Pulled the C22 out for the season… also pulled the bow eye out while loading on the trailer. Now the fun begins. Catalina direct has a rebuild kit for the bow eye. Anyone also do the stem reinforcement on an 86 C22?
Bow Eye
- Thread starter pcharn01
- Start date
Well, it's absolutely something you need to do plus it's a good upgrade that everyone should do even if it isn't necessary as in your situation. I believe the kit comes with everything you need. The install is also covered in detail on one of the Catalina CDs if I'm not mistaken. Did you perhaps not float your boat enough during the haul out? It's important to keep that in mind on all haul outs.
George
George
Trailer was deep enough. There was a slight incline between the boat and trailer which has been the same past few years. Noticed the bow pulpit mount was loose. Evidence of water intrusion in the area which caused the wood block for the bow eye to degrade. Time for an overhaul of the entire area.
Is your boat the New Design? If so, I believe that Gene Neill posted a detailed account of where to place the access in the anchor well to access the bow pulpit bolts. My 1988 New Design has the bow access hatch installed but not the two side access hatches which I will need to install before I tackle rebedding the bow pulpit. Waffle House did come stock with the new bow eye installed and thankfully, that area is sound.
George
Boat is ‘86 with the U-shaped bow eye and the 3” access in the locker. Looking for Gene’s post for more info.
I believe the stem reinforcement is already done in all new designs. It's mounted to the bow a seen by the bolts here in the picture below. I would likely only mess with the turn buckle and things if your gonna push the boat hard (like 30 kts hard) all the time or are racing with the 12:1 backstay adjuster or something to really tension the forestay.
The Block and access thought well thats something they all need from time to time. You can always make your own reinforcement and buy a bow eye for likely less than the CD kit.
I talked to CD Tech Support. They suggest to gain access to the area by removing a portion of the forward wall of the locker leaving a flange around the edge to close with attaching a trapezoidal panel of marine starboard. The bow pulpit attach hardware should be accessible, if not, they would be treaded into a bar embedded in the decking. Similar to the stern pulpit. Lakeshark, you are correct, stem reinforcement kit is not needed because it already has the new design.
I’m not too keen cutting the trapezoid access panel… looking into other options… maybe some extended grinding burrs to clear out the area, tooling to install block and hardware, larger deck plate access panel?
More to come.
I’m not too keen cutting the trapezoid access panel… looking into other options… maybe some extended grinding burrs to clear out the area, tooling to install block and hardware, larger deck plate access panel?
More to come.
Installing four inch inspection ports one in the front and, one on each side positioned to give you access to the bow pulpit through bolts will give you all the access you need.
George
Yeah I would not be cutting out something so large either. How much can you access though the small port thats there? Can you get creative with pliers or things? If all else fails I like @...3TacksontheWater approach of a threaded inspection port.
The bow eye is well supported from the factory, but it is done with WOOD, for crying out loud. So you may or may not have to do this job, depending on whether that wood has stayed dry. I have not done mine (the above pic is someone else's boat) but I assume it's just a matter of time.
Will be a month or so before I get into this… other priorities. Looking into replacing the 3” inspection port with a 4”. My Popeye arm (let alone hand) won’t fit through the hole. Then work through that. Will be challenging.