Monthly Archives: January 2016

Rebedding on a C&C Landfall 38

With day after day of rain lately, thoughts turn towards preventing that water from ruining wood coring. Almost all boats have it, and most boats have at least a couple leaks. If I had known all the locations of coring on the C&C Landfall 38 (LF38) upon purchase I would’ve resealed penetrations in those areas much earlier.

But as far as I know there are no online resources which map out every single cored location, and even the knowledgeable long-time C&C owners on the mailing list didn’t have a conclusive list of cored locations. The C&C builders schematics (deck plan, sail plan, cabin plan) – which I have from a prior owner purchasing – don’t document coring locations.

Now after a year I feel I know most of the cored locations, and will document them here for other’s use. This isn’t a complete list however, as there are probably still a few I haven’t found. Reader Warning: This post is a bit technical, and I’m going to assume you have already read a couple books / articles on coring and hardware rebedding (Maine Sail / Compass Marine’s excellent articles, Don Casey’s book).

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Crevice corrosion on one of the bolts for the backstay chainplate. Leaks can destroy your boat’s hardware and rigging – a good reason to catch it before that happens!

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What Exactly is a Project Boat Anyway?

“Project boat” is a term boaters use to mean a boat that is a mess – old, neglected, in need of major deferred maintenance and repairs. When I first learned this term I thought it meant a boat that had some major damage like a hull puncture or grounding, or perhaps sat in a boatyard for a few years and was no longer guaranteed seaworthy. When shopping for boats, I knew I definitely didn’t want a project boat.

Later I learned “project boat” means a different thing to everyone. All boats are project boats in a sense – in that there are always projects to do.

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To me what “project boat” means is a boat that has so many projects that they interfere with actually using the boat (for sailing or cruising). It could be big projects that require the boat to be hauled out in the boat yard for a long time, or just many small projects that end up consuming all your time or making you not comfortable using the boat yet.

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How to Get Stainless Steel Rigging Parts Fabricated

The hardest part of boat repairs is often just finding the part you need. A lot of parts aren’t exactly sold on Amazon.com with 2-day Prime delivery. For the more unusual parts, for old diesel engines or custom rigging, local and online marine stores may simply not carry it.

When I discovered this crack in the link plate connecting my forestay to the boat, I knew it was time for replacement:

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In fact I was already working on replacing this – a rigger hired for the rig survey last spring had recommended replacement with a stronger piece, and I agreed it was definitely the weak link in the forestay.

Spoiler Alert: In the end, I don’t end up getting the part fabricated.

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