Cabinet doors wont latch; leaky windows

Jimski

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May 20, 2015
44
Catalina 30 Seabrook
I am not kind to my Catalina 30. Much of my sailing is racing in Galveston Bay. Trying to eke out an extra 0.1 speed definitely stresses the rig more than a leisure sail when I dont care how fast I go. All the stress I put on the boat has caused the windows to leak and the cabinet doors to not to latch.

For the windows, I bought the window reseal kit from Catalina direct. I already paid a professional $2k to rebed all the windows. He did it, then did it again because they all leaked after he was done. Now 2 leak pretty badly (only when it rains?). Besides following the instructions in the kit, any pearls of wisdom about the job?

Flexing has also caused all the cabinet doors to not latch. Particularly the hanging locker doors - the doors miss-align by 1/8". The side cabinet doors also will not latch and have to be taped closed. Is there anything I can do other than remount the hinges? I suspect the bulkhead is moving or has moved too much. There is no evidence the compression post is collapsing.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Without seeing the door alignment, you MAY be able to get away with shimming either the top or bottom hinge with polyethylene container material (or anything else which is waterproof) to either raise or lower the outer edge of the door. Every so often you get lucky and this might just be one of those times.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Catalina 30s have inboard shrouds, chainplates just below the deadports. How's your rig tension. Over tight or too loose when you jibe would pull up on your cabin trunk. The jerk from a jibe on slightly loose shrouds could break the port seals. A constant over-tension may distort the tabbed-in bulkhead. Have you ever upgraded your stays to a larger size? This could lead to over tensioning. Or, do you just keep heavy tension on them because you're racing?

-Will (Dragonfly)
 

Jimski

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May 20, 2015
44
Catalina 30 Seabrook
I replaced all my standing rigging with larger size about 4 years ago due to 1 crack is a swage fitting. Rigger told me to go to the larger size just because he thought Catalina undersized it. It seemed like the shrouds were too loose for a couple years as the rigger told me he would come back and retune after the new rigging settles in. Now the rig is tighter since he tuned it last year. Interesting point - never thought about a jibe stressing a loose shroud. That probably contributed to the leaking.

As much as i strive not to, I have done a few accidental jibes.

So is there any way to reasonable way to reinforce the bulkhead?

My 2 leakiest windows are the 2nd from aft on the starboard side and aft most on port. All of them leak a little.
 
Jan 2, 2017
765
O'Day & Islander 322 & 37 Scottsdale, AZ & Owls Head, ME
I’m surprised you are seeing all that realignment. A Cat30 just isn’t that weak. Have you tried Vaseline on the window rubber and lubricating the cabinet latches?
 

Jimski

.
May 20, 2015
44
Catalina 30 Seabrook
I’m surprised you are seeing all that realignment. A Cat30 just isn’t that weak. Have you tried Vaseline on the window rubber and lubricating the cabinet latches?
The cabinet latches appear to not line up anymore.

I did put an ugly bead of clear silicone around the wndows to hold them till I can reseal them. It helped but did not eliminate the leak.

I just got the reseal kit from Catalina direct. I will start on them tomorrow.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I replaced all my standing rigging with larger size about 4 years ago
The problem with going up a size in standing rigging is with the tuning standards. Some riggers tune according a percentage of breaking strength of the cable. When you go up in cable size, suddenly that percentage is hundreds of pounds more than the rest of the boat was designed to. Your rigger probably used a Loos guage and tuned to the same percentage of breaking strength as the old rig. That means, what was adequate to hold your mast in place with the old size cables, is now way over tight. Retune your boat using the guidelines laid out in the user's manual. They will likely not be to a specific tension, but to hand and eye settings at the dock, then adjusting while under sail. That way, you tension according to what is needed for your boat, no more.

-Will (Dragonfly)