New C22 owner

[Jacomo Sailor]

Ahoy!

Jacomo Sailor here, and new owner of an '84 C22. I've been a Clipper Marine owner for nearly 25 years now but have always wanted a Cat 22. I used to post here as a future owner probably 10 years ago but I've long forgotten what I used to go by.

I finally bought my first Catalina 22 last week and I'm traveling 5 hours to pick her up this weekend. She's currently on a trailer at a marina with the mast up and I've got a bit of work to do on the trailer to make it roadworthy enough to get it home. I've started building a 10' mast crutch to assist in lowering the mast but I could use a little bit of help from one of you if I you don't mind. I need to know what the spacing on the gudgeons is so I can locate the pintles appropriately. I also want to make a shorter crutch to support the mast for transport, so if anyone can tell me how tall it needs to be from the cockpit sole in order to clear the cabin top, that would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to becoming part of this community again.

 

[hawk232]

pics or it didn't happen!!

seriously, congrats on the purchase. I would be happy to go out and measure my gudgeons for you but I am not sure if they changed it over the years (mine is a 75).

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

Yeah, I didn't think about the potential that the spacing may have changed over time. I suppose I could wait until I'm on site to drill the holes for the pintles in the crutch, just trying to go as prepared as possible so I don't spend all day unrigging her and repairing the trailer.

 

[Doug4bass]

Actually I have unstepped the mast safely with just 2 people, and no gin pole. Awkward....but the moment isnt that big of deal. It is on a tabernacle.

 

[piedpiperIII]

I used to step and un step my mast with no other aid except a mast up that I made to hold the mast from the rudder position but it always took a helper to attach the forestay I have to come up with a mast raising system for just one person as I will probably sail alone sometimes with this boat I just bought

 

[hawk232]

Gene Neill on here always steps and unsteps his mast with just him and the boss, they don't use any form of mechanical advantage (except her brute strength while he tries to look like he is helping). he (and others) can probably help you out with that approach.

I have built a gin pole for mine and LOVE it. my only complaint is the side to side movement of the mast. I have tried baby stays and they didn't work out...

I just went and measured and on my boat it is exactly 12" from the TOP of the bottom gudgeon to the TOP of the top gudgeon.

 

[$tingy Sailor]

On my '81, which is the same generation as yours, the gudgeons are 12" apart. I use a telescoping mast crutch mounted in them that holds the mast in its trailering position 38" above the upper gudgeon, which is 44" above the sole at the transom.

Hope that helps. Have a safe trip. I trailered mine home the first time 250 miles over a pass in the Cascades with zip ties holding the bunk boards on and a 2x4 to reinforce a rusted-through spring shackle. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but had no problems.

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

Thank you, that's great information. I do have help going with me but quite honestly neither one of us has the arms or the back to muscle it down past the 45 degree mark. Here's the crutch I built which is based on one I saw here on the forum. Just a 10' 2x4, some 2x2 scraps, a short piece of allthread and a roller, The pintles are made from a square shouldered U bolt that I cut in half. http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/Turn4fun/IMG_0063.jpg

Not sure when they switched from 3/8" to 1/2" gudgeons, so I played it safe and went with 3/8"
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/Turn4fun/IMG_0063.jpg

 

[CaptDon01]

Welcome aboard! Our original C-22, ("Quality Time"), was on Lake Jacomo after we sold her years ago. We had her on Lake Perry, Smithville, and Clinton in the Kansas City area. Attached is a photo of her on Lake Jacomo.

Don

 

[Time_Out]

I don't think I've ever heard of a change in the spacing of the gudgeons, and unless I'm mistaken, the first gen boats only came with the 3/8" ones. Unless the PO did an upgrade to them, that's probably what you have.

Good luck with the trip home with your new baby! And don't forget to share the pics!

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

Welcome aboard! Our original C-22, ("Quality Time"), was on Lake Jacomo after we sold her years ago. We had her on Lake Perry, Smithville, and Clinton in the Kansas City area. Attached is a photo of her on Lake Jacomo.

Don

Quite familiar with Quality Time, one of the best looking C22's on the lake IMO. She's a fixed keel too I believe. I seem to remember her sitting in dry sail for a couple of seasons with a jillion holes drilled in the bottom.

 

[CaptDon01]

"Quite familiar with Quality Time, one of the best looking C22's on the lake IMO",

WOW, that brings back memories! She had a swing keel for all the years we owner her. She was definitely my "baby". I thought we lost her during the great midwest floods in 1993. She was berthed at the Palisades Yacht Club in Portage de Sioux, MO on the Alton Pool of the Mississippi River. The river started to rise, and I didn't see her from Fathers Day until the 3rd week in September. Thought for sure the river had claimed her, but she survived.

Enjoy your new boat, some of our best family memories are centered around our C-22's over the years.

Don

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

OK, I just built my transport crutch out of an old transom saver and some square aluminum tube that I had sitting around. There is a 12" wide foot at the bottom made from the same square tube. This will stand up in the cockpit against the transom and strap to the stern rail. It is adjustable from 40" to 50". I read somewhere that the mast is 2 5/8" wide and the mouth on this deal is 3", so it should fit well with some padding.

 

[CaptDon01]

AWESOME IDEA that would work for a mast raising gin-pole. Never thought of that.

Don

 

[Doug4bass]

Word of caution. While the mast is lowered be careful of smashing the fwd hatch. All you need to remove is the forestay and fwd lowers. Just loosen the orhers.

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

I finally got my new boat home. We picked it up on Valentines Day at Carlyle Lake in IL with temps in the upper 20’s, light snow and winds howling at 35 – 40 MPH. Unstepping the mast in those winds was a real treat, but we managed and the homemade mast crutch and trailering support worked out beautifully. We arrived at 10:45 AM and had to rebuild all of the wheel bearings, replace both tires and wheels, run new wiring and lights and un-rig the boat. We got the whole job knocked out in 3 ½ hours before our long drive home. We had made the trip out the evening before and stayed in a hotel nearby and I’m sure glad we did because with stops for lunch and dinner along the way, we didn’t make it home until almost 10:00 PM. I’ll post pics and more info later when I get home this afternoon.

 

[SailAway1]

Jacomo Sailor, where at Carlyle Lake did you buy your boat? I sail at Carlyle Sailing Association and they had a C22 for sale. Is that were you purchased it? BTW - Quality Time is/was my next door neighbor on the boat parking lot at CSA.
Greg

 

[CaptDon01]

Jacomo Sailor,

Your story reminds me of when I purchased, "Quality Time",(not her name back then), north of Detroit in February many years ago. Wind blowing off frozen Lake St Clair, it was FREEZING! Driving home to the Kansas City area pulling her with a 4 cylinder Plymouth mini-van, I could not get going faster than 45 MPH until I hit I-69 and started heading south. AH, sailboats and memories!

Don

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

Jacomo Sailor, where at Carlyle Lake did you buy your boat? I sail at Carlyle Sailing Association and they had a C22 for sale. Is that were you purchased it? BTW - Quality Time is/was my next door neighbor on the boat parking lot at CSA.
Greg

I wasn't aware that Quality Time had left Jacomo, but then again, I haven't spent much time out there myself for the past 5 years. Life threw us some curve balls and sailing got put on the back burner for awhile along with a few other luxuries. All is well now though.

I picked her up from Tradewinds Marina up in Keyesport. There was actually another C-22 for sale there that ironically enough, I'm 99% certain used to reside on Jacomo as well. She had a fresh paint job but I could see the outline of the old name underneath which was a very distinct hand painted mural of a sailboat with a puffy cloud and the sun behind it and the name "Slip Away".

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

I took a bit of a gamble on "Matosa" as she is currently named, as she was being sold through a Boat Angel auction. The tough thing with those deals is you can't go look at the boat first, there's no ability to contact the previous owner and they can't answer any questions. All you can do is make your best judgement based on pictures and whatever information the donor provided. I studied every pic hard and even went so far as to save them to my laptop so I could blow them up and enhance them to get a better look at things.

Although it was apparent that she needs a little TLC (mainly elbow grease), I only noticed a couple of things that really need attention. The things that reassured me were the sunbrella covers on the tiller, winches and teak rails. The mainsheet was coiled and hung properly from the boom. The bottom looked like it only had one season of growth on it and I spied a newer looking Ulman sail bag when I knew that the OEM sails were North. Minor things I know, but enough info to tell me that the PO cared for her and likely did a reasonable job of maintaining her.

A heated battle ensued between a couple of bidders in the last few minutes and I swooped in and snaked her in the final seconds.

Upon inspection, she is in as good condition as I expected if not a little better. She retains her original gelcote and has not been painted which is what I was hoping for. There are no obvious signs of fiberglass repairs, no gelcote crazing, no major chips, scrapes or gouges, and no missing hardware. The bottom looks good with no blisters and the keel looks like it may have been reconditioned at some point in time.

The inside looks great aside from the upholstery needing an update. The PO left everything in her and I found a ton of goodies stashed away and still haven't been through every nook and cranny yet. I imagine I'll find a hidden issue or two somewhere along the line, but so far aside from a scrub down, a good compounding and exterior teak refinishing, the only repair that she's in need of is replace a bent stanchion and straighten up a slightly tweaked stern rail. Looks like she may have gotten tossed about in a storm and tangled up on the dock lines or something.

I'm not sure if the keel pin upgrade has been done or not but I did find a brand new keel pin, lifting eye and turning ball in a box of spares along with a Catalina Direct handbook and the PO's personal handbook.

List of extras and owner upgrades that came with the boat:

Sunbrella covers for main, tiller, winches, teak rails
hank on bag for headsail
bimini
pop top enclosure
screens for companionway and forward hatch
cockpit cushions
portable toilet
sliding galley
gimball mount compass
evenrude motor
anchor, chain and rode
lots of dock lines and PFD's
windex 15
tiller tamer
transom drains
split bacckstay
kick up rudder