DIY Custom Trailer Tongue Extension
The one thing that my new Calkins trailer lacked compared to the old Trail Rite is an extendable tongue, a necessity at some of our local ramps. The only information on the Internet that I could find about adding a tongue extension was a universal aftermarket extension. But the cost was more than I paid for the entire trailer and I still needed to install a brake system. This looked like another $tingy Sailor project!
Sometimes It’s Better to Replace Your Trailer Than Repair It
When we purchased Summer Dance, the trailer was my biggest concern. It was the original 1981 Trail Rite; well-designed, simple and strong, but it had extensive rust damage from salt water launches. I planned to replace the worst of it but part way through the project, I discovered hidden damage that tipped the scale against keeping it. You can read about the unfinished project in a separate post.
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A Quick and Easy Sliding Hatch Fix
Like many older C-22s the sliding hatch of Summer Dance made screeching sounds when it was slid open and closed. The noise comes from the front edges of the hatch scraping on the side rails and on the cabin top. The front edges scrape because the side flanges wear thin from years of use, lose their clearance, and allow the hatch to ride lower in the side rails. The thinner they get, the more scraping and screeching. Too thin and they start cracking from the stress of weight on the hatch when standing on the hatch to handle the sails.
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Trailer Undercarriage Repair Made Easy
When we bought Summer Dance, easily the most dangerous damage to the overall package was the trailer spring hangers. The trailer was a 1981 Trail Rite that had been used to put the boat in the salt water of Puget Sound for 30 years of its life. However, in spite of a paint job that the previous owner had brushed on to sell the boat, the frame hadn’t receive proper maintenance. Consequently, the passenger side spring hangers were about 50% corroded away, 100% in small spots. The driver side hangers weren’t quite as bad.
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Make Your Galley Easier to Slide
The first mate is particular about her spaces onboard Summer Dance, one being the sleeping area, the other being the galley. I’ve not seen the underside of the galleys in other boats, but ours is bare plywood except for the key strip that slides in the slot in the top of the starboard settee. It’s a simple, crude setup that works, I suppose, even though it has a lot of friction. Also, the fiberglass underneath is pretty scratched from protruding screws and staples; staples because the staples in the original teak key strip had rusted years ago and the strip had fallen off but not been replaced.
How to Add a Galley Water Tank Drain
What were they thinking when they designed the Catalina 22 galley without a drain for the water tank? All RVs have them. They’re essential to keeping the water fresh, make sterilizing and flushing the tank easy enough to actually do from time to time, and prevent biohazard from growing in the tank, supply tubing, and pump like this:
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Repair and Restore Your Galley Water Pump
The galley on early Catalina 22s had a hand operated, piston type water pump from a manufacturer who has since gone out of business and for which parts are no longer available. The previous owner told me that the pump needed work and since most older parts like this were made better than the modern stuff (plastic), I decided to see if it could be restored.
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How to Restore a Kenyon Alcohol Stove
The early Catalina 22 yachts offered a sliding galley option. After moving one of the starboard salon cushions, the galley can be slid forward from its storage space under the starboard cockpit seat. The galley is equipped with a Kenyon Homestrand two burner cooking stove. The stove uses pressurized alcohol for fuel and works on the same principle as the more popular Coleman white gas stoves and lanterns.
Clean That Filthy Bilge!
When we first purchased Summer Dance, the bilge compartment where the anchor, its chain, and rode (rope) were stowed was badly stained. The gear had been put away drenched with sea water and allowed to rust down there. The anchor was encrusted with barnacles and some of the galvanizing had been eaten away to the bare metal, which also rusted. The chain links were rusted nearly into a solid mass. And the rode, besides its metal thimble being equally rusted, had soaked up rusty water and acted as a sponge to keep things rusting.
The $tingy Sailor 