1976 Catalina 22 in Alaska

May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
good work on the winch and scuppers...

ditto pclarksurf's advice, follow mainsail's methods...potting the holes, rebedding ALL deck penetrations with butyl tape is on my winter to-do list, chainplates, lifeline stantions, cleats, handrails, etc., inspect/fix any core rot in the process... here's a link:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/63554-bedding-deck-hardware-butyl-tape.html

regarding your standing rigging, very scary looking from my limited experience, replace all of it... mine's an '84 with limited signs of wear, but it's all likely going to be replaced, just given it's age....you don't wanna lose your mast due to 40 year old rigging!
 
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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
This streak appears to be directly under one of the pillars for the port-side lifeline. Is this a common area for leaks? I'm worried that almost every deck fitting might be leaking now.
It's possible. One of my lifeline stanchions is leaking, and I hope to re-bed it before I put it in storage.
I plan on potting (dremel+epoxy+redrill method) and re-bedding everything eventually. The stanchions are the only thing I haven't done.
It's not hard to do the deck fittings. Could do them in few days if organized and going like crazy.
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
What pclarksurf said. You should just assume every fitting leaks (because they probably do), and rebed them all.
 
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Sep 2, 2016
25
Catalina 22 Juneau, AK
Sorry I've been dormant for the last few months, but winter has limited my activities to just keeping the boat's tarp and frame in one piece! With the days getting longer I'm gearing up to tackle my to-do list.

Quick question:

I'm replacing the spreader bar brackets on the mast, as the ones I have are original to 1976. Do I also need to replace the spreader BARS, or can I reuse the ones I have? I've seen mixed advice in the forums.

Thanks!
 
Sep 8, 2014
2,551
Catalina 22 Swing Keel San Diego
Sorry I've been dormant for the last few months, but winter has limited my activities to just keeping the boat's tarp and frame in one piece! With the days getting longer I'm gearing up to tackle my to-do list.

Quick question:

I'm replacing the spreader bar brackets on the mast, as the ones I have are original to 1976. Do I also need to replace the spreader BARS, or can I reuse the ones I have? I've seen mixed advice in the forums.

Thanks!
It depends on what condition they are in. You'll be lucky if they are not frozen into the sockets of the brackets with bi-metal corrosion. Also, the slots at the tips tend to get corroded and torn up where the shrouds pass through them and also where stainless seizing wire is used through the aluminum.
If you need new one (and you probably do) they are pretty expensive from CD. If you have a local metal supplier, they are simple 1 inch OD aluminum but do check the wall thickness. Copy the position and sizes of the holes and drill them for the cotter pins, sizing wire, etc. The slot at the tip can be carefully cut with a dremel tool or even a hack saw and filed smooth. The anodize on the CD ones is nice but not necessary. Just remember to use tef-gel where ever aluminum and stainless touch and you will avoid future corrosion issues.
 
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May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
It looked like your scupper drains had a gate valve attached - you will want to replace that with a ball valve - gate valve are a big no-no on boat thru hulls.
 
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AaronD

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Aug 10, 2014
723
Catalina 22 9874 Newberg, OR / Olympia, WA
...I'm replacing the spreader bar brackets on the mast, as the ones I have are original to 1976. Do I also need to replace the spreader BARS, or can I reuse the ones I have? I've seen mixed advice in the forums.
Crazy question (it's what I'm best at): If replacing the spreader bars, could you substitute carbon fiber tubes of comparable dimensions and save a little weight up the mast? The forces are all in compression, which should be suitable for CF.

Catalina Direct's specs say the bars are 27" x 1", .120" wall. I haven't removed mine and weighed them, but that should be about 14oz each. CF of the same dimensions would be about 2/3 the weight. And you could probably go a bit thinner with CF (spinnaker pole makers claim 50% weight savings, so they must use CF tubing a bit thinner than aluminum, although I haven't looked hard enough to find exact specs). So it might save 10-14oz total. And I think the total cost might still be less than CD's price...

If I were doing this, I might epoxy short plugs of FRP round bar in the tube ends, so the cable wouldn't ride only on CF - maybe 3/4" or so of plug. I have no plans to add this project to my list, but winter is good for nutty ideas... Completely crazy? Or only halfway there?
 
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Sep 2, 2016
25
Catalina 22 Juneau, AK
Quick update: Spring arrived early in Alaska and we pulled her out of storage under clear skies and 60 degrees.

First order of business was to replace the original aluminum spreader bar brackets with new stainless steel from CD. The project went remarkably smoothly. If anyone is planning to attempt this, my advice is to follow the instructions from CD precisely. There are a few items in there that are easily missed and can lead to complications (for example, don't disconnect the shrouds from the old spreader brackets until you're ready to connect them to the new ones, and be sure to do one at a time so you done get your forward/aft shrouds confused). I'm attaching photos of the instructions as they're not available online and you're hosed if you lose them.

This project also gave us a chance to inspect all the standing rigging and it looks to be in good shape. The PO wrapped the swages in duct tape and twine, which made them look awful. Once that was removed they (and the wire) are in great shape.

Ideally we would have taken this opportunity to run new electrical wire and coax for the VHF up the mast, but we've got a lot going on and want to get her in the water sooner than later. At least now I have a plan, assuming the new compression tube between the spreader brackets doesn't get in the way.

Next project is to install a new bilge pump and switch (the PO activated the old bilge by touching wires together).

Also need to secure the battery box to the hull. For that I was thinking about taking a piece of star-board and using 3M 4200 to glue it down to the hull ... seems easier than epoxying a piece of marine plywood to the hull. Thoughts?

Oh, also took delivery of a new Tohatsu 6HP SailPro from Online Outboards. Can't recommend those guys enough. I'm curious how it will do pushing the boat and charging the house battery -- I'll let you know.

Thanks for all the help and support y'all!
 

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Aug 29, 2016
24
Catalina 22 Lake Conroe
Epoxy doesn't adhere to HDPE and I believe that Starboard is HDPE. Perhaps epoxy in a piece of fiberglass sheet with some t-nuts installed then you could use bolts to fasten the Starboard to the fiberglass sheet.
 
Aug 29, 2016
24
Catalina 22 Lake Conroe
No, nothing will chemically bond to it. The only thing that works with HDPE is to weld it to HDPE. Any bond will be relying on surface tension only.
 
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Sep 8, 2014
2,551
Catalina 22 Swing Keel San Diego
Please don't use 5200 anywhere on your C22. Fixed keel boats can use it for the keel/hull joint and that's it. Words above are true, nothing 'sticks' to Starboard because it is an HDPE plastic. There is an adhesive that actually weld-bonds that type of plastic together, but it is very expensive and nasty stuff but I have no idea how it would work bonding the plastic to fiberglass (it could eat through your hull). In general, if you want a battery tray that you need to epoxy to the stock battery box location of a C22 it will need to be a fiberglass or marine plywood tray. CD sells a good fiberglass tray if you want to wait for it to arrive, but you can also build a good one from marine ply as long as you give it a good 2 coats of epoxy, sand and paint.
For the record, I replace all my exterior teak with the milled Starboard replacements from Catalina Direct. They recommend bedding with 4200 or the UV resistant flavor 3M 4000 UV. I wanted to use butyl tape but they said they tried it and it doesn't work. The reason I bring this up is because I can attest that 4200/4000 UV does stick just a little bit, but in a way that is good for bedding compound and not as an adhesive. If I took the screws out from inside the hull the pieces will pop off by hand with no scraping or prying tools needed (don't ask me how I know this).
 

AaronD

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Aug 10, 2014
723
Catalina 22 9874 Newberg, OR / Olympia, WA
Epoxy doesn't adhere to HDPE and I believe that Starboard is HDPE. Perhaps epoxy in a piece of fiberglass sheet with some t-nuts installed then you could use bolts to fasten the Starboard to the fiberglass sheet.
Good suggestion. But you can go just a bit easier than the T-nuts by just tapping threads into the sheet or plates beforehand. @thinwater has specs at https://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2017/02/stainless-steel-bolt-specifications.html for how thick you need to cut threads for full bolt strength. I've only tried it in G10, but he claims you can do regular FRP too, it just has to be thicker.

I'm not sure this is the best idea, but my approach (so far in non-structural locations) is to drill and tap a G10 plate, tape over the bottom of the hole with a very small bit of masking tape - just enough to keep epoxy out of the threads, epoxy the plate in place, and then screw whatever I'm mounting to it. That leaves the tiny bit of tape buried in there, but the rest of the plate has plenty of area for a good epoxy bond. Leaving a well-waxed screw in the tapped hole would work too, and might be better practice. But every once in awhile, I don't get quite enough wax in the right places, and then I find out just how tenacious epoxy is...
 
Sep 2, 2016
25
Catalina 22 Juneau, AK
May 2017 Update:

The weather has been brutally nice, which motivated us to knock out the remaining projects and get on the water. Sadly, everything takes longer than you think, and we're still sailing on asphalt. Still, good progress thanks to the folks in this group!

1) Finally installed a battery tray and box on the starboard side of the volcano. I used 3M 4200 to secure a piece of 1/2" marine plywood to the hull (fiberglass intimidates me, still).



2) Next came two BlueSea bus bars on the port side. The PO had a frazzle of wires connected directly to the battery, so this neatened things up nicely. I'll eventually put all the wires in conduit, but am waiting till I install a new switch panel.

3) The PO had a small bilge pump loose in the bilge. I tossed it and I nstalled a new Seaflo 750 gph automatic bilge pump against the bulkhead behind the volcano. Secured it to the hull with another piece of marine plywood glued to the hull with 3M 4200. Also added a 3-way Rule bilge pump switch under the companionway step.

4) Ran the charging wires from the new 6hp Tohatsu SailPro back to the battery.

5) Replaced the power wires for the VHF radio, and ran them to the bus bars.

6) Replaced the PO's (nonfunctional) Humminbird fish finder with a new Raymarine DragonFly 7 Pro sonar/chartplotter. VERY excited about this! Instead of silicone sealant, I used a BlueSea CableClam to run the wire through the transom (just had to widen the the existing hole a bit). Looks like it'll be way better. Used another CableClam where the transducer wire exits the cabin to the cockpit.

7) Installed the VHF antenna at the top of the mast, and ran new coaxial cable down the inside of the mast. Drilling holes in that extrusion was the most stressful thing I've done all year! I seriously considered running wire for new masthead/steaming/deck lights, but the days are long enough that can wait :)

8) Hung the new outboard ... nearly forgot that one.


There's still lots to do ... of course!

- Cut foam for our new cushion covers
- Fix leaky deck fittings
- Install letters on the stern
- Replace navigation, running, and anchor lights

Hope to dip her in the water this weekend; sun is returning next week! I have a few questions about rigging, but I'll post those separately. Hopefully the next pics I post will be on the water!
 

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Sep 2, 2016
25
Catalina 22 Juneau, AK
Thank you all for your help getting our 1976 C22 (and us) in the water! The first cruises showed we need to replace a bit of hardware and get a new battery, but all in all they went fantastically well. Can't thank y'all enough.

Here are some pics taken May 15 & 16 in Auke Bay, Alaska. All we lacked was wind!

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