Thoughts on: C16 Trailering, Commissioning, Maintenance

[deisher6]

Purchased a 1989 C16 III in the middle of the summer in FL.  Towed it back up to Terry, MT, where it became an item of local interest and the largest yacht in Prairie County (pop  around 1050).  This was our second C16.  The first one, about 28 years ago, we used strictly as a daysailer, equipped with a paddle, throwing line, and lifejackets.  This one will mostly be sailed solo on Ft. Peck lake in northeastern Montana, about 120 miles north of Terry.  The projects/solutions that were used to get the boat into use were adapted from this forum.

Drop Boards:  The boat came with a Plexiglas drop board.  It was nice to have the light, but awkward to use.  This was made out of 1/2 inch clear pine.  It will be replaced with teak when I can get some.  (Teak was 24$ a board foot in Bismark and not in stock last week.)  It is in 4 sections.  I can mount a gps on the bottom section and plug it into an accessory plug that I mounted on the compression post.  I try to remember to put the bottom board in when sailing.  It keeps the water on the outside and still allows easy access to the cabin.


Boom Storage when trailering:  The PVC pipe secured to the trailer with zip-ties works for stowage of the  boom.  Did not try to leave the sail on the boom.  Have to drain after pulling out the boat.  Will drill some holes in the bottom this winter.


Mast storage when trailering:  The X-looking brace supporting the mast in the stern is pretty much how the mast was hauled up from FL.  Tried a removable support much like Brian's but it was heavy and awkward to store.  The mast is held down by the mainsheet and the support is held in place with the tiller and lashings to the stern cleats.  It works to support the mast when stepping it.



To support the foot of the mast when trailering, a chain link gate hook was used with a piece of pipe also from a chain link fence.  The pipe is attached to the 2X10 used to haul the outboard.  This idea was from a very early post on this blog.


Motor mount when trailering:  Here of two views of a 2X10 motor mount.  A near copy of one from this blog.  The boat came with a 5 HP, 2 cycle Mercury long shaft.  It has really worked well.  It will cruise at 5mph for over 1.25 hours on the internal tank.  The stock 2 position motor mount will eventually be replaced with a one position solid mount. The stock mount is rickety but works.  The motor needs to be tilted to keep it from dragging and when it is tilted the starter handle is chaffing the port mainsheet pulley.



By the 6th time the boat was in the water it shipped several gallons of water.  It was cumulative and unnoticed until my wife napped on the leeward bunk!  Again as recommended by this blog, raised the trailer tongue as high as possible and bailed out the water that collected in the stern.  Then resealed the cockpit scuppers and replaced the flapper fittings.  It didn't leak in 10 hours on the water last time out this year.  As the temperature is dropping below freezing, and looking at some of the latest blogs, am just a bit worried that there might be some residual water in the keel.

Santa has hinted that there might be a new set of sails (main and 110) under the tree.  If so that would make an ida-sailor rudder next on the list for next summer.  Until next summer there are pheasants, grouse and our Weimaraner, Daisy.  I should have retired years ago!

Thank you all for sharing your ideas, advice and experiences.

regards charlie

[JBC]

Nice set of photos and info, Charlie.  As I have a '90 with the scuppers with flaps (but no sign of leaks, yet!), I'm wondering if you could provide a bit more detail about how you fixed the leaks.  Did you reseal?  If so, with what, and how did you access?  Also, you mentioned you replaced the flaps.  Did you order these from Hutchins?

Thanks!  Jett

[deisher6]

Hey Jett:
I bought the flappers and fittings from Hutchins. ($4.17ea) There are several alternative materials listed in the blog.  In hind sight the flappers and fittings were not the problem although they were pretty well oxidized and could have used replacement.  I had pretty good access to the ends of the pvc scupper pipe from removing the flapper fittings and just raising the seat in the stern (I do not know if that seat is standard, you can see it in one of the pictures).  I picked out as much of the old sealant as possible and smeared on as much sealant around the ends as I could.  I bought a tube of factory sealant when I bought the fittings, I do not recall what it was called.  It was not unlike 5200. 

Be sure to mask off before you start smearing the sealant around!

PS a small amount of water still comes into the cockpit....but it doesn't leak below anymore.

regards charlie

[JBC]

Thanks, Charlie!

Most helpful!  I have the same teak seat to flip up at the stern, so that's standard on the III I believe.  I recently read The Sailboat Company's DYI post on resealing these scuppers (I believe there's a reference to that on this forum as well), and it sounded like it might be difficult to get to the places to reseal.  Your advice about careful masking certainly is a good tip!

Best, Jett

[Pacman]

I like your pine drop boards.  They look great and they are unique.

Teak is nice too but I'm not sure that it would be an improvement over what you have now.

[Salty19]

Deisher...ahoy.  Nice looking boat and pretty cool you have the nicest yacht in the county!!!  Curious if you got mainsheet idea from Island Time.  Spliced single-braid Salsa line!

Love the Salsa line, great feel, doesn't knot up and runs through blocks pretty well compared to most lines.  It's a keeper. 
If you like it, check out Bzzzz line for the jib sheet.  Very similar qualities.  Note it cannot be spliced.

Again..nice boat, like what you've done to it.   Now the wait for spring!

[deisher6]

Thanks for the compliments.

Replaced both the main and jib sheets with Buzz line or something very much like it that I found recommended here in the forum.  I couldn't find my receipts.  It is not spliceable at least at my skill level, unlike say sampson.  It is much, much nicer on the hands than the original sheets.  

Spring feels so far away........

regards charlie