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Cat TalesSeptember 1999 |
Bill Weeks, Commodore
Well friends and sailors and
according to me, we are entering the best sailing season. I love the fall; I am
a fall kind of guy. The cooler days, steadier winds and blue skies make me glad
that I am a Chesapeake Bay sailor. I grew up on the beaches of San Diego and we
only had two seasons - summer and a cooler summer. Here in Virginia, we have a
true four-season year. We have just enough summer to let one know there is
something called summer and a winter that is just long enough to experience
something called winter. The rest of the year consists of long springs and
falls. I dearly love the changing of the leaves in the fall. California is ugly
brown, except for a couple of weeks in the spring, after the rains, although
this year it's black with all the fires they have had. I don't know why anyone
would go to New England for the leaves, when this area is so pretty.
As
we enter the final fall of the 20th century, big changes are also in store for
the Weeks household. Sharon and I have sold our comfortable townhouse in
Tyson's Corner and are living in a not-so-comfortable apartment out near
Dulles. The construction of our retirement home on the northern neck will begin
in a week or so. We should be moved in by next spring, good Lord willin' and
the creek (a.k.a. Coan River) don't rise. I will be moving Fortnight down to
her new home sometime after September, when I can find a weekend with good
weather and north winds. I plan to use her as a cabin on the bay, as I will be
spending a lot of time in the northern neck, overseeing the construction of the
house. I am planning on doing all the electrical wiring of the house, so that
will take some time. All in all, this fall and winter will be a busy time for
Sharon and me. We have appliances, lighting fixtures, bathroom fixtures,
carpet, paint colors, and a few million other things to select and
purchase.
Throughout September and October, I will be traveling quite a
bit on business and fortunately Sharon will be able to join me on a couple of
trips. So some of the time will be filled with pleasure. Whoever did the club
cruising schedule and my business trips managed to use a lot of the same dates.
I plan on making the Halloween cruise if Fortnight is still in the area. I will
be at the November meeting and for sure the Christmas Party.
That time
of the year has arrived when we have to think about officers for next year. I
will be in the Washington area until March and can help with the planning for
next year. I will be putting Pete Denholm up for Commodore, but we need to fill
the other offices. I have talked Joan into staying on as treasurer and Mike
Davis will again do the newsletter. So that only leaves the Vice Commodore. I
need some help here with recommendations on who will be willing to take on this
chore.
So my activities with the CCYC will be winding down but I intend
to remain a member so that I can keep in touch with all my wonderful friends
and sailors. Also I will be retired, so maybe there will have more time for
sailing and the gazillion other things I want to do.
Don't forget we
have a couple of events coming up. Oktoberfest, which Joan and Wayne Savage
will be the Raft Captains, will be October 2nd and 3rd in the Rhode Rive. I
wish I could make it, as I like the Rhode. I intend to make the Halloween
Cruise in Harness Creek on October 30th and 31st, with Ray Harris as Raft
Captain. Let's have a big turnout for the final two events of the season. Boy
has this year flown by; I'm beginning to think about winter lay-up.
Does
anyone have any good ideas about what to wash cushions with in preparation for
winter?
See ya on the water.
Wayne and Joan Savage, Jubilee
Can it
be? Fall is here again, the sailing season is coming to an end, and we haven't
seen much of the Bay this year! I am reminded of this as we prepare for the
annual CCYC Oktoberfest raft-up in the Rhode River (off the West River) set for
October 2-3. This year we will once again be the raft captains for these
festivities.
We will bring the bier garten, Um-Pa-Pa music for
atmosphere while we dine on bratwurst and drink Oktoberfest bier, our other
favorite thirst quencher. The club will provide the Bratwurst and bier, while
the partygoers bring German hors d'oeuvres and cuisine to taste and
share.
To get to the raft site off Big Island, enter the West River,
keeping Red 2 to your starboard. The channel is narrow at that point with
shoals on both sides, but with plenty of water. Proceed up the West River about
a mile to where the Rhode River enters the West River on your starboard. Round
a second Red 2 and head directly up the Rhode (about 348o M) to where it opens
into a semicircular bay. Round Green 7 to port and proceed west to Big Island,
which will not be hard to identify. Jubilee will be there about 3:00 PM,
monitoring Channel 72 every half hour. Joan, Wayne and Winston will provide
rafting assistance.
Please give Joan a call (301-762-6752) if you plan
to join us this year so that we can ensure there is enough bier and wurst. It
just won't do not to have enough for everyone.
This event is always a
great time. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again. Come on by, have a
good time!
Ray Harris, Aurora
What better
cruising weather than October on the Chesapeake? What better fun than the
Octoberfest?? What is more satisfying than building a Jack-O-Lantern on your
boat???
You are cordially invited to the first annual CCYC
Halloween/Octoberfest cruise to Harness Creek on Saturday, October 30. Harness
Creek is one of the premier anchorages on the Bay, and it should be
delightfully empty this late in the year. Weather should be pleasantly cool and
worthy of our last raft-up for the year. Let's make it the best!
Price
of entry to the cruise is one pumpkin and one candle. After dinner and copious
libations, you will be asked to carve the pumpkin with an appropriate nautical
motif. I have a bottle of champagne for the crew that is voted the most
original carvers. Note: Please do not carve the pumpkin in advance - it's post-
libation originality we are looking for! I hope to get a good photo of the
candle-lit pumpkins and carvers for the fleet archives, and I will send a
digital copy of it to all attendees.
I will supply real German beer,
sauerkraut, and the best of the wurst for all who call me (703-893-1833
evenings, 703-293-9040 days) or send an e-mail (ray@metratek.net) on or before
Thursday, October 28. Just bring appetizers and dessert. Others are still
welcome, but please bring your own.
For those of you who hesitate to
abandon your annual pumpkin patch vigil on Halloween, I am very pleased to
announce, that after protracted negotiations, representatives of the Great
Pumpkin have finally agreed to add Harness Creek to the list of pumpkin patches
eligible for this year's worthiness assessment! See ya'll there!
Cruise
Directions for Fair Weather:
Enter the South River and proceed to the second
creek on the North shore. Turn North into Harness Creek just before FL R 2.5s
3M "10". Look for Aurora and prepare to party. We will monitor Channel 16 after
3 PM.
For you die-hard GPS-ers, set your "Go-To" to 38o 56.3'N, 76o
30.7'W and watch out for major landmasses between your slip and your
target!
Cruise Directions for Foul Weather:
If the Washington Post
shows a drawing of rain or thunderstorms on their weather page on Saturday
morning, the cruise will move to my house near Tysons Corner, VA. From the
Beltway at Tysons' Corner, take Route 7 towards Falls Church. Proceed 1 mile
and turn right on Dominion Drive. Proceed to the circle at the top of the hill.
2279 Kings Garden Way is the fourth house off the left exit from the circle.
(Set your GPS for 38o 54.25'N, 77o 12.46W and watch out for the shoals on Route
7!) Park on the circle or on the street; all of the front-end-in parking spaces
are reserved. Party starts at 7 PM. Don't make me drink all the beer by myself!
Ray Harris, Aurora
If you have a
Catalina inboard, you probably have an aqua-lift muffler and it's probably
going bad! And it could kill you!
This contraption is a fiberglass box
about 1 foot on each side. On Aurora, a C-320, the Perkins M-30 combines its
used cooling water and exhaust gas and feeds them to the top of the aqua-lift
muffler. The box outlet is fed from an interior tube that extends almost to the
bottom of the box. The exhaust increases pressure in the box and blows the
spent cooling water and exhaust fumes up the tube and out the hose to the
outlet, which is above the water line on the port side, aft.
I first
noticed a problem when the fleet was rafted up on Hunting Creek last summer.
The bilge pump was intermittently spewing a 2-inch stream of water - I didn't
think that the ice was melting THAT fast.
The aqua-lift muffler is made
up from a 5-sided fiberglass box with the 6th side covered by a fiberglass top.
The "top" is actually the bottom of the box as installed on the boat. The top
is bonded to the rest of the box with three layers of fiberglass cloth and some
goop inside that I couldn't identify. My box was leaking through these layers
of fiberglass.
I cleaned out the layers with a Dremel tool and epoxied
the joint, but it failed in 5 minutes. Seems high heat and pressures are a
no-no for epoxy. I then sawed the top off the box and found that my box had
been leaking through the layers of fiberglass on all four sides. (I always
wondered why I slept so good on the boat - the aft cabin HAD to have high
concentrations of lethal carbon monoxide gas!)
Catalina was no help -
they sent me drawings for how they build the box on every boat BUT the C-320. I
have also corresponded with at least ten Catalina owners on the WWWeb who had
the same problem - including several who were on the way home from the dealer's
with a brand-new boat! This could be a big deal and subject to Coast Guard
safety recalls.
I patched my box with Marine-Tex and it has held for
about 6 hours so far. A new box is reported to cost about $125 from Catalina
(vs $16 for Marine-Tex that may fail at any moment). The problem with the new
box is that they may have the inlets and outlets in different places and the
exhaust hoses have imbedded metal wires that are a bear to work with, so it is
a big deal to re-pipe the box.
So, if you have symptoms of a lot of
water in the bilge, check around the aqua-lift muffler. It will leak only when
the engine is running.
By the way, any C-320 owners who are having
troubles with water in the bilge, give me a call or an e-mail and I'll fill you
in on the factory position on this. (703-893-1633 or ray@metratek.net).
CCYC received the following email from a fellow Catalina
owner. Is there anyone in the Club with information that can help this lady and
her family get back on the Bay? You can contact Ms Fohs directly or send me the
information and I will forward
it.
……………………………………………………….
Jennifer
Fohs, jlwfohs@erols.com, 410-439-9640
I am looking for some help with a
Catalina 30 (I believe it is a 1976). This boat was my father's boat and he has
passed away. We all love the boat and still enjoy using it, however, recently
we have run across numerous problems with the boat and have had no luck finding
someone capable of fixing it.
My father kept the boat in excellent
condition (he loved the boat), unfortunately, after he died, we hired someone
to do the routine maintenance on the boat and in retrospect; I think the guy
just completely ripped us off on a regular basis. In fact, some of the work he
said he did, doesn't seem to have been done.
The problems are: only some
of the lights work (we have had them fixed and now the problem seems to be
back), we also have problems with the engine (Atomic 4), it always overheats.
We want to continue to use the boat but at this point feel like we really need
someone, reliable, to help us get it in GOOD working order.
The boat is
kept in Rock Creek just off the Patapsco (right across from the Maryland Yacht
club and White Rocks).
My question to you is: could you recommend anyone
or anyplace in the Baltimore/Annapolis area who is familiar with Catalinas and
may be able to help us revive the boat that has meant so much to our father and
us?
Our problem is, we can find people with power boat experience but
don't seem comfortable working on sailboats or we find someone and they say
they will do the work and then they never show up. It is so frustrating because
we really want to use the boat and we can't. We aren't asking for free work but
we have had no luck finding anyone.
Please let me know if you can offer
any advise or help. Thanks for your help and any assistance would be GREATLY
appreciated!