You may recall that the interference between the boom and doger was discussed in last year’s February Mainsheet. Briefly, at about hull # 100, manufacturer of the spars was changed from ZSpar to US Spars. The new masts have their boom several inches lower, resulting in the potential for the boom to contact the bimini, and perhaps dodger, when sailing close hauled. This problem apparently does not occur for in-mast furlers, probably because those mainsails are cut several inches shorter in the leech in order for them to furl properly.
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At the Atlantic City Boat Show, I spoke with Gerry Douglas, Chief Engineer at Catalina, who indicated that they have come up with a fix: ship Catalina [Calif. factory] your mainsail, they will cut out a wedge-shaped piece to reduce the leech length, and
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Here’s another topic that’s received quite a bit of attention. It seems that a number of boats are sending out “clunking” sounds from the rudder shaft. This occurred on my boat near the end of the 2001 summer, when the boat was 5 years old; I traced the sound to the upper bearing, which is easily accessed through the emergency tiller deck plate [at the helm]. I could see the upper end of the rudder shaft moving back and forth, albeit a small amount, in synchronism with the sound and rolling motion of the boat.
Further investigation took place after our 380 was “on the hard” for the winter. By holding the bottom of the rudder and moving it side-to-side, I found both upper and lower bearings had some “slop”. Initial measurements indicated that there was about 1/16″ top and bottom. But
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Radar Pole Configurations Warren Elliott, Paul McManus, Bob Sapita,Bob Brown 5/14/2003
Recently, there was considerable interest on this subject on our Sailnet email discussion group, so it seems that many are considering adding radar–a very worthwhile investment. To help with your design, here are three setups, sent to me by their captains after my Sailnet request. I’ll add photos of my radar pole configuration when I can convince my admiral to spend the $ on a decent digital camera. [I must confess, I’ve spent plenty on boat upgrades!].
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Photos 1 & 2 are shots of Paul McManus’s setup on his C-380 #185, “”Sea Sea Rider””. The pole and supports are standard Edson items. The pole’s weight is supported on the clevis- type bracket mounted just above the port side swim-platform storage “”box””. Upper support is provided by two rail brackets. Paul has a dink motor lift utilizing a pulley
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There have been a number of discussions on this topic on our Sailnet email discussion group. Most of you probably realize that our fuel tank is not a simple rectangular shape, especially in the vertical plane, and so the fuel gauge does not read accurately [our sender–the sensor in the tank–is a typical swinging-arm-with-float-type which is calibrated for a rectangular tank]. Rather it is tapered, from a depth of 11-1/2″ forward to an average of about 5″ aft. [It’s actually tapered in three directions].
In order to estimate what corrections to apply to our fuel gauge, I phoned our tank manufacturer [Ezell Industries], who supplied a dimensioned drawing [rather than measure my tank, a bit uncomfortable to do with our present winter set-up]. From this I was able to calculate- actually estimate- volume versus depth. To keep it relatively simple, I
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Installing A Second Anchor Roller Johnny Smith 2/1/2003 Hull #: 240
When I decided to install a second anchor roller on Shearwater, my 2000 model 380, I first looked in the local West Marine and BOAT/US stores. I then looked in my Garhauer catalog and found one I liked. I wanted one that is shorter than the one that came with the boat to make mounting the second anchor easier. I ordered the model AR-30, which is 24″ LOA with an ID of 2-1/2 inches and weighs 8 lbs. The price in the catalog is $93.50. Their phone number if you don’t have it is (909) 985-9993. I chose a Garhauer unit because our boats are loaded with Garhauer equipment (vang, traveler, adjustable genoa leads, etc.) and I’ve been pleased with their service and appearance so far. Secondly, none of the models I saw in the marine stores were pre-drilled
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Here is one captain’s solution for space for electronics–we all seem to want more and more toys. But it’s nice to know what’s going on in and around our boat!
With the proliferation of gadgets for “Angel’s Wings,” I needed to re-design the nav station. The logical choice was to use the shelf above the breaker panel. It was easy to duplicate the wood frame of the door and I used a 1/4-inch thick white melamine panel (available from cabinet shops) for the actual panel. 1 x 1-inch stops around the opening, a piano hinge, and a cabinet lock completed the job. The only thing requiring time was fitting the door since the two existing vertical panels are not square (is anything on a boat?). I now have my VHF, stereo, recording barometer, Autohelm repeater, GPS, Radar/chartplotter, tank monitor & Heart
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More on 2nd Bow Rollers Bob Bierly 2/1/2003 Hull #: 255
That Second Anchor Roller That You Always Wanted-
I was the owner who tried to get Catalina and Garhauer to develop and manufacture a heavy-duty double bow roller in the winter of 2000. Simply put, Catalina decided- for undisclosed reasons- not to provide Garhauer a sketch of such a roller incorporating the geometry of the forward part of the C380 that would insure the proper fit and function. Instead, in September 2001, Frank Butler recommended that I add a second roller, similar to the original, on the starboard side of the fore stay. Since we were preparing for a seven-month trip down the eastern coast of the US, I had already done so when the recommendation was received.
I bought a stock 24-inch long roller from Garhauer (AR-30), cut off about 6 inches with a hacksaw and ground the
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Ram Mic P/T Problems Warren Elliott 11/1/2003 Hull #: 44
RAM Mic P/T Problem Although not a Catalina [380 or other] issue, I thought it appropriate to bring this to your attention, because it seems so widespread in our area. Agrowing number of sailors have a Standard Horizon VHF radio with an”extension” RAM mic located in the cockpit. In our local all Catalina fleet,I’d guess that half of the boats have the RAM mic; about 3/4 of those weregularly cruise with have one. This is a great mic, offering almost full remote capability, including channel, volume, power level, squelch, etc. selection. No longer do you haveto rely on a hand-held VHF or run down to the cabin to change channels ifyou had a simple extension version [as I did]. However, it does have one fault, in my opinion, which reveals itself in three ways:
when you think you’re transmitting, you’re
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Double Bow Roller
Tom Lincoln
11/5/2002
Hull #: 205
We’ve been chatting on the Sailnet e-mail list on the desirability of a double-bow roller, particularly for extended cruising, for over a year.
Catalina has recently responded by providing this feature on new C380’s & 390’s. But what to do if your boat doesn’t have this? Following is the first of at least two articles on retrofitting your boat to gain the advantage of two bow rollers. This is from Tom Lincoln, # 205 “Ridge Runner”, who is on quite an extended cruise.
We prepared our C380, Ridge Runner, for cruising and living aboard. For the past year and a half we have cruised the Great Lakes, The East Coast from NY to Florida and next year: The Bahamas. We have done many things to make the boat a better and safer cruiser. One of the most important, and possibly one
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STEERING, BOOM HEIGHT, CLEATS, GPS
Wolfgang Doebel, Warren Elliott
2/1/2002 Hull #: 336
The following was emailed to me from a new 380 owner from Canada:
Hello Warren, Have you ever come across one of the following? Do you have any ideas to help?
The steering mechanism on my C380, at times seems, to get partially hung up, especially when moving through the neutral position. The problem is not severe but it takes out a lot of fun from steering. Also one must always expect some problems to happen if the cause of the concern is not fully understood. There is an Autopilot ST6000 plus connected to the rudder post, but it does not seem to be the cause, as the problem does not exist when traveling under power alone (no pressure on the rudder, not much tension on the cables). I have investigated the mechanical condition of the
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