New Owner

[Cat Napper]

Hello fellow sailors, Cat Napper here.   Took possession of new Sun Cat #445 this season.  She is named "Cat Nap" and is the best looking boat in the harbor where I keep her, which is in NJ on the Mighty Delaware River  in Riverside NJ.   Have been sailing for forty years and just sold my big boat and decided to return to my sailing roots with a small boat on the swift currents and tides of the Delaware.  I am enjoying learning how to operate and sail a catboat.   This forum is perfect for gaining information and comparing notes.   I do have a pretty severe inflow of water from the centerboard pennant tube.  I am working with my dealer and Com Pac on a solution.   Never had a boat leak like this before so, I am sure it must be a simple fix.  I have read many posts and the solution seems to be to install cockpit floor grates, and to rely on the scuppers and the PVC piping to get rid of the water. Seems more logical to keep the water out in the first place as is the case in most boats, in my experience.   Any advice on how to solve the water incursion would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks. 
Cat Napper
Sun Cat # 445
SV Cat Nap

[Eric in Seattle]

Welcome, Cat Napper.  I purchased a 2008 Suncat Daysailer last fall from New Jersey and had it shipped to Seattle.  Like you, I had sailed larger boats over the years and decided to return to my sailing roots with a smaller boat.  One of the first things that I noticed when sailing or motoring was the large amount of water spurting through the centerboard pennant tube.  I wasn't too keen on installing grates to cover up the problem, so I came up with a fix that solved much of the problem but it is still not perfect.  Here's what I did:

First I removed the existing 3/4" thick board by removing the six screws.  I then found a piece of 1 1/2" thick teak and cut it to match the piece that I removed.  Then glued both pieces together to create a 2 1/4" high piece.  I sanded the piece, drilled through the six existing holes, and drilled the pennant tube hole to line up with the existing hole.  I then glued a PVC extension to the top of the existing PVC tube and glued a cap on it.  Prior to gluing the cap on, I sanded the top of the cap flat, drilled a small hole in the center of the cap (just big enough to thread the pennant line through) and threaded the pennant line through.  I then remounted the wood block using longer stainless screws.  It still leaks but has gotten much better.  Ideally one would create a 3" to 4" high block.  It doesn't leak when I'm sailing solo but get progressively worse as the number of passengers increases but still much better than it was.

[capt_nemo]

Cat Napper,

My homemade cockpit floor grate completely solved my problem of wet feet, wet halyards, wet anything! I do sail solo most of the time. Well worth the time to design, fabricate, and install. I had the Marine Ply left over from building a 12' sailboat and put it to good use.



Just remember to elevate ANY wood so it doesn't remain in contact with water for long periods of time. I used round rubber door stoppers with large stainless fender washers to elevate and level my grate. Recently gave the grate a maintenance top coat with non-skid powder sprinkled in after 4 years of service. Didn't really need it, but I like to stay ahead of the game.

capt_nemo

[Dave]

This is a feature of the boat design and I have not foun.d any good way to fix it.  It does vary with point of sail and sea condition

[Cat Napper]

Thanks to all of you for your gracious welcome and for your advice on ways to deal with the tube leak.  I am happy to say that my dealer, Winters, in close contact with Compac, was able to pretty much resolve the issue.   I may still get a few teaspoons of water but nothing like the gusher I had before.   The fix involved a piece of rubber, a metal plate with six perimeter holes, and two for the clam cleat.   Mount the assembly on the teak block after removing the clam least first.   The rubber pad had a tiny hole for the pennant and it was mounted directly over the existing hole.  Metal plate goes on top of rubber, with clam cleat on top.  Ran the boat at 7.5 kts ( yes, with the help of the incoming tidal current of the Delaware River), and no leak, except for a Drop here and there.   I dogged down the screws when I got back to dock so I am expecting even better results next outing.

[reedtg3]

Welcome Cat Napper!  If you are able to do so, I would like to see a photo of your retrofit.
Tom & Els
Suncat #377
Cattail

[Cat Napper]

Tom,
Thanks.  I will learn the upload process and try to post a picture.   Here goes.

[/img][http://s1252.photobucket.com/user/Tjr3c/media/imagejpg1_zpsf1c6dea5.jpg.html?filters[user]=141019052&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0[/][img]

[Cat Napper]

Second attempt

[wes]

Beautifully done!

[capt_nemo]

Cat Napper,

Thanks for sharing the photo. Very interesting to me, the Engineer Sailor.

That's a fix that can easily be accomplished with either purchased or home made parts. Aluminum plate would suffice for home made fabrication.

It essentially creates a near watertight dam over the pennant hole using sheet rubber with very close fit opening for the centerboard pennant to pass repeatedly through without doing much damage to the rubber dam material.

Another good example where a simple and very effective solution to a seemingly complex and plaguing problem, was indeed possible.

I love it!

capt nemo

[reedtg3]

Looks good. Thanks!
Cattail Tom

[BruceW]

Very cool. If you do consider a grate, I'll just say that I used my grate to make the cockpit into a bed. I raised the grate, and slid bedslats under it to hold it up. Then, fill in with the pads of your choice. Vee-ola!

[Bud]

New reply to old thread.

Thanks from a new owner of a 2013 Sunday Cat.

The best solution to a problem we encountered yesterday on the maiden voyage.

Simple, cheap, effective. What more could one want?