Looking for any Columbia 38 Center-board owners or former owners; anyone with good general experience with that hull. I'd post this in the Columbia forum but all I heard over there was crickets...
Its tough finding info on the 38 since only about 2 dozen were made. They are nearly identical to the Columbia 40 that also had CB option, but the 40 had a steel spine (that could rot), and the 38 also has a spade rudder, no skeg. I was looking at a particular example for sale and I saw some potentially serious problems, possibly salvageable.
I'm looking for some general structural info;
- Confirm if there IS or is NOT coring in the decks? I know the hulls are very thick (how thick?) from the old school hand laid days.
- Also needing to know about the CB lifting mechanism and associated linkage, maintenance issues, problems to look out for. Want to confirm the CB is bronze, or what else if I am wrong about that.
- The 38 C/B is deck-stepped, I found that odd... Compression support is a full bulkhead. Any issues there?
- Has gas Atomic 4 (at least it runs). No real questions there, but I do know that the fuel tanks sits in a horseshoe over the stuffing box, or at least it was supposed to... forgot to take pics to confirm.
- There is an internal turnbuckle for forestay support, plus what appears to be 3, yes 3, layers of 1/2" plywood laminated to the underside of the deck in the fo'c'sle. Is that factory? The turnbuckle and cable was loose, I guess this can be normal when at dock... tension before a sail? I am mostly concerned about the bottom attachment point of that turnbuckle, I can't tell what is under the paint.
- I probably have a ton of other questions, but I'll add those later. Also, general thoughts on the 38's sailing behavior and motion...
Its tough finding info on the 38 since only about 2 dozen were made. They are nearly identical to the Columbia 40 that also had CB option, but the 40 had a steel spine (that could rot), and the 38 also has a spade rudder, no skeg. I was looking at a particular example for sale and I saw some potentially serious problems, possibly salvageable.
I'm looking for some general structural info;
- Confirm if there IS or is NOT coring in the decks? I know the hulls are very thick (how thick?) from the old school hand laid days.
- Also needing to know about the CB lifting mechanism and associated linkage, maintenance issues, problems to look out for. Want to confirm the CB is bronze, or what else if I am wrong about that.
- The 38 C/B is deck-stepped, I found that odd... Compression support is a full bulkhead. Any issues there?
- Has gas Atomic 4 (at least it runs). No real questions there, but I do know that the fuel tanks sits in a horseshoe over the stuffing box, or at least it was supposed to... forgot to take pics to confirm.
- There is an internal turnbuckle for forestay support, plus what appears to be 3, yes 3, layers of 1/2" plywood laminated to the underside of the deck in the fo'c'sle. Is that factory? The turnbuckle and cable was loose, I guess this can be normal when at dock... tension before a sail? I am mostly concerned about the bottom attachment point of that turnbuckle, I can't tell what is under the paint.
- I probably have a ton of other questions, but I'll add those later. Also, general thoughts on the 38's sailing behavior and motion...
