www.c22pdx.org

November 2005
 

From the Captain
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #4248

The weather changed quickly in October.  It seemed like one weekend we were enjoying unusual seventy degree weather and the next it was cold and pouring down rain.

Like many in Fleet 20, October was when I pulled my boat for the season.  Whether we retrieved our boats by ourselves or with the help of friends like I did, the experience causes many of us to reflect on the season that was, and the season that will be.

I had the pleasure of sailing a lot this year, both on my own boats and crewing on others'.  Once again I sailed my Catalina 22 Crocus more days in 2005 than I sailed my Catalina 30 Celtic Myst.  Although I got out a lot on Celtic Myst, all the Thursday evening racing, combined with frequently sneaking down to the marina to take Crocus out for some single-handed sailing made the difference in the final accounting.

Crocus is sitting at home once again under a tarp.  I support the mast with a block that rests on the mast step.  Because I removed the stanchions and the stern rail at the being of the season, the tarp flows easily down to the rubrail.  I also pull cotter pins that secure the spreaders to the mast and lay the spreaders on the cabin top.  To reduce chances of the ends of the mast chafing through the trap, a three gallon plant container is placed over each end before the trap is draped across the boat.

2006 Catalina 22 National Regatta

One of the To-Do list tasks that got completed before the boat went back onto the trailer was the installation of a new set of tires and rims in preparation for taking the boat to the 2006 Catalina 22 Nationals being held on Scotts Flat Lake near Nevada City, CA.  The regatta is scheduled for June 19-22 and is being hosted by Catalina 22 Fleet 54 and the Gold Country Yacht Club.

I attended my last Nationals in 1997 when Laura, Sean, and I trailered our boat from Boise, Idaho to South Lake Tahoe.  We camped ashore as the boat sat moored to a buoy when not in use.  The event was more of a family vacation than a serious regatta for us.  If the wind was blowing too hard, or we were tired we didn't race.  Instead we'd go off and do activities that appealed more to our eight year old son, we still enjoyed the flavor and camaraderie of the event.

While at the regatta we also meet Fleet 20 alumni Terry Annis (then sailing Lematike, #6800) who was competing in the Genoa Silver fleet just like us, Kelly Martin who was competing in the Genoa Gold fleet (then sailing Hurricane, #9413), and Bob Gales.  Bob and I had exchanged a few emails since the Spring when Bob had posted some of Fleet 20's activities on the Catalina 22 email discussion group.

With the Nationals on the West Coast, you should give it some serious consideration as you start planning your 2006 sailing year.  In 1997 I had raced my boat twice before the Nationals, and Laura had never raced.  In fact we considered ourselves cruisers not racers (we still do) and yet we had a wonderful time.  The Nationals are really about the camaraderie of hanging out with other Catalina 22 enthusiasts.

Renew Your Membership to Fleet 20

Membership in Fleet 20 will be FREE in 2006.  Our 2005 expenses associated with recruiting materials and award trophies doesn't warrant a return to collecting a modest annual fee.

Renewal notices will go out in December.

 

Connecting with Catalina 22 Enthusiasts
Growing 22 Fleet 20
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #4248

As the Fleet 20 Captain I always carry membership brochures and application forms on the boat and in the glove box of the car.  Finding new members at the end of the season doesn’t usually prove to be very fruitful, but September and October turned out to be something else all together as five more boats joined Fleet 20.  Two of the applications came from boats where I had deposited Ziploc bags containing a brochure, application, and a marble to keep the bag from blowing away.

I’ve always made myself available to C22 owners looking for help, so when a couple decided to take sailing lessons from a certified sailing instructor who just happen to be a Columbia River All Catalina Association member, I received a call asking if I could help show how to rig and launch the boat.

Another recruiting opportunity came at West Marine.  I was picking up gifts for the Halloween Cruise and what should I see as I walk out of the store but a C22 sitting in the parking lot.  I walked up to the couple, introduced myself and Fleet 20 and then answered questions they had about their recently acquired boat.

I don’t normally equate pulling the boat for the season with an opportunity to recruit another member but that’s want happen during the last weekend in October.  Don Bateson and I were starting to dismantle the rigging on Crocus at the same time a couple of Catalina 25 Fleet 94 boats were going through the same exercise when up pulls this Catalina 22 fresh from the ramp.  I grabbed a membership brochure and walked over and introduced myself. 

We talked of their recent trip to the San Juan Islands, the purchase of their boat just a few months earlier, and their interest in racing and cruising next season.  For me it reinforced the notion that recruiting is a year round activity.  My shyness makes it hard for me to just walk up and introduce myself, but I’m finding it’s getting easier the more I do it, and the results are always positive.

New Members

Please join me in welcoming our newest members to Fleet 20:

Greg & Cara Masciana of Salem, Oregon

C22, Xanadu, #9519, berthed at home

The Mascianas are interested in cruising.

Don & Debbie Woodhouse of Brush Prairie, Washington

C22, Togarty, #7260, berthed at Tomahawk Bay

The Woodhouses are interested in cruising and racing.

The Fleet 20 Membership Application is available online at  www.c22pdx.org/docs.  Simply print it off, fill it out, and sending it in.  Membership is FREE.

 

'Tis the Season
 Dropping the Mast
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #4248

Rigging a Catalina 22 or preparing it for the road are skills most skippers only practice a couple of times a year.  As a former C22 road warrior for nearly fourteen years, Laura and I got pretty good at these tasks.  Our best time from parking lot to water was twenty minutes, but I'm heard online that others do it even faster.

Since most of us who were going to pull our boats for the season have already done so, what I'm going to share is more food for thought as you think about how you want to raise and lower your mast next year.

To raise or lower the mast, only the forestay and two forward shrouds need to be disconnected.  The upper shrouds and the aft shrouds are left attached and fully tensioned (i.e. you don't need to ease the tension to raise or lower the mast).  What about the backstay?  The backstay plays no role in raising or lowering the mast other than being another cable to become fouled in something.  When the mast is raised, it is the aft shrouds that prevent the mast from traveling further forward than necessary to attach the forestay.

My typically approach to raising or lowering the mast requires two people, one positioned on each side while standing on the cabin top.  When Don Bateson, Mike Hibbs, and I were pulling Crocus, we got to watch a pair of Catalina 25's lower their masts using a "gin pole".  In this case the gin pole was made up of a wishbone built up of several layers of plywood and an eight foot length of pipe.  One end of the pipe was secured to the wishbone and the other end had been outfitted so the jib halyard could be attached and so a block and tackle could be attached from the gin pole down to the boat's bow.  The gin pole provided the angle necessary to gain some mechanical advantage.  While the person on the bow controlled the up and down movement of the mast, the person on the cabin top controlled the side to side movement.

Since the use of a gin pole may be of interest to Fleet 20 members, I going to, over the course of the next issues of the newsletter, walk you through building and using your own gin pole.  Our Catalina 22 Spring Workshop in March will include sessions on rigging the boat and what to prepare for when trailering.

 
Cruising

 

Pumpkin, Snakes, and Goblins, Oh My!
Bartlett Landing Halloween Cruise
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #4248

October 22-23.  Fleet 20’s cruising season usually ends in September, but when the Columbia River All Catalina Association (CRACA) moved its Halloween cruise to Government Island, East Dock (aka Bartlett Landing), a destination less than two hours away from most folks’ docks, interest in the cruise increased.  October is pretty iffy weather-wise.  It can be cold and wet, not exactly the conditions attractive to most C22 crews.  This year the weather surprised us all and provided a weekend of 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies.

Activities for the weekend include:  101 Uses for Pumpkins, the Flotilla Follies where crews created a floating object from Halloween decorations that the river's current, and wind could move, and contests for best decorated boat, best carved Jack-O-Lantern, and best costume.

One of the craziest contests was stuff the snake in the bag.  Fleet 20 alumni Terry Annis brought his mesh bag and coiled water hose he’d purchased from West Marine.  The objective of the game was to get the hose back into the bag in the shortest amount of time.  The conscience after the game was that West Marine won’t be selling anymore coiled hoses to the cruise’s participants.

The afternoon’s potluck appetizers were followed by dinner.  At 8 pm everyone migrated ashore for the marshmallow roast, and Smores.  While we enjoyed the campfire, awards were presented for the winners of the day’s various contests.

Reflections

The cruise was great.  A portable propane heater makes the morning more comfortable.  The Saturday evening campfire was fun as we watched folks burn marshmallows.  Government Island is a fabulous destination.  Between CRACA and Fleet 20, we almost had the whole facility to ourselves.

 

Technical Tips

Rigging a Jib Downhaul
Outfitting for Single-Handed Sailing
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #4248

I've been a long time user of a jib downhaul.  I like the benefits of not having to go forward to douse the jib.

Rigging a jib downhaul is very simple and can be accomplishment with little expense.  A small diameter line runs from the cockpit to a block at the bow and then up to the first hank below the head of the sail.  I've seen some downhauls attached to the sail's head but in my experience that connection point pulls the head below the first hank during the take down and commonly twists the hank increasing the risk of a jam.

To hoist the sail you release the downhaul and hoist as usual.  To lower the sail, head into the wind and as the foot of the sail comes over the deck, release the jib halyard and pull on the downhaul.  To secure the downhaul I use a cam-cleat mounted on the outside of the cockpit's portside coaming.  You can also use a less expensive standard cleat in this application.  The secured downhaul will prevent the wind from driving the jib back up the forestay.

Catalinas are typically rigged with the jib halyard on the portside and the main halyard on the starboard side (don't worry if your boat is rigged differently).  When you install your downhaul you want to lead it down the side of the boat your jib halyard is on.  Having the jib downhaul and the jib halyard near one another makes hoisting and lowering the sail easier.

Anyone who has been sailing a Catalina 22 for sometime has probably had their headsail's hanks foul on the treads of the forestay's turnbuckle.  An inexpensive solution is to install a piece of half inch PVC pipe over the forestay's turnbuckle.  The pipe's length needs to be just long enough to cover the threads.

The downhaul's bow block has several mounting options depending on the model year of your boat.  On my 1987 I attached the shackle of the swivel block to an existing bow pulpit fitting near the deck used for securing the lifelines.  On my 1978 I have a shackle mounted to the middle hole of the three available in the stem fitting.

Leading the downhaul's control line aft is fairly straight forward.  As you can see in the left photo below of Crocus, you can start using the system even before you've worked out all the details.  I simply ran the line to an unused cam-cleat.  If I had run the line outside the bow pulpit stanchions I could have improved the angle to the cam-cleat.  The picture below on the right shows running the line to a fairlead near the side of the cabin and then aft to the coaming mounted cam-cleat.  You might also have noticed that going forward the line left the fairlead and angled across the deck to pass through the base of the forward portside stanchion and then to the bow block.  While there was some small increase in friction, it was outweighed by the benefits of having the line stay near the toerail and out from under foot on the bow.

 

 

Scuttlebutt

Catalina Newsletters of the Northwest
By Dale Mack

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

Columbia River All Catalina Association (CRACA)

Sail Portland

Oregon Women's Sailing Association

     Catalina Assoc. of Tacoma and South Sound (CATSS)

Catalina Association of Puget Sound (CAPS)

Small Yacht Sailing club of Oregon (SYSCO)

 

Upcoming Events

November

  • 5, OCSA Beach Party at PYC (open to all sailors)

December

  • 10, Party:  Catalina Owners Association at Rose City Yacht Club

See the calendar

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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.