[C38] cabin top wear and fix

[Tom T.]

Don Strong and gang,

I hesitated to reply to your flattering email but I have to be honest with you.

I was also overcome with pride that someone else fixed their boat with my cheap skate solution instead of the more expensive "yachtsman" type remedy using the Teflon tape to fix the friction problem with the cabin top hatch.

As long as I'm being honest, I also had to learn the hard way to apply the contact glue to assist the Teflon chair leg skids to hold better.  Live and learn.

While we are talking about the cabin top hatch, I had a really nice addition on my boat that we loved.  I had a Sunbrella cover that rolled up and stowed on the hatch when not needed but it acted as a door when we needed one instead of having to use the hatch boards.  You could just brush the Sunbrella cover aside to enter or leave the cabin.

I sewed a bolt rope in the top of the hatch cover and used a plastic bolt rope extrusion bought from an RV store that I cut and screwed to the hatch to secure the Sunbrella hatch cover.  I had a pair of Velcro straps held under the bolt rope extrusion to hold the cover when it was rolled up on the hatch cover.

I still have my old Catalina 27 we used to race and I will soon make a similar hatch cover for it since the 27 is my last remaining Catalina.  (Everyone should always have at least one Catalina)

I don't know if the attached picture will show enough to give good detail.  I had another piece of white Sunbrella lining the inside to help insulate it and also add some brightness to the interior.  Originally I had some 1/8" flexible closed cell foam insulation between the panels but it got old and I had to remove it after about 6 years but just the two pieces of Sunbrella did a pretty good job of keeping the summer heat and the winter cold out. 

We always left the hatch cover down to protect the hatch boards when away.  With the Sunbrella protecting the boards, they were protected and never got weathered looking again.  If you have an industrial or heavy duty sewing machine, this is a simple and easy project.

I had a piece of 3/4" PVC sewn into the bottom of the cover to hold it down by gravity but we also had bungee cord across the bottom below the threshold to keep the PVC in place so windstorms couldn't lift the cover.

Tom Troncalli



----- Original Message ----- 
From: D. R. Strong 
To: tdtron at earthlink.net;Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 4/13/2010 4:49:29 PM 
Subject: Re: [C38]cabin top wear and fix


Gawd, I am overcome with pride that somehow my pea brain came up the the same solution as suggested by Tom (it took me a couple of weeks farting around to get to the contact cement, I'm sure Tom saw the need for it immediately). This really works well, 6 years now.
regards, Don

Tom T. wrote: 

My 38 was in St. Pete Florida and we found that the hatch would bind up on hot, sunny days from expansion in the sun.

We also experienced wear from the fiberglass to fiberglass friction where the hatch rides on the cabin top as many have talked about.   Instead of buying the expensive Teflon tape, we used little 1" square self sticking Teflon furniture glides found at any hardware store.

They would not stick properly unless we first put some contact cement on the hatch where the slide was to go.   They were still working well several years later when we delivered the boat to the new owner last February.

Tom Troncalli



----- Original Message ----- 
From: PAUL NOTTE 
To: listserve at catalina38.org
Sent: 4/13/2010 1:36:53 PM 
Subject: [C38] waxing and whining


I'm with Charles send up your waxer Max. As for the hatch I find if I hose the channels out on a regular schedual with fresh water the hatch slides much easyier if I don't it binds up. I'm in the process of cleaning and varnishing right now and had not planed on removing the teak at the companion way this year.....However after I remove the traveler , it's only 4 more holes to drill. Well off to the boat to contemplate this new issue.
  Paul Impulse

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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Section of Evolution and Ecology
University of California Davis
95616
530 752 7886
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