[C38] FW: Re: Re: FW: Re: Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Sun Nov 14 09:06:14 EST 2010

Hello Dan, Max, Phil, etc.,

My Renata #95 was also a 1981 and it had the long keel trunk shoal draft keel and hull encapsulated cutlass bearing.  I wonder if there was a production change or if what we are calling shoal draft versions are actually modified deep fin vessels.

Just shortening a deep fin doesn't make it a true shoal draft version for two reasons:

1.    The center of gravity would be raised making the vessel very tender unless a bulb is added to the keel.
2.    The surface area of the keel area would be greatly reduced creating a of loss of lateral resistance.  On the shoal draft
         version, much of the lateral resistance of the keel is produced by the long keel trunk of the hull not found on the deep
         draft keel hull.
        On my vessel, the keel trunk extended aft to the area where the deep draft vessel strut is mounted making my keel very long
         and with a low aspect ratio.  My keel trunk extended aft well past my transmission.  On my shoal draft version, the wetted
         surface was much greater than that on a deep draft version and that was another performance penalty I suffered for having
         shallow water capability.  I think the cutlass bearing and propeller were actually in the same position on both models.

 I would be very interested if Catalina produced a shoal draft 38 using the short keel trunk hull.  If they did, I would imagine the keel would have to have been much heavier and having had a much thicker cord to retain ballast stability but that wouldn't address the loss of wetted surface for lateral resistance.

To further confuse this issue, the silhouette on the original brochure, which you can see at:

http://www.catalina38.org/specs/images/90c38specs.jpg

doesn't show the keel skeg of the long keel trunk shoal draft versions.  If you drew a horizontal line between the hull and aft end of the shown shoal keel to the cutlass bearing, it would approximate the actual silhouette of my vessel.

Did Catalina stop making the 38 from two different molds?  If so, what were all the changes in the "new" shoal draft version?

To be continued...............?

Dying in anticipation of answers,
Tom Troncalli 
(recovering 38 owner)

(Note:  There is no known practical permanent cure for the loss of ownership of a Catalina 38)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: 
To: listserve at catalina38.org
Cc: tdtron at earthlink.net; listserve at catalina38.org
Sent: 11/13/2010 11:18:52 PM 
Subject: Re: Re: [C38] FW: Re: Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Hi all, I have a 1981 shoal draft the Blonde Stranger and it has the exposed strut like Max just posted (the picture #1453724_12jpg).
Dan Miller #108

Nov 13, 2010 02:16:51 PM, listserve at catalina38.org wrote:

I wasn't aware that  the confined strut configuration is the standard on a shoal draft C38. Marc's boat is a deep keel, so it was a modification, that's for sure, but I thought that the shoal draft model strut is just like a regular deep keel, just like the pic that I send from Chute the Breeze, and also from the attached pic. 
Do you think that these boats were deep draft models with modified keels????
Do you have pics of Renata's keel?

Regards,
Max

2010/11/12 Tom T. <tdtron at earthlink.net>

Hello gang,

I've been following the thread about the shaft struts and as always, I find it interesting to hear from you guys.

As Phil Gay noted, my 38 was a shoal draft version. There are some deep draft versions floating around that have had their keels shortened making them both shoal draft and sometimes very tender also if they didn't add a bulb to the keel.

The true shoal draft versions had the cutlass bearing mounted in the Fiberglas hull and there was no exposed strut.

I had planned to put an angled end on the hull where the cutlass bearing was mounted so that the prop wash would be directed to port when in reverse to reduce prop walk but I ended up selling the boat before I hauled her again.

I've attached a photo of my keel.  As far as I know, no shoal draft versions ever had an exposed shaft strut and the hull was slightly different to accommodate the longer keel of the shoal draft version.  The keel trunk on a true shoal draft 38 is longer than on the standard deep draft version which made the strut unnecessary on the shoal draft version. 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Max Soto 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 11/12/2010 6:53:42 PM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Here's an example.. 

2010/11/12 Max Soto <maxsoto at gmail.com>

Hi Phil,  

I have some pics from shoal draft C38's, and the shaft and strut have the same exact configuration as the fin keel...

Max

2010/11/12 Phil Gay <eyriepg at comcast.net> 

Marc,

One thing that hasnâ€™t been noted is that you apparently have a shoal draft C38.  I have never examined the prop shaft on a shoal draft version and so your photo was very interesting to me.  Tom Troncalli owned a shoal draft C38 BTW.  

I would think that you donâ€™t have a structural problem if your shaft is firmly attached to the boat.  However, from a water intrusion point of view, I would want to have the area repaired as soon as practical.  We donâ€™t think of fiberglass as being able to soak up water, but it does to some extent.  So the glass needs to be thoroughly dried before the area is repaired and bottom painted.

Phil Gay
C38 049 (deep draft) Que Linda
Everett, WA

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Marc Stewart
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 9:22 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Here is a picture - that shows not the crack but a side view of the faring that's "loose."  The loose section lies between the aft egg zinc and the leading end of the propeller assembly above (below in this pix) the visible cutlass bearing.  No, the boat's not upside down!

Marc Stewart
mstewart at sounddsl.com

On Nov 11, 2010, at 9:11 PM, Marc Stewart wrote:

Greetings,
I just hauled Palancar for biannual bottom work and discovered that the fiberglas faring that envelopes the strut that extends from the cutlass bearing up into the hull is split apart along the trailing edge and "wiggly."  Fortunately the bronze strut itself is firm.  Are any of you in the know:  is this a cosmetic thing that can wait, or is it a "gotta fixit now?"   And do you know what kind of Pandora's box it is likely to be?  The yard sent me an estimate for a cosmetic kind of repair....
Thanks, Marc

Marc Stewart
mstewart at sounddsl.com

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-- 

Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica

-- 
Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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-- 
Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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