It is a 1982 H27. The sliding bulkead door (or hatch, I suppose would be more nautical) between the main part of the cabin and the head needs attention. It often jumps the track and, if closed, it is at the top and not at the bottom. Can anyone offer a repair/replace solution?
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Ed Schenck
Same problem.
So I e-mailed Andy since we are both in Huron, OH. Hopefully someone here has fixed the sliding door problem.
So I e-mailed Andy since we are both in Huron, OH. Hopefully someone here has fixed the sliding door problem.
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John
It's the biggest flaw (John C. Jr. Please Respond)
My 81 H27 always had th esame problem. That damn door always sticks!!! Any time anyone has to use the head, Daddy has to stop what he is doing, have someone else take th ehelm and ruun down and yank the hatch open or closed. It is my only major complaint on the H27 Cheri. design. I would really love to head john C Jr. explain the history of this design. Not that im complaining, It is a small quirk on what I consider the best production 27 ever built.
My 81 H27 always had th esame problem. That damn door always sticks!!! Any time anyone has to use the head, Daddy has to stop what he is doing, have someone else take th ehelm and ruun down and yank the hatch open or closed. It is my only major complaint on the H27 Cheri. design. I would really love to head john C Jr. explain the history of this design. Not that im complaining, It is a small quirk on what I consider the best production 27 ever built.
The 27 door
John– thanks for the nice comment about what has begun to seem like the unloved orphan of the smaller Hunters. About the door- first of all, NOTHING that bears wood-on-wood ever survives long on a sailboat– at least one without airconditioning! Teak is oily anyway and is NOT the waterproof panacea everyone likes to believe. Unless encased in epoxy it soaks up water just like everything else. Here is my suggestion. Find a boatbuilding or plastics supply place that sells UHMW– ultra-high-molecular-weight plastic. It's like Teflon. Get a piece as as wide as the door is thick (3/4?), as long as the door is wide, and about 1/4-inch thick. It'll cost a small fortune ($30?). Plane off 1/4-inch or whatever the plastic is off the bottom of the door and drill countersink holes in the UHMW. This is important– countersink them a little TOO MUCH. If the screwheads stick below the UHMW you'll have a bigger problem ('crrrrunch!"). Number 6 flatheads about 3/4 in SS should do it. Make sure you get the edges all lined up just right (clamp a stick along the face of the door like a guide and install the plastic against it). Use a bar of paraffin and wax the bejeebies out of the door track before reinstalling the door. And then get out of the way!!! The door should slide like the TGV train to Paris. It won't even require much attention again. The plastic will not wear noticeably in your lifetime. As far as I can recall we only found out about UHMW at Cherubini Boat around 1979, so I would not be surprised if it didn't get everywhere by 1982. We used it on companionway hatch slides (about $100 worth!). We demonstrated it by standing a 200-lb ex-Marine on the hatch cover and having one of the office girls slide it back and forth with him on it like a ball-bearing file-cabinet drawer. Wonderful stuff. JC
John– thanks for the nice comment about what has begun to seem like the unloved orphan of the smaller Hunters. About the door- first of all, NOTHING that bears wood-on-wood ever survives long on a sailboat– at least one without airconditioning! Teak is oily anyway and is NOT the waterproof panacea everyone likes to believe. Unless encased in epoxy it soaks up water just like everything else. Here is my suggestion. Find a boatbuilding or plastics supply place that sells UHMW– ultra-high-molecular-weight plastic. It's like Teflon. Get a piece as as wide as the door is thick (3/4?), as long as the door is wide, and about 1/4-inch thick. It'll cost a small fortune ($30?). Plane off 1/4-inch or whatever the plastic is off the bottom of the door and drill countersink holes in the UHMW. This is important– countersink them a little TOO MUCH. If the screwheads stick below the UHMW you'll have a bigger problem ('crrrrunch!"). Number 6 flatheads about 3/4 in SS should do it. Make sure you get the edges all lined up just right (clamp a stick along the face of the door like a guide and install the plastic against it). Use a bar of paraffin and wax the bejeebies out of the door track before reinstalling the door. And then get out of the way!!! The door should slide like the TGV train to Paris. It won't even require much attention again. The plastic will not wear noticeably in your lifetime. As far as I can recall we only found out about UHMW at Cherubini Boat around 1979, so I would not be surprised if it didn't get everywhere by 1982. We used it on companionway hatch slides (about $100 worth!). We demonstrated it by standing a 200-lb ex-Marine on the hatch cover and having one of the office girls slide it back and forth with him on it like a ball-bearing file-cabinet drawer. Wonderful stuff. JC
Crooked doors
If the door is sitting crooked when either open or closed it is either too loose vertically (the UHMW solution can be adjusted to take up the slack) or it is jamming so badly it gets like that (again the UHMW solution will help). Applied right the UHMW solution ought to make jamming at the top a thing of the past too. If it still jams there, the piece forming the upper track is too tight. Pry it loose or shim it for a wider track (not too wide). Remember unsealed teak swells– badly. If the door is pefectly squared (or close enough) and is still not meeting the jamb parallel all up and down then check the jamb itself (on the port side) for plumb. It is entirely possible it has moved. You'll have to take it off and shim it but this is not the end of the world. The good thing about a sliding door is that there is plenty of room to adjust it sideways! Another thing about the UHMW on the door is if you don't have one now you will DEFINITELY have to get a hook-and-eye to hold it open. Changing onto starboard tack whilst little Miss is exiting the potty will be eerily reminscient of Marie Antoinette losing her head!! As I recall I lobbied fiercely for the 27 to have a proper enclosed head. Other boats had it (i.e., Bill Tripp's '60s Columbia 26) and I thought the boat should've seemed roomier than the 25. As it was the 27 borrowed that idea in the 25 of having the bunks extend into footwells (an idea I actually borrowed from some other boat and campaigned successfully for) to save room. I think if we'd made the starboard berth extend into where the stove is the head might've been bigger. Then again, maybe we couldn't have. I forget. JC
If the door is sitting crooked when either open or closed it is either too loose vertically (the UHMW solution can be adjusted to take up the slack) or it is jamming so badly it gets like that (again the UHMW solution will help). Applied right the UHMW solution ought to make jamming at the top a thing of the past too. If it still jams there, the piece forming the upper track is too tight. Pry it loose or shim it for a wider track (not too wide). Remember unsealed teak swells– badly. If the door is pefectly squared (or close enough) and is still not meeting the jamb parallel all up and down then check the jamb itself (on the port side) for plumb. It is entirely possible it has moved. You'll have to take it off and shim it but this is not the end of the world. The good thing about a sliding door is that there is plenty of room to adjust it sideways! Another thing about the UHMW on the door is if you don't have one now you will DEFINITELY have to get a hook-and-eye to hold it open. Changing onto starboard tack whilst little Miss is exiting the potty will be eerily reminscient of Marie Antoinette losing her head!! As I recall I lobbied fiercely for the 27 to have a proper enclosed head. Other boats had it (i.e., Bill Tripp's '60s Columbia 26) and I thought the boat should've seemed roomier than the 25. As it was the 27 borrowed that idea in the 25 of having the bunks extend into footwells (an idea I actually borrowed from some other boat and campaigned successfully for) to save room. I think if we'd made the starboard berth extend into where the stove is the head might've been bigger. Then again, maybe we couldn't have. I forget. JC
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Andy
Addendum to bulkhead doors
The ideas are appreciated. The problem is anything but sticking. If everything rolled as easy we would save a lot on energy costs. I should have been more complete. Yet, the solution might work very well with the door between the head and the V-berth. This does stick and I believe I have read elsewhere that this is a commom problem. As for the problem door, it is probably an alighment problem and an inadequate track. It would work alright in a closet at home but houses, at least in Ohio, do not usually heel at 15 degrees. A starbord tack and you know instantly if you neglected to hook the thing. Thanks for the ideas. Andy
The ideas are appreciated. The problem is anything but sticking. If everything rolled as easy we would save a lot on energy costs. I should have been more complete. Yet, the solution might work very well with the door between the head and the V-berth. This does stick and I believe I have read elsewhere that this is a commom problem. As for the problem door, it is probably an alighment problem and an inadequate track. It would work alright in a closet at home but houses, at least in Ohio, do not usually heel at 15 degrees. A starbord tack and you know instantly if you neglected to hook the thing. Thanks for the ideas. Andy
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Jim Rice
New "rollers" for the track
The little rollers at the top of the door, that go in the U-shaped track tend to fail (after 20 years!). We just went to the local hardware store, bought 4 of them (take one of the old ones for a pattern), and installed them on both sliding doors. Total cost, maybe 6-8 bucks. PS--the doors WILL come out, you just have to maneuver them around. PPS--Another fine feature of the H27, particularly if you are sleeping in the v-berth and a guest needs to use the head!
The little rollers at the top of the door, that go in the U-shaped track tend to fail (after 20 years!). We just went to the local hardware store, bought 4 of them (take one of the old ones for a pattern), and installed them on both sliding doors. Total cost, maybe 6-8 bucks. PS--the doors WILL come out, you just have to maneuver them around. PPS--Another fine feature of the H27, particularly if you are sleeping in the v-berth and a guest needs to use the head!
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