[C38] The loss of Hull #280

Tom T. tdtron at earthlink.net
Sat Dec 14 07:44:25 EST 2013 

Hello Group,

I wanted to add one thing to this thread on steering problems.

On the Catalina 38 with wheel steering, the only way to use the 
emergency tiller is to either raise the wheel mount so the emergency 
tiller will clear it or temporarily take the wheel off.  I chose the 
second option.

When I tried to remove my wheel, it was seized to the shaft .  I used a 
gear puller to get the wheel of the first time and it took a lot of pull 
from years of exposure in the Florida salt air.

After the wheel was off, I wire brushed and cleaned the shaft and then 
coated the shaft and threads with waterproof trailer bearing grease.  
After greasing, the nut and wheel could be removed very easily.

We sometimes removed the wheel when at anchor to more easily get around 
the deck like when using the stern ladder.  When the wheel was off, we 
just bungee corded it to the Bimini frame on either side which greatly 
increased the cockpit space in seconds.

The reason I mention greasing the wheel mount is if your wheel has never 
been removed before, it will probably be stuck to the shaft as mine 
was.  This greasing procedure has to be done BEFORE you need the 
emergency tiller or you may not be able to get the wheel off in an 
emergency making that f#$%^&* little tiller useless.

Tom Troncalli



On 12/14/2013 3:54 AM, Steve Smolinske wrote:
>
> We did the same fix to Peregrine, we used ¼ inch stainless steel plate 
> and screwed and epoxied it in place over the wood stop.
>
> *From:*Listserve [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] *On Behalf 
> Of *Tom T.
> *Sent:* Friday, December 13, 2013 12:45 PM
> *To:* Catalina 38 Listserve
> *Subject:* Re: [C38] The loss of Hull #280
>
> Hello Greg and group,
>
> I don't know what happened to Craig's steering but one of  the most 
> common problems on the Catalina 38's is when the steering quadrant 
> hits the wood stop below the cockpit and the wood fails from age 
> and/or rot causing the quadrant to travel too far allowing the cable 
> to come off the pulley groove resulting in total loss of steerage.
>
> This happened to #95 late one night fighting rough, rainy weather with 
> 50 mph gusts and breaking seas in the usually calm Tampa Bay.  Weather 
> in Florida can go from calm to survival conditions in a matter of 
> minutes. The natives are used to it but on boats it can get really 
> exciting.
>
> I was able to get to the quadrant via the stern compartment to free 
> the loose cable so we could then steer with the emergency steering 
> tiller to get us back to our port several miles away.  Even though it 
> was in protected Tampa Bay, it was still a very scary situation until 
> we got things under control.  If anyone needs to use their emergency 
> tiller, you may want to reef down or you will exhaust yourself trying 
> to muscle that #$%^ little stick.
>
> After this event, I replaced the wood tiller stop with one made from 
> aluminum so it won't ever fail again causing steering failure. The 
> stop goes abeam where the quadrant will strike it to limit the 
> steering travel.  It has been many years ago that I made the 
> modification so I can't remember the details other than #95 is safe 
> from this inevitable event because the wood was replaced with 
> aluminum.  I don't think the original wood was even pressure treated 
> so it was a disaster waiting for a time to happen and on boats that 
> usually means at the worst possible time
>
> I'm still anxious to hear what happened to Craig's steering but I 
> wanted you to know about this modification to #95. Craig is an 
> accomplished sailor and he is also an airplane pilot. I'm glad his 
> event was in a boat instead of an airplane or it could have been much 
> worse.  Losing steering over the Atlantic in a small plane doesn't 
> sound like fun.
>
> Craig has been a great contributor here for many years and we are glad 
> he made it back.
> .
> Tom Troncalli
> Recovering ex-38 owner
>
>
>
> On 12/13/2013 7:44 AM, William Knowles wrote:
>
>     Craig when you feel up to it, could you give some details on the
>     steering problems. Anything we should be looking at?
>
>     Very sorry for your loose.
>
>     On Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 7:32 AM, Greg S. Hart
>     <ghart at follysbestrentals.com <mailto:ghart at follysbestrentals.com>>
>     wrote:
>
>     Craig,
>
>     Sorry to hear about the loss of your boat, but glad to hear
>     everything precious made it off.
>
>     Greg Hart
>
>     Folly's Best #95
>
>     *From:*Craig Sailor6147 [mailto:sailor6147 at hotmail.com
>     <mailto:sailor6147 at hotmail.com>]
>     *Sent:* Thursday, December 12, 2013 10:57 PM
>     *To:* Catalina 38 Listserve
>     *Subject:* [C38] The loss of Hull #280
>
>     I'm sorry to report that we lost "Wings" in weather 400 km west of
>     Bermuda on our way to the BVI's. We lost steerage and after
>     bouncing in 20-30ft seas for 3 days, the Coast Guard picked us up
>     and flew us back to Hampton Va. The boat was abandoned and if it
>     didn't sink, it will either be salvaged or destroyed by the navy.
>     It was a great boat and I'll miss her after 15 years of sailing
>     her through The Great Lakes, East Coast, The Keys and The Bahamas.
>
>     Craig Steinkraus
>
>
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>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
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>     -- 
>     W H Knowles
>
>
>
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