Catalina 350 International Association

Hi Ed,

My recollection is that the carbon seal is very moveable as it is floating on the surface of the matching metal face and is held in place by the rubber bellows. You should be able to wiggle it side to side and if you pull it back water will squirt through the seal faces.

Hi, you didn’t say if it is a hard dodger or Sunbrella? If it is a hard dodger I would suggest it is a huge benefit to the boat. And with clears fitted it transforms a cold windy wet day into a comfortable one.

Hi Geoff, I suspect your yachtie friend is thinking you have bought Li batteries and not AGMs. If they were lithium you can use most of the available capacity, but for AGMs definitely only about 50%, you should be trying to avoid taking them below 12V or you will shorten their life.'' 6A or about 72...

Thanks Scott, just to be clear what do you do? Sounds like remove the hose off the valve without dismantling the valve, pour the Marlube in from the top so it sits on the ball, hold a cup on the outside, open and close the valve a few times to spread the lube around the ball, and catch any excess wi...

Thanks George, that gives me confidence to pull all mine apart while out of the water and get some waterproof grease into them.

Regards,

Wondering if anyone has gone against advice of Forespar and dismantled one of their seacocks. Mine are stroked every few months, but are very stiff and I expect a handle to break one day. Boat is about to be lifted for antifouling so was thinking of undoing the body screws and cleaning up/lubricatin...

Hi Bob, Luckily I haven't had that extent of problem, my hoses had reduced down to about 1/2" hole by the time I replaced them due to odour. Passing vinegar through them hadn't done anything effective and I had filled the bowl with vinegar and left it sitting in the hoses when the boat wasn't b...

This is what I fitted - nearly 10 years ago to my significant surprise! Has zero problems with it and only lifting every second year.

Ditto, exactly same set up as Ken, have thought about removing bullseyes and replacing with purpose made SS polished plates, but haven't tripped on them in the 6 or 7 years since made the change so have never got around to it!

Likewise, highly recommend the Kiwi prop, have had mine for over 4 years, rips the boat in reverse and can stop on a dime. Picked up about 0.5 kt sailing and you can fiddle with forward pitch to hit max revs at 3000 rpm if you have the patience but I cruise at 1900 and don't run over 2400 (or at lea...

Hi David, I have a feeling there is a bit in Avalon (hull 150) but I have never paid attention to it as assumed it was just a bit of fibreglass fluff left from manufacturing. Obviously not if it dissolves, so no idea sorry, salt crystals would be the only other likely reason if your boat is very dry...

My totally uneducated guess would be water leaking in through a cabin top fitting or window, and running down the wall. Difficult to see how water could work its way upward when the bilge itself is dry. Can't comment on if possible for water coming down the mast to run horizontally along the undersi...

Cracks in the lead, if that is what it is, is maybe something tha Association could take up with Catalina. The lead is not supposed to crack!

Russ

Shows what I know, I have always believed Catalina sales pitch that lead just deforms if hit and doesn't fracture, therefore a lead keel is much safer than a cast iron one. Maybe not!

Russ

Just a plastic polish, very fine abrasive, and a gentle cutting pad on a buffer. And a LOT of buffing. Just kept going and going and it got smoother and smoother, but you can't get all the crazing out as it goes quite deep. You have to decide what is good enough for you.

Russ

My lens was just slightly crazed and not too damaged so I polished it up to "reasonable" and put this cover on, is is holding up well so I haven't considered replacing either the whole hatch or just the lens.

Russ

The forward hatch is absolutely the trapezoidal one, thought I had the original code but can't find it. If you get a new one, worth buying one of attached, hatch will then outlast you by a long way.

Regards
Russ

Just a thought Ed, I had bolts working loose and a broken bracket until I finally invested in several hours of engineer time to align the engine as well as possible and get rid of much of the vibration which was the underlying cause. Since the engine is smoother (I can clearly read the small print o...

Hi, mine is pretty much central, just means I can’t fully latch the cover but it has enough bite to be safe. I left handle the full size.

And, just a thought, if you can strip off the plastic cover and find that the wire beneath is sound, but rust stained, you can clean them up brilliantly with Spotless Stainless. Just wait for a high humidity, no sun day, or do in the evening with a bit of dew around, pour some into a cloth and run a...