Greetings all:
Just a quick introduction to announce my new membership here.

Just picked up a '78 Sol Cat 18 and I still going over everything, so haven't sailed it yet. I already know I need a some trapeze wires and since I have no catamaran experience I guess I am gonna have to run some searches on how to rig those up!

I was also reading that there is a bearing (plastic shim?) needed on the mast step! :) It's a good thing I didn't try to rig it up and sail it today because I had no idea..hahaha. Lot's to learn.

I am in Northern Cali, near Sacramento. I am sure I will run into some of you at the nearby lakes as soon as I fix the leak in one of the pontoons and head out in a week or so.

Cheers,
Dan

Use plastic coffee can or other lid to cut bearing out for mast step. I have trap wires with dog bones. $50 for the pair includes the shock cord to keep them in place. Pete 909-800-5237 Big Bear, Ca.

I bought a solcat a few weeks ago, and am in the process of a 100% rebuild. Hulls are solid, mast decent, standing rigging new, dolphin striker fubar (thanks Jeff for the new one). It is always funny to see how PO's treated their boats. I am currently sanding the acrylic latex paint from the hulls down to bare FG/gelcoat.

wow, glad to know im not the only one. I just joined this forum as well, and also have just purchased a Sol Cat 18 ... looks like there are not too many parts available for these boats :( . But glad to find this forum!

I have a quick question for the Sol-cat owners above... what does your mast base look like?? I believe mine has been "customized" as there is a hole drilled through the base and also one matching it through the mast shoe (or whatever the thing is called on the front crossbar where the mast base is placed). And the original instructions, hich i found here http://www.utahsailing.co…ssembly-instructions.pdf, specifically mention the mast is not held down by anything! I wonder if this is even a sol-cat mast base (or mast for that matter).
Do your's look like this? I'll try to include pics if i can figure that out.

Any help is coveted!

Thanks!
R. Gordon Demmin








(ok ive spent 20 min trying to figure out why the last pic is being reduced, still not working... so sorry but i think u get the idea)

Quote

Use plastic coffee can or other lid to cut bearing out for mast step

You can also use coca-cola 1.5lt plastic cap.

rdemmin

...I have a quick question for the Sol-cat owners above... what does your mast base look like?? I believe mine has been "customized" as there is a hole drilled through the base and also one matching it through the mast shoe (or whatever the thing is called on the front crossbar where the mast base is placed). ...

Your setup is exactly like mine WITHOUT the hole.

I just went out and double-checked to make certain.

So it looks like the previous owner did nothing more than drill a hole. I don't know why you would want to keep the mast from rotating though...I have never owned a boat with a rotating mast but I guess it's supposed to help performance by creating a better air foil.

Dan

smikahell

Quote

Use plastic coffee can or other lid to cut bearing out for mast step

You can also use coca-cola 1.5lt plastic cap.

So I don't cut out a "donut" shape to fit over that large "nipple" on the mast base?

It actually goes completely over the nipple?

I saw these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=350216323707&Category=159151&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1

I am not sure if the bearing needs to be large enough to cover the entire surface of the mast base, or just the flat portion of the mast base, or just the nipple?

Dan

Dan, thanks for that info - at least I can be faily certain I have a Sol cat mast base and the hole was the modification.
Now that i think about it I'll bet it was just to help with raising the mast. I havent had a chance to rig it yet, but i've read that raising the mast is one of the few drawbacks w/ the solcat, so the previous owner may have slipped a bolt through there just to help w/ raising the mast.

As for the pastic bearing ... Im wondering if that's even necessary? The original instructions dont mention it...and it is cast aluminum i believe.
But i guess it wouldnt hurt. If you do use it I would think cutting a "donut" would suffice since it looks like the weight and friction is on the outside ring, not the 'nipple' part.

Maybe some ol' sea dogs should answer that one and not this green horn.



edited by: rdemmin, Jun 27, 2009 - 09:01 PM

many nacra designs started life in the 70's and 80's and didnt have "captive mast base" systems

search turned up this mention and pic on this site

http://www.thebeachcats.com/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1701/cat/7

so 1 person had to raise the mast and another had to try and hold the mast base on to the front beam until it was vertical enough for gravity to hold it down

about 1985? nacra, and many other cat makers, started putting captive mast bases on their boats

usually this is a system where the mast base is pinned to the front beam mount to stop it jumping off during the mast raising process. with the base pinned the mast can often safely be raised solo

mentioned here on page 9 of this getaway manual

http://www.gold-wing.it/getaway_gb.pdf

on some designs the pin stays in, on others it comes out, obviously you want the mast to rotate

so to recap, the solcat probably never got a factory "captive mast base" as they stopped production before they came out
so some enterprising owner made his own on your boat

about the chip
something will be better than nothing, grinding alloy into alloy will ruin expensive parts that are difficult to replace
i would have thought hard plastic better than soft plastic if you are only going to raise and lower the mast once a season
i think the hobie16 uses a chip system too, got to be lots of hobie dealers around, go have a look at 1 for size



edited by: erice, Jun 28, 2009 - 06:53 AM

thanks for the info erice, good point about the plastic chip thing too. As soon as i can get my help to come over and assist in the mast raising, i'm planning on using a polt /pin combo too. Any bit of help raising that mast will be welcomed!
Im a diy'er so i'll prob try to find something that works around the house for the plastic bearing/chip piece.
-Gordon

HI,all i own a 76' SolCat 18 as for you plastic mast chip if you or anyone you know has an old or is not using a plastic 55gal. drum all you need is a two different sized holesaw bits and make yourself some plastic donuts you probably won't have to replace for a long time as they are thick and work great.Sail On.

My two boys and I just picked up our new to us sol cat 18. The trailer is at my mom's house close to where we got the boat, will probalby go pick it up tomorrow and start putting the boat together. It is in in a bunch of little bits right now sitting on my cat 25 trailer. wish us luck with our new endever.

COOL! ... I love mine (sol cat 18) and take it out every chance i get. Last weekend there were whitecaps on the lake and i got to try out my harness/trapeze for the first time- freaking aweome! If that isn't fun, there's no such thing! :)

Best of luck
RGD

I picked up the trialer today at my mom's and took it to get new tires and a lub job. Needed new bearings etc. didn't get out of town till 5. Got it home and fixed the busted roller. Now I have to get the elder son, 12, to help load the boat on the trailer. DMV was closed today for their furlow days so I 'don't hve the registration yet. Hoping to get it to the water tomorrow and try and set it up.
I am kind of confused about the jib traveler set up. I'm not sure it was left correctly on the boat. Does anyone have a photo of what it is supose to look like?

well, not the best pic, but one i had on hand... jib sheet is tied to jib cleat, run through one of the jib blocks/pullys then back through the same jib cleat, around the mast (aft side) and them mirrors the set-up on the other side. its all just one line. At least thats how mine is set up.
Hope that helps

Gordon

do you change the position manualy or do you have lines you pull. The set up I have has some lines attatched to move the block back and forth on the track, but they just don't look right. I'll try adn thake a photo of them tomorrow.

We took the boat out today, the two boys and I, it was wicked fast and fun....till the starboard shroud decided that it wanted to part company. We were ripping and the mast fell with the sail covering my nine year old. We were just on the way in to see if my wife wanted to go out with us. Took the boat apart and went out on the Catalina 25 for the rest of the day.

wow! im guessing everyone was alright? Thats a nightmare of mine - one of the shrouds failing, or the forestay!
About the jib, no i adjust the jib cleat position manually, but there is a small block set up on the end of each track so it looks like it was made to be moved w/ lines at one time... not sure how that would work though.

Pics would help i think :)

~ Gordon

Here are some photos showing what my traveler, I guess it is standard.


This is the jib block with the outboard pully. It looks to me like the pully was put on backwards.

inboard of the track is a jam cleat for the sheet for the opposite side.

here is the photo showing the cleat

When we got home my elder son noticed this crack. There is another carck on the other side of the same attatchment. The other hull has no problem with this. Is this something that should be taken care of right away. I think it happened when the shroud busted, but I'm not sure I don't remember it from before.

Hey R. Gordon,
That looks like my mast base too. But it looks like yours has been removed and not put back on all the way. On mine the line between the mast and base is even all the way around and it is sealed with silicon (or something like that). My mast is water tight too. All fittings on it are sealed, I think this is a safety factor so if you turn over the mast doesn't fill up with water. you may want to remove the base and seal it tight, in your second photo is looks like there is something there that use to seal it.

Hey Matt, ya the mast needs work. Last weekend we had sweet whitecaps on the lake and I had the wonderful opportunity to see how NOT sealed my mast is. lol
Needless to say it took a couple jet skiers to help right the sucker w/ half the mast full of water.
Re your jib track, I have a few guesses as to how its suppose to work but thats all, hopefully someone more experienced can chime in. My Solcat is set up the same way except there is no jam cleat.


As far as the crack - yep i'd repair it as soon as possible. Even though there is much more boat taking the pull of the shrouds, every bit helps and I wouldnt want to risk it.
PS - great pics! Ive not seen a green solcat! :)

Happy Sailing

Regarding the jib block location you can set it for the conditions of the day either inboard for hi wind day or outboard for light wind or you can find a happy medium set it and enjoy the sailing. You can set up the jib blocks to be more adjustable when you are sailing but I have found I didn?t need to make many adjustments once on the water.

As far as the crack in the hull goes it is not a structural issue as the bridal tang should take all the loading, I would take the tang off and try to bend it back slightly oh so gently so it does not touch the rails when you are fully rigged, maybe squeeze a little epoxy or good water proof glue into the crack in the fiberglass and clamp it until it dries and then bolt the tang back on that way you don?t mess up the green paint/gelcoat so much. I have had a few solcat and it seems that they all have had the rails cracked. I still love mine. Great boats.

Jeff O


--
Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
--

I have a similar setup on my H16, a bungee/shock cord is attached to both the jib blocks with some tension, connecting them together, sheet line is attached to outside of jib block, runs through cheek block, pulling on line moves jib-block out for down-wind sailing, release line and bungee tension pulls block in to original position. You just have to work out how you want to cleat line off to hold block. I can't post a pic because I don't know how the frack to do that.

--
TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
--

The shock cord was attatched to the peg that locks the block to one place, I didn't think this was good because of the possibility of bending the post. That jib can put a lot of pressure on the block. I'm thinking of an alternate method of attatchment.

In regards to posting photos it took a while, the directions didn't seem that clear. I don't think I can explain it because I'm not really sure how I did it. You hae to go to the gallery and then the folder, I think it was labled beachcat people and start a folder for yourself there and fiddle with it to get your photos in. I had two windows opened one for the photo gallery and one for here. When you get your photos put in to the gallery open one up right click on it and go to properties. You will get another menue that has a bunch of stuff, one thing being the url for the photo, high light this and copy it. Next go to the reply window and clcik on image; this will give you a [img][img] click and paste between these two img thingies. Preview it to see if it works.
I'm sure someone could better explain the process.

How to post a picture. I upload mine to the beachcats photo album then follow the following directions.

http://www.thebeachcats.c…iewtopic-topic-1963.html