[C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Sun Nov 14 21:33:26 EST 2010

When we pulled Pergrine upon purchase, they slide some shims down the shaft as well for the very reasons discussed here.   In the spring we are putting on a new rudder and I will be adressing this same issue at that time.  I just finished rebuilding the pedestal and am planning on writing an article about the entire steering system repair/rebuild after we finish with the new rudder and post.  One thing I can add at this point that I found out from Edson is that our boats originally came with bronze pins for the 4" pulleys on the crossed wire idler, they recommend replacing them with stainless steel as they have seen substantial wear on the bronze.   Mine did have enough wear to prevent the pulley from sliding freely side to side outside of the small groove that was worn in the pin. Edson has the stainless pins available as a replacement part.  Pretty pricey about $40 bucks each. 

Regarding the Catalina smile I recently had a discussion with another sailor on a theory as to why the cracks might appear.  We repaired ours last spring, grinding out the crack to the hull, we thought we went deep enough and wide enough to fix the problem, well the crack came back but not near as severe as it had been, on the opposite side where we were not as agressive it came back to the same extent before the repair.  We feel we can go more aggressive on our repair this spring and stop it maybe.   The conversation regarding cause centered around the forces applied to the boat when adjusting the back stay, As we are aware it possible to crank the backstay enough to inhibit doors from closing properly below he felt it didnt take much to move the bow thus the rest of the boat it wouldnt take much to introduce a crack.   I know others without backstays get the smile too so Im sure there are a number of reasons that could all be responsible.  

Steve
#312 Peregrine
Seattle

________________________________

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of Chuck Finn
Sent: Sun 11/14/2010 9:54 AM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

Excellent discussion!  This is why our Association is so important to
all of us!  Thank you everyone for contributing!

Here is what I know from my research on this over the years.

1.   I seriously looked into shortening my keel a few years back as
there is a set of locks leading the the St. Lawrence Seaway that allow
drafts less than six feet.    Mars Metals out of Canada has made
"torpedo" bulbs for C38s and has the mold in storage.  Their calculation
was I recall, that a five foot draft would require an additional 500
pounds of lead.

2. The Yankee 38s did not come in a shoal keel as far as I can tell. 
But, their fin keel design was different than Butler's, so we can
probably surmise that Catalina experimented a bit with the keel in the
beginning.  I certainly would if I were them and kept seeing the
"Catalina Smile!"

3. Until this discussion, I had not seen a shoal draft version of our
boats that had the keel faired the way Tom T. describes.  The ones I had
seen looked pretty much like the 1981 model at this website:
http://boats.iboats.com/1981-catalina-38/664532.html

4.  When I was investigating a shoal draft modification,  I had been
told by someone at Catalina that the shoal keel bolt configuration was
the same as the deep draft keel.  About 10 or so years back, I recall
that Catalina even had some shoal drafts keels available....  I have no
way of verifying any of this other than my old and sometimes faulty memory!

My best guess then is Catalina had two keel molds and could choose which
one to bolt on to their standard hull based upon the order.  Fairing the
keel to the hull is a labor intensive job, which probably allowed the
workers and designers some latitude to experiment.   And that is what
they did.....   probably to see if they could reduce the prop walk.   I
don't think there is any structural aspect to this modification as the
two support points for the prop shaft are the motor/transmission mount
and the cutlass bearing (packing gland is about keeping water out and
does not support).

Tom, how did you keep this long shaft tunnel clean?  Zebra mussels up
here would soon pack this tunnel over a summer.

Thanks again to everyone who contributes!
Chuck Finn
Commodore

On 11/14/2010 10:27 AM, Max Soto wrote:
> What a Dilemma!!
>
> Dan, do you have a pic from Blonde Starnger's keel??? There are only
> 13 boat from Renata to Blonde Starnger, and both are 1981 models..
>
>
>
> Renata's keel with skeg is the most different one that I have
> seen.I've been collecting pics from C38's for sale, because Estancia
> was such in bad shape and modified when I bought it, that I needed
> lots of pics in order to tell what was original and what wasn't, and
> of course to get tips from other  boats..
>
> Tom, I'm going to put a production change on the table for the
> following reason:
>
> The  silhouette on the original brochure does shows a slightly larger
> keel trunk, and one of the most notable differences is the back edge
> of the keel (just forgot the technical name!) is perpendicular to the
> water line. Let's call it straight!!!!  The deep keel version is
> angled, even if the keel draft has been reduced, you'll be able to
> tell because of this, but if you look at the attached pic from Chute
> the Breeze or the other one I sent a couple of days a go, it looks
> just like the shoal keel on the brochure, straight down! without an
> angle, that's why I always tought that I had these pics from shoal
> draft versions!
>
>
> One more thing, Estancia is 1982, and came with the 1982 brochure
> (which is older than the one on the C38 web), and shows no  skeg either.
>
> My opinion, evidence shows two shoal draft versions, so who will be
> able to confirm a production change???????????
> Just found another  shoal draft pic on Calatlinaowners.com, has been
> attached also..
>
> Tom, there is  a known cure for the loss of a C38, but it requires
> lot's of money in order to get a newer and bigger boat!!!! Just make
> sure that this boat is faster than a C38, other wise, not worth it....LOL
> Regards,
> Max

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