebody smaller to help you on the port side.  After about 30 minutes working in the port well, bent like a pretzel, it's a little hard to get out, past the manual bilge pump. That's another story.

Lazarette Removable Box

Submitted By: Sid Sytsma Hull #242 3-20-02

Subject: Hull

I simply placed a plastic storage box (milk carton with relatively few holes) and hang it from the edges of the lazarette using four antenna holders (West SFANT#4142SS @$7.99). The hooks are bolted to the milk carton. I had to cut and bend the back ones to support the back end. This works best in the starboard lazarette due to the presence of the bilge pump in the port lazarette. We use the removable box for our inflatable life vests, safety harnesses, emergency horn, spotlight, etc.

Anchor Locker Ideas

Submitted By: Sid Sytsma Hull #242 3-20-02

Subject: Hull

I have added the following items to the anchor locker:

(1)   A West Marine (SJPRO#960012 @ $26.95) line holder. I have also mounted one in the port lazarette—holes line up exactly with ones in place for the seat latch—no drilling.

(2)   I have mounted a reel of Ankoralina line for deploying a lunch hook. Very handy and does not take much space. The reel has about 185’ of polyester strap that has approximately the same strength and stretch as ½” nylon three-strand line. The Ankoralina does dual duty as a jackline.
I have mounted a 25# Danforth High Tensile on a piece of teak using the bracket that is typically used to hang a Danforth style anchor on a stanchion (West Marine #488353 @ $34.99).   At the bottom of the teak board (that runs the full depth of the locker) is an integrated 12” high x 3” x 3” teak box that holds the shank of the anchor in place and keeps it separate from the all-chain rode from the primary #44 Spade anchor. Incidentally, the Spade is an unbelievably good anchor. I have used Bruce and CQR’s on my previous Catalina 30 and 34, and this out-sets and out-holds anything I have seen in mud, sand, grass, and gravel.

Maxwell Freedom 800 Windlass

Submitted By: Bob Bierly Hull #255 3-20-02

Subject: Hull

I managed to crank my chain rode into the windlass about a month without destroying the chain stripper and chain wheels. Being under warranty, I called Maxwell in Cal. After a minor lecture on greasing the windlass, Maxwell did step up and fedex'd overnight the required upper and lower chain wheels in a subassembly, which I was able to drop in as directed. Two observations: one, Maxwell responded very well and, two, the greasing of the windlass, indicated in the operations manual to be annually, should be three times annually according to the manufacturer's rep. His comment was: if you grease the windlass, it will never give you trouble. Err with too much grease as opposed to too little. Use waterproof grease like lithium based.

Davits

Submitted By: Ed and Sharyn Dahn Hull #111 12-2001

Subject: Hull

We required davits for our Quicksilver 300 inflatable powered by a 15 HP Merc. After reading the C380 mail on Sailnet we ordered davits from Ocean Engineering. We had the same type of davits from other manufacturers on two previous boats and in the past there was some cutting, welding and a lot of fiddling. We ordered the Ocean Engineering davits specifically for our vintage 380 and also ordered all of the optional braces. Once installed, it became clear that the system as supplied would not work with the weight of our dingy. The stern rail deflected with load and the dingy would bounce around giving one the impression that the stern rail would permanently bend or break. Additional struts were required.

The struts shown below were fabricated from stainless steel flat stock, 1” by ¼”.

New Strut

The lower end of the strut is through bolted to the hull with two ¼ inch stainless bolts. The top end is attached to the stern rail with a rail mounted eye strap (West Marine) and an angle bracket fabricated from stainless sheet metal. See detail below.

Once the struts and angle brackets were drilled and corners smoothed, they were sent to a metal finisher to be polished. The top end of the strut is positioned as close to the davits as possible while leaving adequate clearance to open the lazarette. The strut does not interfere with anything else. With the struts installed, the davits are solid, the dingy does not move.

Niffty "Starboard" Projects

Submitted By: From January 99 Mainsheet, by Forrest & Suzie Lott Hull 90 12-98

Subject: Hull

We have all seen this white plastic material being used throughout the marine industry. It forms the aft perch seats of our own 380’s. Forrest and Susie Lott have put the material to excellent use in several projects on their Andiamo. Forrest mentioned that the material is very easy to work with using normal woodworking tools. He discovered that it does not glue well, so he made up all joints with countersunk screws.
First, they increased galley surface space immensely by adding stove and sink covers. The sink board has been built in two pieces so that they can work on one part and still access the sink.

Their next project was a motor mount for the outboard. It needed to be tall enough to keep the foot of the motor from striking the deck when hung on the rail. The top of the mount is made of four (4) layers of Starboard through-bolted around the rails. The bottom portion that takes the greatest force when the motor is installed is secured with a stainless U bolt and nylok nuts.

The anchor locker was next! Forrest and Susie enjoy a secure anchorage. To that end their primary hook uses 150’ of all-chain rode. The secondary anchor uses nylon rode with 10’ of chain. The 380 anchor locker is large enough for both and the gypsy/capstan on this boat make retrieval a snap.

The problem is keeping the rodes separated. The solution was to create a removable shelf to support the secondary anchor and rode above the deeper part of the locker. See the photo. The sides of the shelf rest on 2” strips of Starboard screwed in and bedded with 3M 5200. The aft end of the shelf is a 4” high vertical piece cut to allow plenty of room for the chain fall and to provide drainage. Several holes were also drilled in the surface to promote drainage. Now the chain can be fed and retrieved without removing the secondary tackle…..fewer arguments from the foredeck!

The final photo shows a grill side table with beverage holders. Well done Forrest and Susie. I am sure we will hear about more such projects in the future.

Anchor Locker Lock
Submitted By: From January 99 Mainsheet	Hull	12-98
Subject: Hull
Keeping the anchor locker closed, whether to prevent it from opening in a heavy sea or to keep thieves out of it, requires some kind of lock. One solution is a lockable hasp on deck, but a lock can be cut and it is a toe-banger. Some of us have taken an inside approach. It is quite practical to attach a ¼ inch line to the inside of the hatch (where the “holding open” cable is mounted) and run the line to a cleat in the v-berth. The photo shows the internal installation, using a stainless jam cleat. It is important that the hole be positioned just under its attachment to the locker lid where the line can be pulled the tightest. There must be no slack. I used a surface-mounted turning block in the locker at the exiting hole to minimize chafe and resistance at this critical passageway. Each boat may have some variations in this run, so examine your own for the optimum positioning of the line and block. It is not often that we can provide such a cheap and easy fix…and in this case, there is no lock to rust or key to lose!!!

Dodger Alternative
Submitted By: Dave Peffer	Hull # 20	10-98
Subject: Hull
Those of us on lakes less massive than the Great ones usually don’t need a dodger, but would like to keep dry when it rains. I needed a bimini (this is not an option, but a survival item in Texas), so I had the canvas shop make up a windshield. It zips onto the forward edge of the bimini and attaches to the coachroof forward of the companionway and just aft of the traveler with a plastic track/bolt rope setup identical to a dodger’s. This works like a charm and stores in a felt-lined tube in the lazarette when not needed.

Lazarette Setup
Submitted By: Dave Peffer	Hull # 20	10-98
Subject: Hull
Who wants to climb down into the lazarette to fetch stored items? Why not hang them up in easy reach? We were going to install athwartships stringers under the seat hatch hinges to install hooks but found stainless line hangers at West Marine (model # 243834). These install on the bolts holding the helmsman’s seat supports without any modification, at all, and the hooks are full half-circles. Nothing can fall off even in a full spinnaker broach. We have the emergency tiller and access-plate wrench, a boat hook, spare lines and fenders, a loud-hailer, the windshield and a bag for the dinghy oars on these. A boarding ladder and bucket are fitted with light retrieving lines, which are also hung on these hooks for easy retrieval. The PFD bags sold by marine stores fit snugly through the lazarette hatches, and we keep 14 PFDs in two bags in easy reach here. Caution: the water line from the dockside water input regulator is subject to being snagged by any large item going down through the starboard hatch, and if the pipe elbow cracks your water pressure pump will try to fill the lazarette. Be careful!

Spare Propane Locker Becomes Cockpit Cooler
Submitted By: Dave Peffer	Hull # 20	10-98
Subject: Hull
We rarely need two propane bottles aboard, and we don’t want to open our refrigerator more often than absolutely necessary. My solution was to line the outside of the spare (starboard) propane locker with insulation, working from below in the lazarette. I used three wraps of roll insulation (from a home store) which sandwiches bubble-wrap between layers of foil, lightly gluing it and wrapping it in place with nylon strapping. The bottom was covered with expanded foam insulation board, and the joints sealed with latex expanding foam insulation (Find this stuff! It cleans up with water!). The locker cover was lined with the same rigid board insulation. Here I cut one piece to fit inside the water-exclusion fiddle, another to extend down just into the round part of the locker, using contact cement to hold them in place on the underside of the lid. When the fit was perfect (and it took some trimming) the insulation was smoothed and coated with epoxy paint. This locker now keeps a case of thirst-quenchers cold and in easy reach from the helm for a whole day with one bag of ice, and in 100-degree weather. The overboard drain is already there. The locker can still be used for a spare propane bottle when that is needed. The crew loves it.

Use That Old Teak Cockpit Table
Submitted By: Jim Jaeschke	Hull # 73	5-98
Subject: Hull
Have an old teak pedestal table in the garage? I took mine apart: the ‘four-holer’, which attached to the Edson pedestal guard with a stainless strap curved at both ends, fits our pedestal, too. Slide it down until it rests on the instrument pod and you have a great place for drinks, binoculars, a horn, gloves and whatever. Add rubber holders on each side for a hand-held VHF and a cell phone. Add a ‘Holdz-it’ on one side for the GPS. How about a holder for the bell? We added a brass eye for a small nautical kerosene lamp, nice for romantic dinners. When we’re securing the boat the four-holer comes right off and hangs on one of the hooks in the lazarette. This is wonderful! Now you’ve got a teak table top, perhaps with folding leaves. Lose the leaves. Add two rail clamps (nylon with good metal bolts and big thumbscrews, Helm HR series 200, West Marine model #153270) to the bottom of the table and you have an excellent workstation for when you’re throwing shrimps on the barbie. Install the clamps off-center so you have room to sit while you work – the clamps are very effective. It comes off easily and stores below, ours on top of the hanging locker on the port side of the aft cabin.

Smooth Down Under
Submitted By: Jim Jaeschke	Hull # 73	5-98
Subject: Hull
I was surprised with roughness of the keel as it was shipped. I felt that someone must have forgotten to put a smooth finish on the casting, but was told that this is the standard level of finish. I felt that the roughness would impact the boat speed under sail as well as under power. I got out my sander and took off all the high spots of the casting and filled the surface voids with body putty. After sanding the putty smooth, I rolled on a thick coat of Interlux 2002 sealer and sanded the keel again. This produced a reasonably smooth surface which will be improved each season.

Dock Line Storage
Submitted by: Jim Jaeschke	Hull # 73	5-98
Subject: Hull
We made a locker for storing dock lines by removing the starboard holder for the spare propane tank. This opened up a large spot for dock lines in the unusable spot underneath the deck. If you do this, it is important to seal this area off since water can pour into the boat. We did this by fiber glassing in plywood walls to totally seal off the interior of the boat. The drain hose used for the spare propane tank locker was then fitted to this new compartment.

Middle Aft Cockpit Seat Stability
Submitted By: Jim Jaeschke	Hull # 73	5-98
Subject: Hull
I found out the hard way that middle stern section cockpit seat latches do not latch the seat securely on Electra. I stepped on the back of the seat and managed to launch it out into the lake while I fell onto the swim platform. I am correcting this design with one that will securely lock the seat in place and also make it very visible that it is locked. This is accomplished by making aluminum J hooks that are attached to the inside of the seat such that they will hook under the front of the bar that the seat rests on. Another section of bar was added at the back of the seat to reduce the potential for pivoting. I was lucky that this occurred in the slip and not out in the lake.

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Catalina Stripe Fix
Submitted By: Hal Breliant	Hull #325	11-5-02
Subject: Hull
Purchase a piece of weather striping with an angled seal. This consists of a roughly 1" piece of extruded aluminum, with a 3/4" vinyl insert. [This is sold for door thresholds and usually comes in 30" and 36" lengths -ed]. The exact dimensions aren't critical. I used a section about 10" long under each of the deck drains. Mount each piece at the underside of the rub rail, tight to the deck/topsides lip. Seal it with silicone. [I suggest cleaning first with a solvent- ed]. I used two small screws to hold it in place while the silicone dries. The water runs off the strip into the bay instead of running back under the rubrail onto the hull. It works! The photos [see photos 6, 7] show views looking up at the underside of the rub rail. I just bought an all vinyl version as I am concerned about the aluminum corroding, especially in salt-water. I haven't tried installing it yet, but will let you know how it works out. Meanwhile, Hal's version is more likely to remain in place after you've sideswiped that piling!

Lazarette Shelves
Submitted By: Hal Breliant	Hull #325	3-20-02
Subject: Hull
The storage lazarettes under the aft port and starboard seats aren't extremely usable as each is a 5' 6" high vertical shaft. I wanted to add a shelf that was easy to open to allow access to each well. In the starboard well, I glassed 1-1/2" treated lumber to the back of the well across the forward wall of the stern-platform locker at 1-1/2" above the height of the lip on the cockpit /deck joint lip which is forward within the well. Spanning the top of the joint lip and across the bottom of the glassed-in 1-1/2", I ran two 1-1/2" treated members to act as a front to back support for a forward transverse member. There are too many obstructions to use the lip surface as the forward transverse support. It helped me to run these past the glassed-in member one either side of the outboard aft locker on the stern platform. Of course all of this happens within the well and is not exposed outside. There is a pocket on either side of the aft locker. Forward, I ran the pieces to sit on top of the lip. Then I added a member just aft of the forward obstructions on top of the fore/aft members to act as a forward transverse support. Both of my transverse supports are run as far as I could go. This allowed me to shelve the full width of the well, even around the corner adjacent to the starboard side of the starboard stern locker. This gave me a flat surface to mount a shelf. Nothing ingenious about that. I think I have seen a number of shelves put in. The part that makes this shelf different is that I did not use solid plywood as my shelf. I picked up some 1 X 3 clear pine that I cut about 1" short of the overall span. Most of the pieces have to be fitted individually. I drilled four holes in each piece of the pine so I could lace them together and made a flexible slatted shelf. Space the holes to so that two are close to the forward edge and two close to the aft. The holes need to be in line, because you are lacing slat to slat. I drilled two holes forward, in line and two holes, aft in line. This permitted me to have just the lacing exposed in small loops at the top of the slats. All knots are on the underside of the slats. I fastened the port-most slat to the transverse supports, and on the starboard side I used a loose 5/16" X 2" bolt as a drift pin to keep the end slats in place. I can pull the bolt and open up a larger area to access under the shelf if I need to get something large in the well (Like Me). I then made a split in the middle of the shelf. To do this I put in two 2-1/2" bolts on one of the middle slats. I double-nutted them so the bolt heads projected above the slat about 3/4". On the adjacent middle slat, I ended the lacing with a loop. I then can tighten the shelf by pulling the two middle slats together, and hooking the loop over the bolt head. Because the two sides are laced, this makes for a very rigid shelf. Give yourself 5/8" to 3/4" between slats. I worked all the slop out of the lacing by tying knots on the underside at the appropriate spacing. It also made the spacing uniform. That took a little trial and error. Before assembly, I eased the edges of the slats and painted the slats white. I used blue, 3/16 line for my lacing (Very Nautical). I did the starboard well first. In that, I store cleaning equipment and tools and various fluids in a low bucket. Since there is no other place to store fenders, in the port lazarette I did the same thing, except that I lowered the shelf about 8". I put my glassed-in member 8" lower. Then on the side of the cockpit joint (forward), I bolted in two 1-1/2 X 1-1/2" galvanized angle irons vertically to give me mounting points 8" lower than the joint. On the outboard side I did not run my slats the full width of the opening because the refrigeration unit is in the way. On the inboard side of well, I held the slats back enough to allow me to slide in shafts such as boat hooks and dingy oars as well as some cleaning equipment with long handles. On the shelf, I can get 3 large or 1 large and 3 smaller fenders in. Underneath I store snorkel gear, electrical supplies, dingy repair, spare props and the like. My fluxgate compass is located at the center bottom of the well, so I try to avoid storing anything iron at the bottom. My toolbox sits on the top shelf and does not affect the fluxgate. One piece of advice, if you are over 6' and 200 pounds get somebody smaller to help you on the port side. After about 30 minutes working in the port well, bent like a pretzel, it's a little hard to get out, past the manual bilge pump. That's another story.

Lazarette Removable Box
Submitted By: Sid Sytsma	Hull #242	3-20-02
Subject: Hull
I simply placed a plastic storage box (milk carton with relatively few holes) and hang it from the edges of the lazarette using four antenna holders (West SFANT#4142SS @$7.99). The hooks are bolted to the milk carton. I had to cut and bend the back ones to support the back end. This works best in the starboard lazarette due to the presence of the bilge pump in the port lazarette. We use the removable box for our inflatable life vests, safety harnesses, emergency horn, spotlight, etc.

Anchor Locker Ideas
Submitted By: Sid Sytsma	Hull #242	3-20-02
Subject: Hull
I have added the following items to the anchor locker: (1) A West Marine (SJPRO#960012 @ $26.95) line holder. I have also mounted one in the port lazarette—holes line up exactly with ones in place for the seat latch—no drilling. (2) I have mounted a reel of Ankoralina line for deploying a lunch hook. Very handy and does not take much space. The reel has about 185’ of polyester strap that has approximately the same strength and stretch as ½” nylon three-strand line. The Ankoralina does dual duty as a jackline. I have mounted a 25# Danforth High Tensile on a piece of teak using the bracket that is typically used to hang a Danforth style anchor on a stanchion (West Marine #488353 @ $34.99). At the bottom of the teak board (that runs the full depth of the locker) is an integrated 12” high x 3” x 3” teak box that holds the shank of the anchor in place and keeps it separate from the all-chain rode from the primary #44 Spade anchor. Incidentally, the Spade is an unbelievably good anchor. I have used Bruce and CQR’s on my previous Catalina 30 and 34, and this out-sets and out-holds anything I have seen in mud, sand, grass, and gravel.

Maxwell Freedom 800 Windlass
Submitted By: Bob Bierly	Hull #255	3-20-02
Subject: Hull
I managed to crank my chain rode into the windlass about a month without destroying the chain stripper and chain wheels. Being under warranty, I called Maxwell in Cal. After a minor lecture on greasing the windlass, Maxwell did step up and fedex'd overnight the required upper and lower chain wheels in a subassembly, which I was able to drop in as directed. Two observations: one, Maxwell responded very well and, two, the greasing of the windlass, indicated in the operations manual to be annually, should be three times annually according to the manufacturer's rep. His comment was: if you grease the windlass, it will never give you trouble. Err with too much grease as opposed to too little. Use waterproof grease like lithium based.

Davits
Submitted By: Ed and Sharyn Dahn	Hull #111	12-2001
Subject: Hull
We required davits for our Quicksilver 300 inflatable powered by a 15 HP Merc. After reading the C380 mail on Sailnet we ordered davits from Ocean Engineering. We had the same type of davits from other manufacturers on two previous boats and in the past there was some cutting, welding and a lot of fiddling. We ordered the Ocean Engineering davits specifically for our vintage 380 and also ordered all of the optional braces. Once installed, it became clear that the system as supplied would not work with the weight of our dingy. The stern rail deflected with load and the dingy would bounce around giving one the impression that the stern rail would permanently bend or break. Additional struts were required. The struts shown below were fabricated from stainless steel flat stock, 1” by ¼”. New Strut The lower end of the strut is through bolted to the hull with two ¼ inch stainless bolts. The top end is attached to the stern rail with a rail mounted eye strap (West Marine) and an angle bracket fabricated from stainless sheet metal. See detail below. Once the struts and angle brackets were drilled and corners smoothed, they were sent to a metal finisher to be polished. The top end of the strut is positioned as close to the davits as possible while leaving adequate clearance to open the lazarette. The strut does not interfere with anything else. With the struts installed, the davits are solid, the dingy does not move.

Niffty "Starboard" Projects
Submitted By: From January 99 Mainsheet, by Forrest & Suzie Lott	Hull 90	12-98
Subject: Hull
We have all seen this white plastic material being used throughout the marine industry. It forms the aft perch seats of our own 380’s. Forrest and Susie Lott have put the material to excellent use in several projects on their Andiamo. Forrest mentioned that the material is very easy to work with using normal woodworking tools. He discovered that it does not glue well, so he made up all joints with countersunk screws. First, they increased galley surface space immensely by adding stove and sink covers. The sink board has been built in two pieces so that they can work on one part and still access the sink. Their next project was a motor mount for the outboard. It needed to be tall enough to keep the foot of the motor from striking the deck when hung on the rail. The top of the mount is made of four (4) layers of Starboard through-bolted around the rails. The bottom portion that takes the greatest force when the motor is installed is secured with a stainless U bolt and nylok nuts. The anchor locker was next! Forrest and Susie enjoy a secure anchorage. To that end their primary hook uses 150’ of all-chain rode. The secondary anchor uses nylon rode with 10’ of chain. The 380 anchor locker is large enough for both and the gypsy/capstan on this boat make retrieval a snap. The problem is keeping the rodes separated. The solution was to create a removable shelf to support the secondary anchor and rode above the deeper part of the locker. See the photo. The sides of the shelf rest on 2” strips of Starboard screwed in and bedded with 3M 5200. The aft end of the shelf is a 4” high vertical piece cut to allow plenty of room for the chain fall and to provide drainage. Several holes were also drilled in the surface to promote drainage. Now the chain can be fed and retrieved without removing the secondary tackle…..fewer arguments from the foredeck! The final photo shows a grill side table with beverage holders. Well done Forrest and Susie. I am sure we will hear about more such projects in the future.