From the Captain
By Mike Hibbs

Here it is May and most of us have our boats back in the water. The racing season is in full swing and some cruises are on the agenda for the coming months. Once in a while the sun shines just enough to get me excited to get down to the boat. All those odds and ends to do, don't you know.

Last month we had an area at the West Marine swap meet. Some of the members sold quite a bit of their stuff, while others hardly sold much at all. There seemed to be a moderate turnout as compared to previous years.

On Tuesday, May 21st we are responsible for the Race Committee that night. If anyone is interested in helping to set up and run the races, please contact me.  We need at least 5-6 people. More is better. If you do not know how to do this, don't worry. You will have just one job to do such as holding a flag or keeping time or registering the entrants as they arrive. We will make it easy and also it is a good way to see those bigger boats in action. Typically these races are great photo shoots. All the classes will be running spinnakers and are beautiful on the downwind runs.

May the winds always fill your sails and your days be long.

Fleet 20 Launches New Service
By Dale Mack

The Fleet 20 website has added a new service intended to help Catalina 22's find new homes.  Folks wishing to sell other sailing related gear can also use the service.  Ads will remain posted for six months.  A link to the service can be found on the home page.

SWAP Meet and a Free Lunch
By Dale Mack

April 20.  It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday.  Several of us took advantage of the Fleet 20 booth at the West Marine swap meet to part with a few items we've collected over time.

Besides wandering around and looking through everyone else's merchandise, some of the membership went through the Oregon State Marine Board's "Mandatory Boater Education" booklet.

It was nice to just hang out together after so many weekends of wet weather.  As the swap meet started to wind down, we all decided to head over to the open house at Schooner Creek Boat Works.  Besides who could pass up a free lunch of grilled hot dogs and your choice of soft drinks or beer.

Helping Hands
By Dale Mack

Vernon Hollins installing the mainsail onto Zephyr, #9353

April 27.  We put three Fleet 20 boats back into the water on Saturday, April 27th.  Although the skies looked like they might rain, we ended up with beautiful weather for the activity.

The 42nd Street Ramp on the Oregon side of the Columbia River was the venue for the event.  The water was much higher then it was in late March when I helped the Drews launch Harmony.  While the higher water meant more dock available for launching, it did nothing to change the shallow angle of the ramp, so everyone used their trailer's tongue extension to aid in the launching process.

One nice thing about a group launch event is that there are so many helping hands.  While we all learn to rig and launch our boats with our partners, its always nice to have some additional help.  What the group help lacked in speed (because of all the socializing), it made up for in having the opportunity to check out each other's trailers and the various mast raising apparatus  everyone employed.

One of the other side benefits of the event was there was so much help available to get skippers back to their vehicles after motoring their boats to their respective marinas.

Martin Island Cruise - Memorial Day Weekend
By Dale Mack

May 25-27.  This year's Memorial Day Weekend cruise is heading to the lagoon at Martin Island.  Martin Island is six miles downstream from St. Helens on the Washington side (St. Helens is 17.4 miles downstream from the I-5 bridge).  The Columbia River All Catalina Association and SYSCO both plan to be there.

The Columbia River All Catalina Association has a nice description with pictures of how to reach the lagoon in their May 2001 newsletter.  Maptech's MapServer online chart of Martin Island also provides you views of Martin Island, along with Microsoft's TerraServer for aerial shots of the area.

Spring Series #1
By Dale Mack 

April 18.  Our first race under the new starting system went off without a hitch.  The new system combined with rolling starts got all three starts off very quickly.

I had the good fortune to crew for Don Batson aboard Crocus, #4248, in the first race of the season.  Also aboard crewing was fellow Fleet 20 member Terry Annis (one of Don's two partners in Crocus).

The Catalina 22 racing fleet (SYSCO fleet H2) was joined by new racer Blaine Dickason, sailing Gromit, #12286.  I first met Blaine a couple of weeks earlier at the SYSCO Race Clinic.

We had wonderful sailing conditions for the season opener.  The weather was especially welcomed since my knees and shins kept reacquainting themselves with all the sharp edges of the boat.  It's amazing how uncoordinated you can feel after taking the winter off from sailing.

Terry Annis steers as Don Bateson mans the genoa sheet on Crocus.

For those of us who race without spinnakers, racing downwind into the Columbia River's two knot current can be a real struggle in the Spring Series, fortunately for us on this night, the race committee shorten the course as the wind started to show signs of dimensioning about two-thirds into the race.

I had a great time and really want to thank Don and Terry for inviting me to come along.  I'd like to encourage others to express their willingness to crew if you'd like to go out some evening.

Gromit finishes the race with the moon and Mt. Hood in the background.

Spring Series #2
By Dale Mack

April 25.  Where race #1 had light to moderate wind conditions, race #2 brought on much stronger wind.  Having three people onboard the boat meant we'd have an easier go at it than if we had only two.

If the sound of the wind whistling through the rigging in the marina wasn't reminder enough, getting out on the river should have clinched it, but we still discussed whether we should reef or not.  Funny how the desire to race fast makes you consider sail combinations that are totally off limits if the spouse or friends are aboard for a pleasure sail.  It's not that heeling over is faster, in fact anything past twelve degrees starts becoming marginal, it's knowing when to switch to less sail area to maintain speed by preventing too much heel.  A 150 Genoa and a reefed main can be faster and more controlled than a 150 Genoa and a full main, but you've got to know when to make the call.

Terry Annis and Don Batson secure Crocus after the race.

The curious thing about being on a boat that is just getting put together, is that everyone is still learning where everything is and how the boat should be configured for various conditions.  Much of the learning process is through trial and error as you try to figure out what the boat's previous owner had in mind for the various blocks and cleats scattered across the boom and mast.  While over time most owners will make adjustments to where things are installed, in the beginning you just sort of go with the flow and live with what you've got.  That's what we did when it came time to reef the main.  The mainsail had  no reef lines attached to the reefing points, so after almost using the sail ties, we decided to cannibalize some of the extra length in reefing line used to pull down the reefing point clew of the sail to the boom.

The 150 Genoa, reefed main, and three people on the boat was a good combination.  It was an exhilarating sail.  The race committee set a good course, the racing was tight, and we were smoother than the previous week.  While my shins and knees found fewer places to impact, I still managed to almost fall overboard.  We where preparing to round the last mark before heading downwind to the finish line.  I'd gone forward to set the two inch whisker pole, and was facing the mast with my back to the bow.  When I step back from the mast my foot slipped on the wet face of the cabin.  Next thing I know, I land on the foredeck on my back with both hands clutching the whisker pole, feet in the air, and I'm starting to roll to the side of the boat as we round the mark.  I thrust a hand out to the lifeline on the high side, stop my progress towards the 48 degree river water, jumped to my feet, and none the worse for wear got the pole set.  Wow! is that racing or what.

Mounting a Depth Sounder Transducer in Silicone
By Dale Mack

Looking aft in a new-style C22, #14286

Good quality affordable depth sounders/fish finders have enticed many sailors to add this upgrade to their boat.  Anyone who has sailed unfamiliar waters knows the piece of mind a depth sounder can provide.  Once you get the unit home from the store, you're faced with needing to answer the questions of where and how to install the transducer.

With your unit you received either a transom mount transducer or a thru-hull transducer (the transducer sends and receives the sound pulse).  Although each transducer's housing was designed for a particular application, both styles can be used for mounting inside the boat without drilling any holes through or into the hull.

The general consensus from various Catalina 22 online discussion groups, is that most people locate the transducer in the forward storage compartment just forward of the keel trunk, in the bilge below the aft end of the v-berth.  

Transom mount style transducer installed with clear silicone that was first placed in the bilge, and then had the transducer pushed into it..

For those adverse to drilling holes into the hull, just spread a layer of clear silicone (it's clear so you can see bubbles) on the bottom of the transducer and squish it to the floor.  Here's what to do.  Clean a spot in the middle of the hull as best you can.  Apply the silicone so there are no air bubbles in it and make it about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick.  Then just press the transducer down into the bilge and leave it to so the silicone can cure. Don't move the transducer up and down during the installation process or you may get air bubbles in the silicone.  Many failed silicone installations are the result of air trapped in the silicone.

With the transducer in place and its cable attached to your depth sounder, you can test out the installation even before the silicone is cured.  The beauty with a silicone installation versus something like epoxy is, that you can easily re-install the transducer if the first attempted failed.  If you check the water depth with a weighted tape measure, the tape may read slightly different that the depth sounder because the transducer will be mounted a few inches below the water line.

Now that the transducer is installed, all that's left is deciding where to mount the display.  I mounted mine on a board that mimics the bottom companionway crib board, except it's shorter.  Other people have placed their displays on swing arms that allow the unit to be swung out of the way into the cabin, or swung in view of those seated in the cockpit.  A picture of the swing arm method is available here.

See the calendar

The Fleet 20 newsletter is published online once a month. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of Fleet 20.