South African "Catalina" 22

[Gene Neill]

Gene, flip 'em!....it's only a 2 beer job LOL.....beware of those weldments tho!

I had an epiphany regarding that clunk while sitting at anchor all day Friday, wishing the weather would stop sucking.

With the keel down, run a length of rope across the bottom of the hull. Throw it overboard at the stern and pull it forward along each rail until it stops at the keel cable. Tie each end to the lifelines, and raise the keel. The rope is now pinned between the hull and the keel. Takes under two minutes.

We didn't spend the night like that, but we each took turns rocking the boat as hard as possible while the other knelt in the cabin with an ear to the floor. Conservatively, I would say that the clunk is at least 95% eliminated.

@greg_m , I believe the root of the problem (my problem, anyway) is slop between the keel pin and its bushing. There is zero play between the pin and the hangers, and I have the "standard" shims at the top end of the keel, as well as Delrin spacers between the keel and the hangers. There is zero clunk with the keel down, only when up.

This is the slop to which I am referring. It seems to allow the aft end of the keel to fishtail side to side when raised:

https://youtu.be/C1gy907irxs

 

[AaronD]

I had an epiphany regarding that clunk while sitting at anchor all day Friday, wishing the weather would stop sucking.

With the keel down, run a length of rope across the bottom of the hull. Throw it overboard at the stern and pull it forward along each rail until it stops at the keel cable. Tie each end to the lifelines, and raise the keel. The rope is now pinned between the hull and the keel. Takes under two minutes.

We didn't spend the night like that, but we each took turns rocking the boat as hard as possible while the other knelt in the cabin with an ear to the floor. Conservatively, I would say that the clunk is at least 95% eliminated.

@greg_m , I believe the root of the problem (my problem, anyway) is slop between the keel pin and its bushing. There is zero play between the pin and the hangers, and I have the "standard" shims at the top end of the keel, as well as Delrin spacers between the keel and the hangers. There is zero clunk with the keel down, only when up.

This is the slop to which I am referring. It seems to allow the aft end of the keel to fishtail side to side when raised:

https://youtu.be/C1gy907irxs

That's brilliant!

 

[greg_m]

Soooo... not much going on other than the wind. We had non-stop gale force winds for two weeks prior to new years and now we have even stronger winds since new years.

More than 100km/h gale force winds force Table Mountain Cableway to close

In a very ironic twist, the Cape Town Table Mountain Cableway is closed on International Cableway Day due to rough winds blowing at up to 116km/h and issues with poor visibility.

www.traveller24.com

We usually don't go out sailing when the winds exceed 30 knots. The "south easter" can kick up a pretty large swell and the sea spray... spume... makes it difficult to see!

I ride a motorcycle to work daily from home to Simons Town along the coast. Get a bit sand blasted from beach sand along the way when going past the beaches and the visor gets all foggy from sea spray carried on the wind... but hey, that's just part of life here in the Western Cape this time of year!

I did manage to get some day sails in on the L26 though so logged another 45NM into my log book!

Back at work now so it's knuckle down time and get stuff done!

Best wishes to all for the new year...

 

[Gene Neill]

Happy New Decade!

 

[greg_m]

some viewing pleasure...

the winds in the Western Cape and Cape Town harbour.

 

[greg_m]

I have decided that it's taking to long to fix/repair/fit out my C/J22... I am missing out on too much actual sailing...

Meet SV Kula... a new to me 1970 Theta 26 designed and built in South Africa... this one launched in 1970! An oldie but a goodie... and more importantly...on the water, at a walk on mooring and SAILING!

Fear not... SV Serenity will continue to be worked on but now more of a hobby than an actual project boat. I've put way to much in to just throw away.

 

[Hardhead]

Nice - good looking boat. At the very least - a lot of people have learned a few things from this thread. Time to get some sailing in!

 

[greg_m]

SV Kula pictures

Took the boat out for it's first outing since October last year. The wind was actually quite calm so we motored out, hoisted the sails, bobbed around in Table bay watching ships coming and going, then motored to shallow~ish waters, dropped the anchor and jumped into the water! Man, the Atlantic is cold here in Cape Town Table Bay... waters around 16ºC. Used the opportunity to scrub the hull of slime and what little growth there was - well as far as I could reach. Saw that there is no anode on the prop shaft so that will need to be sorted pronto. The Sole Mini 17 diesel inboard is a gem, starts easily and runs like a charm. We weighed anchor and putted back to the marina, packed up the boat and tootled off for a burger and chips (french fries to you guys) and a big craft beer!

Attached are some photos...

Also; removed the wooden tiller to take it home for some refurbing...just can't help myself = First project! The tiller handle is weathered and the attaching plates for allowing it to swivel upwards were having rusted bolts, was worn and floppy and looked way to homemade!

 

[greg_m]

Ok... this is going to turn into a bit of a hybrid thread between my C/J22 and the Theta 26. Reason being that the C/J22 did not have an electrical system and I always planned to fit one... and... the Theta 26 has an electrical system that is a rats nest of spaghetti and corroded terminals and mix match of wiring, household, automotive (non-marine grade) and some really old built in electrical wiring = none of it actually working! Stay with me on this...

My plan for the Cat22 was to build the DC electrical switch panels into a watertight electrical box that i could then mount in a suitable location on the boat and from there run the external wiring to the various electrical loads = mostly lights, the GPS and fitted VHF. That plan has changed since procuring the new to me old boat. The priority is to get the Theta back home from it's current location. The electrics need to be sorted as there is no ways I trust the mess and not having necessary lighting for navigation and cabin it is not safe.

The first issue was nothing really worked at all. One of the two batteries was dead and although the engine alternator was charging, it did not do anything to revive the dead battery.

Some pictures of the old stuff as I ripped it out...

 

[greg_m]

The new DC electrical panels which were originally purchased for the Cat22. I wanted the switch panels, positive break out terminals, the negative busbar, the supply cabling and the outlet cabling to all be mounted into the watertight electrical box. Cabling passing through gland seal fittings. I also wanted to have a separate fused supply to each switch panel. I did a lot of research and youtubing to get the necessary advice and know-how for this project. Specifically listening to Jeff Cotes presentations, Pacific yacht Systems... (no I get no bux for this!)

Starting with the enclosure box had to plan layout, cut holes, shape the holes to tightly fit the switch panels, make a backing board to mount the termonals and busbar on and the drill holes and fit the glands. Then it was time to run the cables. I used what I had and what I could get hold of locally. All exposed wire ends were tinned and heat shrink applied where ever it could go!

The job was done in my garage at home and then transferred to the boat as a ready to install kit. I like it and am planning the same idea for the C/J22.

Here is the box being prepared to accept the switch panels. They are two separate panels of three switches each. There is room for two more panels should my needs aboard increase.

 

[greg_m]

Here I am making up the mounting board. This was a piece of fiberglass cut out of the C/J22 being re-purposed for the other boat!

 

[greg_m]

Here I am preparing all the wiring and then installing it. I managed to obtain silicone insulated wiring from a local electrical supply store. We don't have the likes of West Marine or similar in our area. So what I had and what I could source as best is what I used.

I made up label the next day and forgot to take photo of the finished project.

Outlets on the left, inlets on the right. From the supply battery there is a 60Amp fuse at the positive terminal of the battery. This is led to the battery isolator. Then from the isolator two separate 20Amp fused cables into the panels, one each. The negative battery terminal cable goes straight to the negative busbar. from the 6Amp fused switches the outlets goes to the break out terminals and through the gland seal. Same with the negatives from the negative busbar. From the top is the VHF, GPS chartplotter, navigation lights, anchor light, deck light and cabin lights.

Edit: Added the last photo showing the electric box temporarily installed on the chart table. You can also see the label which I made on the computer and then laminated. Unfortunately the box is just to tall to fit where the old panels fitted without carrying out some kind of woodwork panel surgery. I will spend some time using the boat as is before I decide to make modifications to structures.

 

[greg_m]

I finally got round to making a video of the trip from Hout Bay to Simons Town on my boat Kula, a 26 foot sailing keelboat.

"Kula" goes to Simons Town

Hope you enjoy!

 

[Grotto]

Some beautiful country you have there.

 

[greg_m]

Some beautiful country you have there.

All countries are beautiful... especially where no man has trodden.

Unfortunately like much of the rest of the third world, it's filling with garbage, sewage and air pollution at an alarming rate.

Nice from far but far from nice... and of course don't even ask about one's safety when walking around in the beautiful country...

 

[greg_m]

Hi all - hope all is well. We here in South Africa have been placed under national "corona" lockdown by the governmunt. This means effectively you sit at home and that's it. No going to work unless you are an essential service provider. Only allowed to buy food items from shops. No alcohol sales at all either... no hardware/boat stuff shops/resin suppliers open. Effectively unless it's food or medical there is nothing open.

So I have been neglecting the boat rebuild for a while now. There's only so much sitting around, so much "work from home" one can do before cabin fever sets in!

I had the items required to fit the windows or portlights but have been putting it off since way back when. So i spent a day cleaning out the accumulated dirt and fallen leaves from the tree across the road just to make it more pleasant to work in the boat. Then it took me two days of sweat and curses to fit the actual window. It's not difficult, just extremely awkward to do on your own, a little cramped inside up against the ceiling and it was actually two hot days.

I had previously shaped the old perspex windows to fit into the holes with the correct clearance for the moulded rubber beadings. So I had to cut the mouldings to the correct length then fit them to the opening. Lots of soapy water and a couple of putty knife type scrapers and sweat and cursing finally got the perspex window fitted into the moulding = one day. I was quite sore in the neck and shoulders from working at odd angles and using brute force.

The next day, millimeter by painful millimeter, I fitted the locking wedge shaped moulded rubber bead into the slot in the rubber frame. This secures it as well as expands it to clamp and seal the window side and the fiberglass side.

All in all I think it looks good, the window is pretty solidly in place and best of all it withstood a heavy spray jet of water testing = no leaks.

 

[Grotto]

Nicely done! I have gotten a ton of boat work done thanks to covid-19 and being ordered to stay at home. Our liquor stores are open as well as the Marine and hardware stores. I "engineered" this mast raising stand from an old windsurfer mast and scrap wood, some epoxy and a Keen eye toward it looking ramshackle as

 

[greg_m]

Hiya everybody... Not dead, just been extremely lazy to update the post. The same cannot be said about the boat. During the lockdown in SA here everything not essential food or medical was closed. I mean everything!

So I had to do with what I had in stock in the garage. I've done some work on finishing off the transom rebuild, the wooden hand rails and sliding hatch rails finished off and installed, sanded and painted the white parts of the deck with primer and two coats of topcoat. Unfortunately with winter here and the boat outside the paint was a little ruined by condensation and the cold overnight. So that will need to be resanded and redone when the weather warms up by us. I have also been working on making the new hatchway washboards.

I've cleaned up and installed all the standing rigging hardware. I could raise the mast if I wanted to however we have overhead electrical power cables along the pavement outside the yard... don't really want to chance an electrical accident.

I had to rework the keel on the one side as there was rust bubbles developing under the fairing compound. Was really pissed about this as it turns out that epoxy fairing compound is not water proof! It absorbs moisture sufficient to allow rusting of the metal under...

Currently run out of doable things and stock. Waiting on restrictions to be lifted so that I can buy more materials.

Will update as and when.

Keep well and play safe.

 

[greg_m]

I needed to get the deck painted with primer and topcoat before I could fit the woodwork. The wood work in question being the handrails/grabrails, the sliding hatch rails as well as the side rubrails.

There were a couple of really calm days forecast so it was on... water paper sanding the previos coat of primer, washing down and dry the deck. A days work. The next day was wait for the day to warm up, dry off the nights condensation, clean and wipe down with the thinners. Then two coats of primer. Another days work. Next day was very lightly waterpaper the primer coat to remove the inevitable bugs and dust from painting outside.

Then it was two coats of white. Problem is here by late afternoon, 3pm~ish, the day cools very rapidly and condensation builds on all surfaces, even inside the boat! I should have just applied one coat but I mixed to much and did not want to waste it. It all looked fantastic until the next morning! The paint that was besaut shiny and smooth had turned all matt overnight with the cold and water condensation. It was touch dry by late afternoon however I suppose it had not cured properly before the condensation set in.

So, more sanding and painting in the warmer months again. I'm using International Mediterranean white two part polyurethane topcoat. Looks off-white in the photos.

 

[greg_m]

Handrails were next as the were mostly done. just a couple of final varnish coats. The look fantastic and really help the boat look more boatie!

Although fitted they are not sealed down as they need to come off for redoing the paint.

In these photos you can see how the gloss has turned matt. You can also see i have fitted the chainplates as well. Again nothing is final sealed/installed.