Commissioning tasks and ongoing improvements of a 83 Cat 22 from trailer to saltwatercamper
- Thread starter Jacktar
- Start date
Update on the removal of rubrail along port side up to front of forward window and caulking any holes not matching the screws I removed. Put it back on and added caulk to each screw before putting them back in. Well, after a motor run (to test sail pro maintenance results) and a sailing run as well as several days sitting at dock but with NW wind kicking waves up against port side I can now report, ALL DRY below!!!! ;I put a streak of purple sidewalk chalk along the jull inside the aft dinette compartment and no runs thru it from rubrail or genoa track above it so far. As with all leaks will monitor carefully and report any changes. Old vinyl back in for now.
Yet another tropical storm , Cristobal comes by and dock ramp goes level from about 3 foot surge (day before storm even well into gulf) Another reason why everyone needs to be careful when large storm gets in small gulf of mexico bathtub. Do not be fooled by the tiny swirly graphic on the tracking maps look as the actual radar pix.
Attachments
Here is a local trend by Catalina 22s, Mediterranean mooring at Ft Mcree or any shallow beach area. Bow anchor let out til close to shore with swing keel up and tilt up rudder up til your swim ladder gets close to shore, then line to shore with lunch hook or to a bush. Get to step right down to bottom in knee deep water right to shore and back. No wearing out arms with a dinghy ride.
Always a treat to just hop in and wade to the shore of your own little private beach! 
Weather heating up so bit the bullet and installed a replacement nicro solar powered vent , old one motor gave up ghost, new one required removing the old base plate and putting in new one. The vent now screws down into a threaded base plate instead of a slip in plate. Oh well, at least mounting screw holes in old plate matched new ones so just bedded in new plate with butyl and put old bolts back in. Pictures attached of course as usual it looks easier than it actually was to to do.
A cheap trick to keep things from sliding around on the dinette while sailing. It is the perforated foam they sell in a roll at Walmart, things stay on it under some rather tilted conditions I tell you from experience. And is easy to remove, move around and adjust. Cheap and easy to change out if it gets dirty.
Used Labor day clear and sunny to go over the side with my hookah rig and brush and scrape as needed the hull and keel. This is year six on two coats of Trinidad Blue SR bottom paint put on in September 2014. Been kept year round in slip in Bayou Chico. Still only few small barnacles at boot stripe area of left rear quarter (maybe last 2.5 feet or so) elsewhere on hull only slime, brushes off back to blue bottom paint. Swing keel had usual large coon oyster on pivot pin bracket (PO had put on upside down so stick out bottom of hull!). Knocked them off, few small barnacles and tiny oysters along edges of swing itself but not too many . Good to go for another year. Previous boat (Luger 21 kit boat) used to get up to 7 or 8 years (but had cast iron box with swing keel to get barnacled easier) between bottom jobs. Thank you Pettit. No pictures was too dark to get one .
Well managed to get in a sail on last part of 2020, December 29 just before a big cold front was due. Just a afternoon sail around Pensacola Bay and rounding up at navy point where three lovely CG cutters were docked. Light wind from the south and southeast at 5-8 knots. Nice end for really bad year.
Nice day for sailing, bad day for wire halyard
Soo Sunday was good day, wind about 10- knots from E,SE. I raised the main and then tried to raise the genoa. No go, the wire part of the halyard had gotten a strand broken (i had taped it, knew it was temporary) and as I was trying to raise it the strands formed a ball at the masthead sheaves. I pulled one last time and all went thru, sail up, . But knew the reckoning was coming if I had to reverse and drop it. So motored in, dropped main and docked boat. Out with collapsible ladder to reach about 9 feet up where snarl was. Cut off the strands and got it clean enough to drop the sail. Then got out 30 feet of 1/8 inch dyneema (bought a year ago just for this problem.). Cut off the wire at the rope halyard head, stick a little piece of wire down the dyneema and wound it around the wire halyard end, smoothed all out with layer of duct tape. Gently pulled up to masthead, thru sheaves and back down. Giant sigh of releif. Cut rest of wire off and tied dyneema to Genoa shackle. All good now, will see how well it works. Saved having to buy a new wire or make one, drop mast etc. So back to sailing.
Soo Sunday was good day, wind about 10- knots from E,SE. I raised the main and then tried to raise the genoa. No go, the wire part of the halyard had gotten a strand broken (i had taped it, knew it was temporary) and as I was trying to raise it the strands formed a ball at the masthead sheaves. I pulled one last time and all went thru, sail up, . But knew the reckoning was coming if I had to reverse and drop it. So motored in, dropped main and docked boat. Out with collapsible ladder to reach about 9 feet up where snarl was. Cut off the strands and got it clean enough to drop the sail. Then got out 30 feet of 1/8 inch dyneema (bought a year ago just for this problem.). Cut off the wire at the rope halyard head, stick a little piece of wire down the dyneema and wound it around the wire halyard end, smoothed all out with layer of duct tape. Gently pulled up to masthead, thru sheaves and back down. Giant sigh of releif. Cut rest of wire off and tied dyneema to Genoa shackle. All good now, will see how well it works. Saved having to buy a new wire or make one, drop mast etc. So back to sailing.
Later sail, dyneema works like a charm, had to adjust length slightly to match old wire as otherwise the knot for halyard would jam at masthead when sail down. Otherwise works really well and saved having to change sheaves at masthead and have to replace both wire portions. Whew dodged a bullet there for now.
Trailer work part II
Around April looked at trailer for upcoming hurricane season and noted the leaf springs were very rusty and some even broken and PO has put a wood block in to keep some separation from frame to axle. Sooo I took one side off and took it to Hitch shop locally, nothing in stock suitable for 2490 lb boat and trailer Unk wt. but needed a good 1500 spring load for each wheel. Now we wait only available replacements 3 leaf instead of 5 are from China, Supply line problems but finally 6 weeks later they come in. So with new hardware and springs installed the new leaf springs quite easily and before and after shown below. Now can work on bearings!!
Around April looked at trailer for upcoming hurricane season and noted the leaf springs were very rusty and some even broken and PO has put a wood block in to keep some separation from frame to axle. Sooo I took one side off and took it to Hitch shop locally, nothing in stock suitable for 2490 lb boat and trailer Unk wt. but needed a good 1500 spring load for each wheel. Now we wait only available replacements 3 leaf instead of 5 are from China, Supply line problems but finally 6 weeks later they come in. So with new hardware and springs installed the new leaf springs quite easily and before and after shown below. Now can work on bearings!!
Good question, so far I have always kept it in the water since Ivan in 2004, but I could change my mind. Never say never. (Ivan had 10 foot surge in my bayou and up to 30 feet up the river, picked up interstate bridge sections and dropped them in the drink. )