Dear ... Forum
Before i point my questions, a short
introduction to this Forum !
April 2014 i bought a
C&C 36, 1980 in
Miami. Sailed her through the
Bahamas,
Haiti (where Canoo boys made some nice deep scratches),
Dominican Republic and Curaçao.
Now docked in Curaçao, this year i had a very relaxed and beautiful trip to
Bonaire, Los Aves and Los Roques.
In februari 2016 i hope more enjoyable
sails to come through Los Roques, then heading st. Martin (Maybe, just maybe from Los Roques, before heading to st. Martin a sail to mainland
Venezuela, Pt. Cabello for some
wood and
canvas work...).
Before this sail to st. Martin i have to do some
work.
I will
haul out at Curaçao
Marine for about a month .
-Strip and
paint entire
Hull.
-Osmosis (or not?) above the waterline?.
-Replacement
rudder bearings, check
rudder meganics.
-Replacement front
hatch.
-Build in rudder adjuster for
raymarine p70
wheel.
-New
Canvas Bimini. (eventually later in Venezuale and/or design of a new frame).
-Paint
deck and tub(?).
-Maintanance Winches.
-Repair/replace
Outboard
-Constructing a 40 ft. Jacob's ladder
I want to strip the
anti fouling from the bottom (it has allready fall off at 3 or 4 places, about 1mm thick small plates...) and i want to strip the
paint above the waterline too.
What concerns me more is: I have
blisters +- 7 to 9 inches above the waterline. These
blisters almost totally disappeare when the
boat is at
dock for a few months, but after a week to 10 days of sailing they start to grow up again. Getting worse a little about every day when sailing (and at a certain level it seems to stop...).
I read about "the underwater section of the
hull has 7 layers of fibre and above the waterline just 5 layers". At the transistion of these layers it should happen more often that blisters appear. Under the waterline i have no bubbles or blisters at all.
So I think i can say i don't have to worry about
Osmosis (?).
Question?: If i strip the entire hull. Thinking about the 220+ Haitian scratches, would it be recommendable to add a new gell coat before painting?
Besides I have a rudder problem! The bearings of the rudder seem to get bad (It started just a few days after leaving
Miami, tightened the upper bolt and been sailing about 75 days since...). Now, when i dive at the very bottom of the rudderblade i can move (tilt) it about half an inch.
The upper bolt (above on the
deck behind the helm) is moving and cracking (!) maybe about a quarter inch max during sailing, and cracking quite loud when there is sudden pressure on the rudderblade. I tightend the ground plate from the upperbolt a few times.
The
Caribbean Sea can be nasty, so i tend to search for good windows but i think when the going gets tough the rudder could get bad rapidly...?
Bearings for the rudder might be hard to get in Curaçao, ordering from there can take a long time, so i want to bring the bearings from the
Netherlands.
I have been reading the
internet but some time ago i could only find someone (with superb explainations and foto's) working on a
C&C 40 (i think it was), from which the rudder/shaft etc. looks quite similar to my C&C 36.. Though he doesn't give sizes of
the 2(?) ruddershaft bearings?
Question?: Does anyone has or knows where to find C&C 36, year 1980, ruddershaft bearing measurements ? Can i presume that after 35 years the bearings will be still original/same sizes? i.e. does it happen a lot the rudder gets loose?
I am not a real experienced meganic, so on the rudder i definately need help. I spoke to a local meganic and think he does a good job.
Thank you so much for replying on my topic.
Do excuse me for my not very correct
english.
Nico