shaft strut

burnswelds

burnswelds

.
Sep 1, 2013
53
catalina 30 suttons bay
Good Morning,

After haul out i was perfoming my usual "shake and wiggle" of my boat and noticed that my drive shaft strut is seeping water and has about 3/16 lateral movement. I will plan on removing and repairing. Anyone else had this issue. ?

1980 catalina 30 tallrig
 
jrowan

jrowan

.
Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
I also have a 1980 & I guess we all worry a lil' bit about how much corrosion can our running gear take before it gives out. But are you sure it's leaking from the shaft strut & not the stuffing box? My stuffing box has a good steady drip. More so after a long engine run. I plan on replacing with a dripless seal when I haul out this winter. But I wonder if the C 30 is even capable of having a dry bilge, considering how many places it can & will leak from!
 
burnswelds

burnswelds

.
Sep 1, 2013
53
catalina 30 suttons bay
Well the strut is very visibly loose, I re packed the stuffing box before launch and have watched it under load. Fiberglass grinding is on the docket, just have some questions about how deep...
 
Anonymous 121765

Anonymous 121765

.
Jan 6, 2010
1,520
Burn,

I can tell from my experience (1980 C30), I was shocked to notice water running into my bilge. My boat had a new bottom paint job. They splashed it Friday morning, back to my dock I loaded up for a weekend trip.

That nite at anchor, I kept hearing my bilge pump come on. What I saw was water coming in from UNDER my fuel tank. I found they had one strap on my shaft when lifting. There were marks on the shaft paint proving this.

The shocking part after removing the tank, was that my strut was mounted from the inside thru a slot cutout. Add to this a poor job of mudding it in. No bolts, no nothing for fastening.

It's still mounted from the inside but, my Glassman Vlad did a great job both inside & out. I drilled holes in the strut mounting base & thru the hull, then bolted this down. A mounting strap caused my problem but, it also made for a better fix. I didn't want to go thru having to make a new exterior mount strut because of shaft clearance to hull. You have a 1980, I would check for this pal.

Look for strap marks on your shaft. It maybe the yard's fault. They did the work to fix this for me. I now personally locate strap locations on my boat when picking or splashing. I print 2 copies, put in plastic sleeves & mask tape it to my hull sides for the ground crew to set the stands correctly. It's right there for them to see the instructions incase they pick or splash when I am not there.

Save this pic to use.

CR
 

Attachments

burnswelds

burnswelds

.
Sep 1, 2013
53
catalina 30 suttons bay
Thankyou for the input CR, I wish I could point the finger at the boat yard, but it wasn't there doing.
 
burnswelds

burnswelds

.
Sep 1, 2013
53
catalina 30 suttons bay
I'm going to get a moisture meter to see if my glass is soaked, but I do want to drill into the strut plate to secure it.
 
Anonymous 121765

Anonymous 121765

.
Jan 6, 2010
1,520
Burn,

Based on you orig. question, I only added my comments as I have an '80 C30 also. I would assume that if you never saw a base plate on the exterior of the hull, your strut was made like mine.

So picture this, I first saw water coming from under the fuel tank the same night after the boatyard splashed it. Removed the tank & saw the mudding had a crack where water was seeping in. Upon removal of the mud, Lo-n-behold there was my flange with no firm attachment only, the MUD. To me that is not a "positive" mounting that depends on a glass mound. You have a spinning/harmonic vibrating shaft. Look at the strut from the outside & you only have some glass buildup around the thin narrow strut stem. Does this sound like a positive seal solution?

Thinking it over as it has been years, looking forward, I drilled two diagonal holes thru the baseplate front & back. With the strut dry-fitted in (shaft in place), I marked the hull & drilled. I bolted with brass thrubolts using fender washers on the exterior, I had to cup these somewhat to fit the hull shape. My glass man then encased the strut base & exterior bolting in glass.

I only offered what I found in the chance that you may have the same condition.
Funny, the one thing we both had in common, was that this was detected right after the boatyard splashed your boat. Coincidence, I think knot but, it's your boat hence, it's your choice. Just make sure whatever you decide is better than the original.

Cr
 
B

Brad on Vashon

.
Jan 27, 2012
65
Catalina 30 Vashon
Caption saves the day...again. Thanks for this diagram CR. given the hull has not changed, I assume this applies to my 1990
 
jrowan

jrowan

.
Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
Ron, That's yet another thing to worry about when hauling out. I remember my first haul out with the C30. I had no idea where the shaft exited in relation to the hull where the yard hangs the boat strap for the travel lift. Haul outs are always a scary experience.
But Ron you show yet another huge potential defect in the C 30. These boats are surprisingly durable, but the defects in workmanship & design in the 70-80's can really catch up with a boat as it ages, sometimes not so gracefully. But at least these are defects that are well documented & manageable with good maintenance. We sure do make some trade offs for that big cabin though!
 
Anonymous 121765

Anonymous 121765

.
Jan 6, 2010
1,520
JR,

I learned the hard way pal & it cost me angst & $$$. This is why I attached the haulout point diagram.
We both have 1980 boats yet, not all boats were created or assembled equal.

It's a "cover your Ass" point to ask all questions upfront BEFORE hauling.
It's also about the trust you have in the yard manager to see all is done correctly.

You can PM me if you wish to get into this in more detail or, let's just keep it going in the thread to maybe help others....

CR
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom