Replacing Catalina 34 Diesel Fuel Tank. part 3

We have our new Tank

Roland from Carr Enterprises called on Monday advising that our tank should be ready on Wednesday Morning, so we booked a hotel in St. Pete FL for Wednesday night - it's a 4.5hour drive from our house.

Tuesday, he called again, confirming it's ready.

We headed out of the house at 8am, stopped to fill up gas and sandwiches then on the road. We arrived at his business address around 2:15. The new tank was waiting on a dolly and sure looked good!

The old tank is bare Aluminum, the new tank is painted with Black Epoxy. The welds on the new tank are really good. The tank was pressure tested to 4psi.

Note the Earthing strap on the aft top end of the new tank is much beefier than the old tank.

Also, the vent outlet on the new tank is a brass elbow fitting compared to the old tank with it's bent vent tube.

Everything about the new tank is an upgrade. Really pleased.

Today I'm going down to the boat and a final cleaning of the Inside of the hull, remove the old fuel hose ( to replace it as the old is probably infected with diesel bug).

I stopped at ACE Hardware and purchased the fittings to connect the new tank to the originals. Basically two 3/8" to 1/4" brass connectors. Took about 10 minutes to find them but all's good, they are ready to install.

I'll be able to install the tank on Monday. WM did not have the new fuel hose in stock, but it is available online. I'll order that 3/8" hose and the new propane connecting hose for the other project in progress right now.

All of the new fittings are installed using PTFE tape.

Right now the tank is ready to install. Not difficult, I anticipate going to the Boat on Monday morning to do the install.

I do want to put a strap to hold the aft end of the tank down to the supporting shelf, the front end has a mounting brace should be easy using a right angled electric screw driver.

About Carr Enterprises

From the outset - I'm not sponsored in any way by Roland or Carr Enterprises - I typically review the companies that I use in regard to projects on Eximius.

We had the option to ship the new tank from St. Petersburg Florida to our home in Margate Florida or drive over there, about a four and half hour drive. Shipping would be cheaper because I'm 76 and did not look forward to driving there and back in one day so the journey had to include an overnight and that was about $300 and we had used up a lot of our travel points during our trip to see our granddaughter's skating event, so this was an actual expense. But it also had the benefit of giving us a date night in St. Pete, worth it!

Ok, back to Carr Enterprises. The business was actually much bigger than I expected. Looking at Google Maps and digging into the location, I thought it was going to be a small Mom-n-Pop business. I got that wrong!  The facade does not give a clue about what is inside. 

They have several machines about this size that can do all sorts of metalwork, mostly on aluminum but also Stainless Steel, our tank was a small job for them. Their welding area can handle it all. 

While Roland gave me the tour, he showed several tanks that were being made for the Coast Guard, they did not have tops on the tanks. Apparently, the CG have to inspect the tanks prior to them being closed up. They pressure test all of the tanks to ensure no leaks - pretty important!

The employees all seemed to be busy and that is a good sign in today's environment.

Roland was really helpful when it came to the design of our tank. I provided the dimensions and he spotted a mistake which I checked and corrected. He also commented on some features such as the Diesel Return tube is best if it runs to the bottom of the tank ( our old tank had no tube in the Diesel Return fitting ) as this would reduce aeration of the fuel, that sounds good to me. Also the grounding wire connections would be more substantial ( our old tank had skinny grounding tabs), again this sounded good. Roland also asked me to confirm the sizes of the hose connections. I did, they were correct and he would ensure the new tank had the same size connections which would ensure we did not have to make any adjustments on the boat.  

Finally, Roland suggested I consider the Black Epoxy coating ( after an acid wash ) for the entire tank. I would like to think that the boat will last for another 38 years then I think the extra tank protection is worth it, even if I would hit the 100 trip around the sun before then. So I went with the Epoxy coating.

The tank is made from 1/8" ( 0.125" ) aluminum.

I'll hold off posting this till the tank is installed. 

The label is on the top of the tank, I'm hoping I never get to see that label again and took the photo just so that I do not have to remove the tank in order to see that label.

One thing that Roland did advise was that the Return hose connection is normally 3/8" ID but Eximius has a 1/4" ID hose connection, and that I would need to get an adaptor. I did, a quick visit to ACE Hardware provided me the exact item. Here it is installed.

The quality of the tank looks to be excellent. Roland did say that he used to make a lot of tanks for Catalina Yachts, but not anymore. We all know why! ( Catalina Yachts is effectively history at this point - but perhaps that will change )

I'm very impressed by the facility and the people that work there. Roland told me that he makes tanks for all types of businesses as well as for the Marine industry. My experience with him and Carr Enterprises has been outstanding.

The tank included a new Fuel Sending unit. I'm not sure if it will calibrate to our existing fuel gauge on the engine control panel, so I'll add the first few gallons of fuel to the new, empty tank, gradually so that we know how many gallons are left in the tank when the gauge stops indicating 'E' ( empty ) and we'll also note the volume of fuel added at each step on the fuel gauge.

One difference that I'm going to implement on the new tank is the provision of a Terminal block for the fuel sender wiring. At present, I have to cut the wiring in order to remove the tank. Again, I hope never to have to remove the tank again, but if I do, then I would rather not cut the wires. So a simple terminal block with ring terminals on each of the two wires will avoid that.

The wiring is simple.

Fuel sender has two wires: Black - Ground and White - Positive for the fuel gauge.

The terminal block is held to the side of the tank by 3M VHB Double sided tape. 

The new hose for the fuel tank to the fuel filter / water separator has not arrived yet. But I was able to complete the wiring for the fuel sender / gauge connection. The Terminal block is mounted to the top of the tank with some 3M VHB double sided tape. Worked great and there is sufficient room above the terminal block to be able to use a stubby screw driver to reach the terminal block connecting screws.

Cross that one off the list.

The new hose should arrive on the 17/18th. Finger crossed they (WM shipper ) don't lose this one too.

Finally got the hose and installed it, well, on the tank end! The hose clamps had not arrived yet. But they did arrive on Sunday, so we're good to go for the final part on Monday.

Attach the new hose with the new hose clamps then start to pour fuel into the tank from 5 gallon cans. I'll put a gallon in then turn on the engine system so that the fuel pump works, we should see fuel enter the bottom of the fuel filter/water separator. Then we'll monitor the fuel gauge as we add more fuel. 

First Fill

New hose clamps installed, check tightened all of the hose fittings.

Turn the engine control system on and heard the fuel pump running. 

Watching the fuel gauge, I poured the first 5 gallons into the tank, the gauge barely moved off of Empty. Added a 2nd 5 gallons, as I poured it in, the fuel gauge moved up to almost the 1/4 Full mark.

While doing this I kept a watch on the water separation cup on the bottom of the Fuel Filter/Water Separation unit = nuttin! Let it run for a few minutes - nuttin! Duh! Turned the fuel cock to on at the top of the new fuel tank. Fuel quickly filled the filter unit.

I let the fuel pump run for 20 minutes, that should be plenty of time to bleed any air out of the fuel system. Next it was time to start the engine. It started 1st time. I let it run for another 20 minutes and it did without any issues. Shut everything down - done for the day. Back tomorrow to work on the Propane system completion.

At this point I feel confident that the updated fuel system is good to go. We'll add more fuel this week and keep track of the fuel level gauge status as we fill it.

NEXT DAY.

While down at the boat today, I ran the engine again for another 30 mins. All's good. Still need to add more fuel but for now I can mark this in the Done Column.

See you on the water. 

Paul

Fixing our Propane Hose!

Replacing our Propane Tank Hose.

The broken hose is really just an indicator of the health of our Propane System, so we decided to fix it.

Step one is to remove the Propane Tank Containers. Ours consists of two large GFP tubes to house the tanks and a third PVC tube that houses the Regulator and the Solenoid.

There's several butt joints in the Solenoid wiring inside that third tube and readers will know I detest multiple electrical wiring butt joints.

The 3rd tube is held onto the two larger tubes with 2 large stainless Steel hose clamps, but as I could not remove the regulator and solenoid without cutting the solenoid wires, I elected to remove the entire assembly.

• Remove the 9lb Propane tanks ( one was empty curtesy of the broken hose fitting ) 
• Cut the wires to the Solenoid inside the 3rd tube.
• Unscrew the 4 nuts on the lower mountings where they attach to the lower rail of the sternrail .
• Unscrew the 4 nuts that secure the stainless steel U bolts to the top rail and lift way the entire assembly.

Took a total of about an hour, most of that time was trying to keep a balance while holding the wrench and the fittings not wanting to drop anything in the water.

There's a lot less hardware on the stern now. I'll refinish the tubes and put it all back, cleaning the sternrail first.

Maybe it's me, but it sure seems that it's getting more uncomfortable moving around on the boat.

Not sure if you can see it, but the Swim ladder needs new steps, lower down on the priority list but they will get some TLC in the spring.

Upcoming projects:-

• Remove the broken Radar Reflector ( on the mast ) 
• Replace the Standing Rigging.
• Refit the Propane system ( with new hoses )
• New Dodger/Bimini and Bridge piece

Ok, with the tanks at home, it's time to refinish the containers.

I sanded down the containers with 80 grit and cleaned them with soapy water and then Acetone.

They look awful! But not very different than when they came off of the boat.

I decided to use Petite EZ-Poxy Modern Polyurethane Topside Paint, Med White.

It takes about 16 hours till re-coat time.

They are looking good after just one coat but I'll apply a second coat Saturday afternoon.

Still contemplating whether to paint the 3rd tube that contains the Regulator and the Solenoid.

Gave up trying to clean the PVC small tube, 1st coat of the Polyurethane is done as well as the 2nd coat on the larger tubes.

They are looking good, may not need additional coats.

Ok, now for the bigger issue!

When I removed the Regulator, Solenoid, and Pressure gauge from the smaller tube, I was surprised by the connection route. The Hose from the Propane tank was connected to the pressure gauge then the Regulator and then the Solenoid. The output from the solenoid is the supply line for the propane cooker in the cabin.

I thought that was wrong, so researched it ( yep, googled it ) and their does not appear to be an across the board correct route. However, google AI does suggest the best location is in the high pressure section of the plumbing. ie. closest to the tank connection.

So, I'm replumbing my setup so that route is: Propane Tank - Solenoid - Regulator - Pressure Gauge - Output to System. This would allow me to turn the gas off before the regulator so the gas flow is prevented closest to the tank within the restrictions that exist without exposing unnecessary hoses to possible damage from contact with other rigging on the boat, Lines, Fenders, etc. 

The plan is looking good. West Marine has advised that the new hose ( tank to solenoid ) is awaiting pickup and I have figured out what adapters I need to get from the local hardware store ( ACE ). I have my work set for this morning.

Ok, the propane system refurbishment is done.

Here's a pic of the modified Propane system before fitting into the Propane Housings.

It took 5 trips to the local ACE Hardware before the job was finished. Note the shiny new fittings. The old fittings were not compatible with the new layout ( the old had the gas flow from the top to the bottom. That's a new Regulator and new Solenoid and all new fittings except the lower T.

All ready for install on the boat.

The smaller tube houses the Propane control components. The refinished mounting looks a whole lot better.

I bolted the smaller tube to the large ones and eliminated the huge Stainless steel hose clamps that previously secured them together.

The whole system is temporarily mounted on a couple of pieces of 1" tubbing just to make sure everything fits.

I had a short piece of stainless steel 1" tubing but only one, so I used a piece of PVC tubing for the lower rail.

This worked out really well, enabling transporting the entire setup down to the boat.

At the boat it was pretty easy to remove the tubes and remount the assembly onto the rails over the transom.

Only one hitch - because the outlet of the tank system is now at the top of that lower, 3rd, tube, the hose from the boat to the cannisters is too short. 

I checked the routing of the hose inside of the aft lazarette, but it was originally installed pretty tight, no slack at all. So I'm just going to add an extra hose extension on the outside between the top of the boat and the connection at the tank assembly. EZ solution.

The new hose should arrive on Monday, we'll be down at the boat finishing off the Fuel tank project. So looks like we'll go to the boat both Monday to finish the fuel tank project and Tuesday to finish off the Propane project.   Knocking them out !

Of course, the next project is sitting on my work tables in the garage - new Standing Rigging.

Gotta keep busy, doing my stuff and work that brings in some money to help pay for all of this.

I'll post this on Tuesday, hopefully to report that the Propane system project is complete.

Quick update

Took the new hose to the boat this morning, totally screwed that up, neither end fits but not worth the cost of the return. I'll give it to the club's flea market in January.

Looking at it carefully ( always a good idea ) I realized I only needed to use a 6" nipple to the hose fittings on the exterior connection.  A short drive to ACE hardware and the helpful folks found a solution. Back to the boat and five minutes of boat yoga later, all done. Only thing left to do is put the Propane tanks in their holders and leak check. I'll go back to the boat in a couple of days to install the propane cannisters and complete a leak test before signing off on this project.

Stay tuned - I'll report the completion on this post.

See you on the water.

 

Replacing the Standing Rigging on our Catalina 34 Sailboat

Replacing the Standing Rigging.

Our biggest job on Eximius in the ten plus years we have owned her.

Eximius is insured by Geico - BoatUS and the policy is due to be renewed in May of 2026, they sent us a letter advising that we needed to have a Survey done before the renewal.  Our plan is to have the boat out for it's semi annual bottom refinish during a haul out in January 2026, so it sounds like a good time to get the Survey done, if not during the haul out then at least shortly after.

The Standing Rigging was inspected two years ago but has not been changed out during our ownership, and most rigging companies seem to suggest that standing rigging should be replaced around the 10th year. Our rigging still looks good but more on that later.

Having made the decision to replace the rigging, my first quote was from a local rigging company, they are 'the' company in South Florida, we had them do the inspection two years ago and we have purchased several running rigging products in the last 10 years, including replacement blocks for our halyards and reefing lines just a few months ago. Their quote was over $15,000. That did include un-stepping the mast, replacing the standing rigging, re-stepping the mast and tuning the rigging. The only additional cost would be the storage of the mast at the marina while the work was being done.

My next option to consider was Synthetic rigging which I really like. I have replaced all of the lifelines on Eximius with Dyneema, that was in 2017 - Eight years ago and they are still holding up. That was a full DIY job and was definitely not an expensive option.  The Quote from the Synthetic rigging company was for a DIY job but they would supply all of the rigging materials. That was just over $6,000 and quite honestly, I was sorely tempted to go that route. Among other things, we could carry a complete set of the standing rigging as spares and barely hit the total weight of the Stainless rigging.

Then I looked up the cost of a DIY job using replacement rigging from Catalina Direct - Wow!

The entire project was going to cost less than $4,000 including tax and shipping.

So, I spoke with Kevin at Catalina Direct to confirm I had put all of the bits needed into my cart at https://www.catalinadirect.com Then completed the order. The initial shipping for the order was $12, but I knew that was not the final number, it turned out to be $175. That brought the cost to $3,986.87. 

I placed the order on 12/10/2025 and it arrived this morning, Friday Dec 19th. WooHoo!

Time to plan the work.

Step 1: Check the inventory.

The order came in two boxes. I was impressed by the UPS driver whom did not seem to break a sweat bringing them to my door. Awkward to carry and quite heavy.

The contents were very well packaged and padded with both scrunched paper and bio-degradable chips. 

Each set of shrouds was packed inside of Large Ziplock bags and the smaller components inside an additional smaller zip lock bag.

Some of the shrouds were held together with plastic tie wraps but some were not. I was concerned about taking them out of the bags and not being able to get them back in. So I opened the bags and put my own tie wraps on the wires to stop them springing out of control when I pulled them out of the bags.

I took photos of each bag before unwrapping them in order to check that each had the correct kit of pieces - Turnbuckles, T-Bolts, Compression Fittings, etc.

Everything was fine except the Forestay package. The kit should have included a  compression fitting for the top of the stay, but instead, there was a small T-bolt fitting. Thank goodness it was not a wrong shroud.

I called Kevin at Catalina Direct, he asked me to take pictures of the kit and send them. I already had the pics so I sent them while he was on the phone. 

The good news is that the Forestay is the last item on the plan for the Standing rigging job. So a few days waiting for the shipment of the correct fitting is no big deal at all.  It does prove that it's always worth checking the received items as soon as possible when an order arrives.

Ok, moving on.

The instructions for making the Compression fittings are pretty clear - Here's a link to the instructions.

Basically, I have to remove the shroud/stay, lay it on the dock alongside the new wire and fittings. Cut the new wire to fit and make up the compression fitting.

Generally, the plan is to replace one shroud/stay at a time. 

• Secure the mast with an extra line from the mast head to the deck 
• Ease the Turnbuckle at the foot of the shroud/stay 
• Climb the mast and release the shroud then lower it to the deck, descend back to the deck 
• Disconnect the lower end of the shroud to the chainplate.
• Lay the shroud/stay on the dock and mark the new one to the correct length
• Cut the new shroud/stay and make up the compression fitting
• Ascend the mast and hoist the new shroud/stay and replace it
• Back on deck tighten the shroud.

I have a Spinlock Rig Sense tensioner, so I'll take note the tension before removing the old and after installing the new.

To climb the mast I'll be using our 'Mast Mate' mast climbing ladder which should speed things a lot compared to having to use ascenders to climb the mast.

It might work out that the lower shrouds can be replaced in pairs but I don't think I'll risk changing out both mast head shrouds at the same time. So the job will involve as many  as 7 trips up the mast not including the forestay, so perhaps eight all together.

That's the plan. I hope Peggy will be on hand to man the safety winch line and to take pictures and videos.

We're planning on a trip to Lake Boca for the New Year's Eve cruise, so more important is to complete the Diesel Fuel Tank install.  Waiting on some hose clamps, should arrive today  ( 12/20/2025), but I have some I could use temporarily if the new ones are late. So I should be able to complete the fuel tank on Monday 12/22. Just need to get the Diesel cans full and finish the job.

Part two of this post should be the start of the re-rigging. Tuesday??

See you on the water.

UPDATE - December 22 2025

While down at the boat working on the other couple of projects, I pulled the mainsail off of the mast and left it tucked inside the Cradle Cover ( stack pack ) with the intent of raising the Mast Mate.

Snag! The Mast Mate was used and the original buyers must have selected a skinny sail slug set, much too narrow for our Catalina 34. Checking with the Mast Mate company online, I found the correct sails slugs for our mast, they should be here within a week.

Minor delay, and we do have Christmas to get past.

Stay tuned as always.

I welcome you comments.

Still planning to see  you on the water ( for the new year's eve cruise )

Paul

Replacing Catalina 34 Diesel Fuel Tank. part 2

Replacement Tank for our Catalina 34

I was suffering from sticker shock on the price of the new off the shelf tank and wondered if I could find a manufacturer that could make one that fit for less than the sticker shock of the OEM tank.

None of the other custom tank companies replied to my email request for a quote until I reached out to Carr Enterprises in St. Pete Florida. Roland replied the next morning ( before my coffee ) and the initial cost was $750 with an option to have a black epoxy covering on the outside of the tank to reduce the risk of corrosion.

Searching for negative reviews of the company I could not find one! But dozens of positive reviews and one of them was for a Catalina 36 ( which has a very similar tank design ), so I dug a bit deeper. Roland had noted a discrepancy in the dimensions I had supplied, that's a good sign, it shows he actually looked at the drawing in detail. 

I ordered the tank on Thursday Nov 13th from Carr Enterprises in St Petersburg Florida. Roland was very helpful walking me through the details. He will install the Ground Tab closer to the aft end of the top of the tank and the fill tube will turn down towards the bottom of the tank to reduce aeration of the fuel, although not likely to be an issue as we always fill the tank using external diesel cans and a jiggly siphon, very low flow rate. 

They have an optional coating on the exterior of the tank, a black epoxy, which should reduce the chance of corrosion.

The Fwd end of the tank is secured with a Tab at the bottom edge of the tank there is no securing device on the aft end of the tank, our existing tank is held in place by the fuel fill tube. So I'm going to add a strap from the shelf over the back of the tank and down the stbd side of the tank with an attachment back on the shelf. Belt and braces.

Roland said it should be ready in about 14 days, that would be Nov 27th. We plan to drive over to St. Pete to pickup the tank. It's a 5 hour trip there so we'll stay overnight most likely December 1st after the Thanksgiving weekend. Carr Enterprises do not open on Fridays.

Ok, back on hold but can get the clean up done and order the new hoses.

Update 12/2/2025.

Making progress: Roland from Carrs Enterprises called, the tank should be ready for pickup on Wednesday morning. We have booked a hotel for Wednesday night. The plan is to leave here 8ish Wednesday, head down to I75 via the Sawgrass Expressway, cross over alligator ally then head North to Pensacola.  We should be there by 1pm, pickup the tank, take a break then go and visit Park Bay (??). A mid-day start home on Thursday, back here for our sailing club's board meeting ( Peggy is a Director ) at 7pm.  I'll take a slew of pics of their facility just for interest.

More later.

Paul

Boat things Break - Propane Hose too!

Replacing our Propane Supply Hose

Our dock-lord texted that one of our lines had chaffed, so we headed down to the boat but guessed it was the line from the dock to the pylon at the front of the boat. So we stopped at WM and puchased 2 x 30' 5/8" 3 Strand Nylon dock line. I asked the WM Rep to not sear the ends as I was going to splice loops into the ends of the lines.

Down at the boat my guess was correct, but the line had not chaffed, the short piece of Dyneema that I had secured to the line had not held very well - it came off! My bad. There was some chaffe in the nylon braided dock line - should not really have been labeled as a 'Dock Line' So I swapped it out anyway.  Not having a piece of Dyneema on the boat to make a bridle to attach to the new dock line, I used 12' of the old braided line and will replace that this week.

Normally we have a fore and aft spring line, a bow line ( the one that caused todays revisit ) and an aft line, fore line and a midships line which we use to keep  the boat close to the dock when we're at the dock rather than have the boat move away from the dock till all of the lines even things out.

So my solution to the Bridle line is to make a strop with loops in each end, then secure that bridle to the line from the dock to the pylon with a prussic knot and then pass the loops over the cleats at the bow.  I'll use some 5/8" 3 Strand Nylon Dock line for the Bridle.

So, why did I mention that things break - Propane hose too? Because while we where working on the dock lines, the Starboard aft corner of the Transom moved close the dock post - close enough that the hose from the Propane tank to the regulator & solenoid bumped the post and broke by the regulator.

That hose has to be at least 10 years old but I'm guessing probably nearer to 20 years old - it was time to replace - should probably replace all of the propane hoses while at it.  AND while I'm at it I should refinish the propane tank holders.

But this brings up the next issue: I'm hoping to remove the Propane system completely but have a few things to get done of higher priority, like replacing the Standing Rigging.

We've been planning on removing the Propane system since the middle of 2024 and switching over to an Induction Cooktop and a Combo oven/Toaster/Air Fryer. Now that we have 500Ah of LiFePo4 batteries, that's a reality but not at the top of that list yet. So we'll replace the Propane hoses and Refinish the tanks.

Guess what I'm working on tomorrow at the boat while Peggy plugs into the Nav electronics to learn how to use the Radar - She will do that using a Tablet running Garmin Helm and WiFi connected to that boat. Should be a good day and hoping that our new Diesel Tank is ready this week.

Stay tuned.

See you on the water.

Tipsey Turtle Race 2025

 Tipsy Turtle Race 2025

Is it becoming a habit? We took part in the Tipsy Turtle Race this Sunday, it's the inaugural race having replaced the Mary Wells race named in honor or our sailing club's most appreciated social leader.

Anyway, about the day.

Awesome with a bit of OS at the end of the day.

We planned on an 07:55am dock departure, the crew arrived on time ( they're really good about that ) but while I was fiddling about trying to put the Virtual mark for the race into the chart plotter, we missed our 07:55 departure time, it was 08:05! But we made it easily to the first bridge so no harm done, in fact I can reduce the time to the bridge by another 5 mins and we should be good.

While motoring to that bridge ( Atlantic Blvd Bridge - opens on the hour and half hour ) myself and the crew were on deck doing our best to roll down the sail Cradle Cover ( that's Doyle's equivalent to 'Stack Pack' ) it was ok, but not as neat as I had hoped, turns out it was not so bad.

We got to the inland side of the Hillsboro Inlet bridge and waited for a few minutes with some of the other club boats, there was an incoming current of 3.9knots in the middle of the channel at the bridge, we had to push the engine to make way but not an issue, we just have to mindful that the current can push us towards one side of the bridge fenders depending on the state of the tide.

Once past the bridge, we continued to motor all the way out onto the Ocean to HI buoy. Peggy took the wheel and turned the boat into wind so we could raise the Mainsail. New practice for our crew, Carol & Gail ( again, so the ride a few weeks ago in the storm did not deter them :) ) There was almost no wind but we were able to line up the boat for the start and then, just when we were to turn towards the line, the wind died. Our chart plotter was effectively a piece of electronic art work - middle of the screen was the compass rose and both the TWD ( True Wind Direction) and the AWA ( Apparent Wind Angle ) markers were dancing around in conflict every few seconds. Wind Speed 1.0 knots, Speed through the water 0.0000knots. We were going nowhere!

Spruce Goose was pointing at us at one point but they were moving, may have gotten within 100 feet and they turned, we were on a Stbd Tack, so we were the stand on vessel - of course, it was arguable that with the wind so low then were we on a Stbd tack? Well, that was the state when our sails were on the Port side of the boat.  Anyway, Spruce Goose was able to Gybe and turn away. We finally got a bit of wind and could see a trail behind our boat - we're moving! 

The start was at 10:00 but we didn't cross the line until 10:39, so, what do you do when you cross the start line 39 minutes late - you Celebrate! We did.

Fellin Nauti was ahead of us. I went out of the cockpit and on deck, our sails were looking good, I eased the Main outhaul a couple of inches and we started to see better progress, we soon passed Fellin Nauti, wow! We're sailing. We passed them to windward, sorry guys, we stole what little wind you had 😉

We made our way to the Virtual mark and zoomed in on the chart plotter as we neared the mark and approached it quickly, we turned Eastward then North heading back to the finish line.

Sailing was easy, we made pretty decent speed despite the light winds but we did get a VHF call from Feelin Nauti asking if we had received the latest position of the Virtual mark that had been published at 03:00am --- What! Well, it's too late now as we have already rounded 'our mark' so carry on.

Now, why did this happen?

Astrid, our Racing Chair, had published the coordinates of the Virtual Mark days ago and I had put it into my Tablet running Aqua Maps. A.M. has two formats for waypoint input, our chart plotter had a 3rd option, between them all, I had been able to screw up the input and it seems that our mark was about 1,000 feet North of the mark that everyone else had.   Come on guys - it's a fun race.

Once turned to the North, it was an easy Reach back to the finish mark. Carol took a pic as we crossed the line, we turned into wind to bring in the Genoa and to drop the main. Done for the day .... hmmm.

Back at the dock, we all work at stowing everything and getting the girls off the boat so that Peggy & I could pack our stuff and put the boat to bed for the night.  Last part was to make sure all of the thru-hulls were closed. That's when I realized we had a problem. 

We keep a puppy pad on the inside of the hull below where the tank shelf is located and we normally check that to ensure the Diesel tank is not leaking ( we repaired the tank in j2017 ). I also commented to Peggy that I smelt diesel. This was not really surprising as I had changed the water separator / fuel filter the other day and there could be some smell left over from that job. 

Turns out we had a leak from our Aluminum fuel tank ( read more about it here. )

Despite the tank woes, it was a great day out on the boat and the crew are getting even more involved in the running of the boat, the future looks good. We may even get some 'Eximius Crew' shirts

The After race party is tonight, we'll find out how we did, and we'll all share our stories of the Inaugural Tipsy Turtle Race.

See you on the water soon.

Paul 

Update 11/12/2025

We came 3rd in our group, 

2025 Tipsy Turtle 3rd Place Trophy 

Earned this cute wooden Turtle. Perfect Trophy for a perfect day on the water.

Here's a link to the race results: CLICK HERE 

We'll be back on the water in a couple of weeks. till then we'll get the Tank Fixed and fix the weeping Rudder post packing.

But we will see you on the water.

Paul

Replacing Catalina 34 Diesel Fuel Tank

Replacing our Diesel Fuel Tank

I repaired our fuel tank in 2017 using JB Weld Marine putty to cure a leak from the welded outboard lower edge of the tank, it has held to this day - Nov. 11th 2025 

This weekend after a day of light sailing, I found fuel on the Puppy Pad that we keep on the inside of the hull below the tank. Dang!

Looking deeper, there was fuel residue all down the inside of the hull and into the aft most bilge. Luckily it had not reached the level of the limber hole between the aft and middle bilge - so there was nothing to pump overboard .. Phew!

The tank is OEM from 1987, time to replace it.

Step 1: Drain the tank. I disconnected the fuel pipe from the output of the Facet Fuel pump and replaced it with a 24" piece of 3/8" hose the other end in a 5 gallon Jerry can ( I only had Gas Cans empty, so I tied a piece of string to the can handle to highlight that it was not Gasoline !! )

With the 'ignition' key on, I could turn the fuel pump on and off from inside the cabin by using the master engine control key on the cabin control panel.

It took about 20 minutes to empty the rest of the fuel from the tank. I filled the 1st 5 gallon tank, turned the pump off, swapped to the next 5 gallon tank and turned the pump back on. Total of about 6 gallons drained.

The tank is located at the foot of the aft berth behind the plywood bulkhead on the Port side. After pulling everything out of the garage ( our nickname for the aft berth ) it took only a few minutes to remove the dozen or so screws and pull out the bulkhead. Then disconnect the Fuel Fill hose, Fuel Vent hose, Fuel Supply hose ( had to cut that, just could not get the hose off of the connection ) , the Fuel Return hose and the Electrical connection for the Tank Sensor ( had to cut those too. Luckily I had anticipated that I might have to remove the tank in the future and had left some slack in the tank sensor wiring). Finally remove the two ground wires attached to the top ground strap. 

To remove the tank, there are 6 screws on the forward end of the tank that secure it to the shelf on which the tank sits.

With all that done, it's just a case of sliding the tank to starboard and into the aft berth. Once it's in the berth, then, standing at the entrance to the berth, the tank can be manhandled and placed on the galley counter ( over the sinks ), from there, it's just a case of moving it to the cabin steps and managing it onto the cockpit deck. The tank is not particularly heavy, but it is awkward.

With the tank at home, I got my tape measure out and verified the dimensions.

This drawing is an edit of the one provided by Catalina Direct. Note their drawing is not 'complete' I guess they don't want to provide all of the dimensions for sales reasons.

Catalina Direct have been a great resource for getting stuff done on Eximius, and they are always very helpful. That's particularly important with the recent loss of the Catalina Factory - at least, it looks like the factory is going away unless they can find someone to take it over - PLEASE - but note! Catalina Direct is not any part of Catalina Yachts. 

The option for buying the tank are challenging. The one from CD are a known replacement. It's very slightly smaller than our original tank. I have asked a couple of companies for a quote on making a replacement, waiting on a reply most likely tomorrow.

Meanwhile: With the tank out and the aft berth empty, I can do a few things.

• Clean up the tank support shelf
• Clean up the inside of the hull from the shelf area all the way down to the aft bilge. 
• Both of these require plenty of cleaning, degreasing, I may even get the bilge paint out, not necessary but would be nice.
• Clean up the inside of the under sink cupboard in the head.

The tank has certainly got a healthy growth of Diesel Bug, the new tank will be virgin clean but the supply hose is probably infected, so a new hose is in my future.

The Forward end of the old tank has a tab for screwing down to the support shelf but there is no tab on the aft end of the tank ( narrow end ) but the fuel fill hose is very rigid and should prevent the tank moving but I think I'll add a hold down strap all the same.

While at it, I'll do some general cleaning hopefully to reduce the diesel smell in the cabin.

Stay tuned.

See you on the water - when the new tank is installed.

Paul

Crew training

Crew training aboard Eximius

After owning Eximius for 10 years, we finally got to have crew aboard for a local Ocean race and what a difference! 

We have had crew aboard for a 40nm trip, but it was literally a straight line cruise from Hillsboro Inlet to Lake Worth Inlet, so just the three of us: Myself, Peggy and one crew.

On our last race, we had two crew and what a difference that made. The day was Stormy, Wet and wild but the two 'girls' were still smiling when we got back to the dock despite not finishing the race. 

Luckily, they both wanted to come out with us again, that's a good sign, and they are this weekend. But also, our sailing club has a lot of potential crew to call upon. I happen to manage the club's website ( https://www.hisc.org ) and have put a 'Crew Pool' system in place where club members can volunteer to be crew on the boats that skippers own.

However, the question often arises is 'But what experience do they have' and that is a good question. I'm looking to see how we can establish that criteria for each wanna-be crew, it's a challenge. 

So, one thing I'm considering:- What are the benefits of training regular Crew. 

We seem to be a decent skipper and admiral, my 60years of sailing experience and quite a bit of education ( Navy as well as ASA 101 ) so I believe that we could offer crew some useful sailing education.

Just like 'I'm not a Bank', I'm also not a 'Free Sailing Classes provider' but would not want to charge crew for 'training'.  However, having better educated crew is a benefit to all onboard.

Ok, having convinced myself that it would be worth my time to offer some sailing education, now I need to figure out what to offer.

Let me say from the outset - I would / will suggest the ASA courses but many of our club members have done at least the ASA 101, some a lot more, obviously, this subject is not aimed at those 'crew' that do have experience - in their case, it's not so much training but in education about how we run our ship.  A frequent phrase we used in the Royal Navy was 'Different Ships - Different Cap Tallies - that refers to the ships name tally that junior sailors have on their caps, those Tallies change when you change ships - so to do the ships procedures.

For the less experienced crew, there are some basics. A good friend of mine told me that when you get a new crew, educate them on one job and help them get good at that job. I like that idea.

BUT - that's a long slow process, and going out  for a sail with the simple goal of practicing a particular process, such as 'Putting in a Reef' can get crew up to speed much more quickly.

I did have the opportunity to educate a bunch of our club members on correct Radio Procedure ( My Ship ) and have the documentation that I used. It would be easy for me to type up some other processes ( such as Reefing ) and take the crew out for practice ( Crew Training ) 

You may have ideas on this and I sure would like to hear about them, so go ahead and comment on this subject - I'll toss out any crazy comments, no offense, but so far my blog has had over 500,000 views and I delete junk comments. I really do look forward to your input.

See you on the water - hopefully with crew.

Paul

Time to leave the dock

 When is the time to leave the dock?

Our new dock is awesome, just 20+ minutes from home, an extremely nice location and a great dock-lord. And it's only 55 mins from the Ocean and 3 bridges ( Compared to our original dock which was about 90 mins from the ocean five bridges, one of them the main line railroad bridge for the Brightline train system).

Now we can participate in a lot more of our sailing club events, we have been in more club regattas and cruises in the past 12 months than we had for several years at the old dock. This is a big deal and we're very grateful to the home owner.

We have to calculate the time to leave the dock in order to get to the club races start line. Leaving the dock at the wrong time can cause us to wait an additional 30 minutes in order to get into sync with the bridge opening times.  If we have crew onboard, and yes we have finally managed that, then we have to inform them of the dock departure time.

So.... I created a simple spreadsheet to show what times we need to leave the dock in order to get to the Ocean side Start line. It's simple: Just determine what time to arrive at the start line and then look for the dock departure time.

Thanks Carol for pointing out my early morning error - just a reminder to don't make decisions before my morning Coffee.

Mainsail Reefing line markings

Marking the Mainsail Reefing Lines

We had crew aboard last weekend, so I was not doing all of the work when we needed to reef, that was when I realized that we need to improve the reefing process on Eximius.

Just to recap, here's the process of adding a reef to the Mainsail.

• Head up to close hauled
• Haul in on the Topping lift to prevent the boom dropping when...
• Lower the main halyard to bring the head of the sail down just below the next reefing point
• Haul in the next reefing point downhaul to tighten the luff
• Haul in on the Main halyard to tension the luff, now the main is currently raised to that reef.
• Haul in on the next reefing point outhaul to set the Clew of the sail
• Ease the Topping lift to set the leach of the mainsail
• Reef the Jib/Genoa as needed to balance the boat.
• Head back onto course

That's how we should add a reef to the mainsail.

The problem arises when having to check the position of the main halyard and the two sets of reefing lines. Glancing up from the cockpit in nasty weather is awkward. Hence the need to mark the lines for each reefing point.

My plan is to mark the Main Halyard, the #1 Reef downhaul & the #1 Outhaul as well as the #2 Reef Downhaul & the #2 Reef Outhaul

I want the markings to be easily seen from the cockpit and obvious.

Here's my plan. I'll mark the 5 lines in each position "Full Main", "1st Reef", "2nd Reef" using Red whipping line.

Each marking will comprise of 2 or 3 bands.

For the Full main, the bands will be 1" wide whippings

For the 1st Reef, the bands will be one narrow band and the second band will be 1" wide whippings

For the 2nd Reef, the bands will be two narrow bands and the second band will be 1" wide whippings

With these markings in place, it should be easy to tell when the lines are in the correct position both when adding a reef or taking a reef out.

We'll see how that works out.

Any comments? Do you mark your reefing lines and if so, what method do you use?

See you on the water, reefed or not.

Paul

Commodores Cup 2025

 That sail was a Blast

Champagne Sailing at it's best, 5-8' seas, Ongoing Storm, Boat failures - but we had a blast!

Let's get the Boat failures out of the way.

When putting in the 2nd reef, I screwed up. When I loosened the lazy jacks with the intent of tidying up the sail shape after dropping the mainsail for the 2nd reef, I did not secure the bitter end of the port side Lazy Jack halyard. Later it ran out of the mast block and wrapped itself around the port Gib sheet, a big bundle of Dhoby hitches. The Genoa furling line jambed in the drum. That was probably due to the furling line not being taught enough to force the line to lay neatly inside the furler. I need to replace the furling line as it should be about 10' longer so that it's easier to manage when furling and unfurling the genoa.

Ok, that's it, considering the weather, easily solved issues:

• Secure the ends of the Lazy Jack halyards
• Keep the tension on the furling line when unfurling the Genoa
• Mark the reefing points on the Main Halyard and all 4 Reefing lines.

Thursday morning, a fellow member of the HISC assisted me climbing the mast to re-thread the Lazy Jack line, I plan to assist him when he has to scale his mast for the first time next week. Thanks Jim.

Friday morning I fixed the Lazy Jack lines, with stopper knots that prevent the line leaving the cleats. I hoisted the sail bag so that water drains out. All of the running rigging looks good, I inspected the shrouds and the attachments at the mast, all look good, however, my plan it to replace the standing rigging this winter. 

I also measured the Genoa Furling line and purchased 80' of StaSetX 1/4" Red & White line from the local marine store ( WM ) ready to install next week. The new line should have a significant tail on it so that it's easier to handle at the cockpit end.

Now for the fun part.

Our first crew for a race arrived early at the boat so were were able to leave at 8:55am to make the 9am Atlantic Bridge opening. Carol & Gail brought their own lifejackets, we had lunch, snacks and water/juice drinks in the cooler. Peggy & I had stopped by Publix on the way to the boat to pick up some Sandwiches and Fruit & Crackers, we would not starve.

The wind was expected to pipe up around noon. NOAA had forecast 10-14 knots of wind, so we set the 1st reef in the mainsail. Motoring up towards the start line we pinged the Port & Stbd pins of the line. The outer mark was a committee boat and the inner mark was a swim buoy. Our Starting line program was running on our Garmin Chart Plotter. 

Our start was the last of 3, first warning was at 10:55 for an 11:00 start, second warning was at 11:00 for an 11:05 start and our warning was at 11:05 for the 11:10 start. We nailed it, crossing line within 20 seconds of the gun. It was an eventful start for the other fleets but I'll leave them to write up their story, it was definitely eventful.

Even with the 1st reef, we flew down towards the first mark which was to be somewhere East of the Commercial Peer. The race committee said "The last known position of the South Mark was Somewhere East of the Commercial Peer", probably because we have had to chase that mark in some pervious races due to it not holding it's anchored position so well. Oh Well.

The night before, Peggy & I had reviewed the potential race courses and had figured that if it was a Southerly marked course, then the mark would probably be in the first deep water East of the Peer. We nailed that too!

Ok, back to the sailing. So we were flying down and holding our own, but the leading boats seemed to be heading quite close to shore compared to us. I should have held to my plan, instead I doubted my own plan and we gybed to head closer to shore and had to head back SE to where the mark was, pretty close to where we had put the mark in our plotter.

As expected, the wind was piping up, we were seeing steady 14knots of wind, gusting to 17 and heading up the scale. So we decided to put in a second reef once we had rounded the South Mark, which we did nicely. The wind had backed so we rounded the mark and then turned to 80ºm and worked at putting in the 2nd reef.

Carol, soaked but smiling.

The new crew had been great, Wet! Worked but still smiling. We plowed along nicely but then I screwed up. 

The process of putting in a reef on Eximius is:-

• Tighten the Topping Lift to stop the Boom from falling
• Lower the Mainsail to just below the next reef point
• Tighten the next Downhaul reef line
• Tighten the next Outhaul Reef line
• Raise the Main to the next reef point
• Ease the topping lift to improve the sail shape.

Easy! Unless someone ( me ) had screwed up  earlier. I had not secured the ends of the Lazy Jack lines and the Port side line had exited the mast block above the spreaders and then had tangled around the stbd lazy jack lines and the port side genoa sheet. Concerned about that, I had followed the reefing process but unable to get the sail down to the 2nd reefing point and unable to raise the sail back up. Now we had a wind bag instead of a sail! And the wind was now exceeding 22knots. Oh! When I tried to reef in the Genoa, the furling line became locked around the drum and so we could not reef the genoa.

At this point we basically had a wind bag for a mainsail and the genoa was fully deployed, this made controlling the boat a lot of fun.

The crew were still smiling.

Three times I went forward to try and release the lock in the furling drum but  the wind was just too strong. I made the decision that we should alert the race committee that we were starting our engine and bowing out of the race. Then we turned for the inlet.

For the next half hour, we fought the weather, waves and the squally conditions and did not make progress North, our intent was to anchor of the Hillsboro Beach till the weather dropped and then motor into the inlet, however, the timing was not good, Low tide was at 2:30pm, the waves were over 5' and the depths in the inlet were less than 6' in places and were were having sail issues that meant going in the inlet was risky. So I decided we should head south to Port Everglades and take the ICW north to our dock.

During all of this, we broke out the Lunch sandwiches and multiple rounds of hydration, we started to dry off too.  

It was about a 2 hour motor to PE, but enroute I was able to calm the mainsail and tide the sail into the lazy jack bag ( Cradle Cover ) and I was able to untangle the Genoa furler and get it fully furled.

It was lumpy and bumpy all the way until we were inside of the breakers of the Port Everglades Inlet. Of course, a giant Cruise Ship was heading out as we came in, but timing worked out and we had no issues. 

In very familiar waters for Peggy & I, we turned North on the ICW, we navigated under the 17th Street Causeway bridge, around the East bend and then North again up to Los Olas Blvd Bridge, we had to wait 25minutes but plenty of room, very little traffic. Up throttle and head to Sunrise Bridge, Oakland Park Blvd Bridge and finally Commercial Blvd Bridge. 

All of us were pretty tired but we got to the dock even if we did have to try it twice. 

I suggested to Carol & Gail that they didn't need to hang around, we were planning on securing the boat and heading home before it got dark. I think we got home around 6:15pm  Left over sandwiches for dinner and then an early night.

This was the most fun I had on the boat in a long while, self inflicted issues but we overcame them, everyone was smiling and the crew both said they would do it again. I hope they do. It was a great day.

See you on the water.

Paul

Intermittent Anchor Light

Fixing our Intermittent Anchor Light

On a recent 160nm trip with four nights at anchor, we noticed our anchor light was out. It's not a complex system. On/Off Switch (Circuit Breaker ) on the Electrical Panel, Wires inside the Mast and LED Anchor light mounted on a bracket at the Mast head.

Testing:

Using a digital AVO I checked the power at the Breaker - It was good and solid, no wiggly switch!

While Peggy watched the Mast head, I 'wiggled' the wire joint at the base of the mast - Yep! On and Off while wiggling ( the wires, not me or Peggy ) So I need to rework the joints of the wires at the base of the mast.

According to the Catalina's Owner's Manual ( Pg. 30 ) There is a 4 wire cable for the Mast Ground, Anchor Light, Deck Light and Steaming Light.

In practice there is also a Coaxial Wire ( Masthead VHF Antenna) and a NEMA 2000 Drop wire ( Masthead Wind Transducer )

At present, that 4 wire cable is a mess of electrical tape and probably soldered butt joints - I'll cut them open and rewire them as follows.

In practice, that will look something like this.

Sketch of Bilge area just in front of the mast.

I'm planning on mounting the Terminal block with Thickened Epoxy in a position that the screws are accessible from the top. Might have to put it on the Port side if the existing cable is not long enough.

Plan is to do this on Monday, same day that we'll work on removing the old head toilet and install a new one.

Well, it's done, working but didn't work out as expected.

My sketch shows the terminal block neatly affixed to the side of the bilge, turned out that's almost impossible! The access to that bilge area is very small and getting to the block if it is installed there is equally nearly impossible.  Also, the wire from the block to the electrical control panel is too short to reach down to that point.

The other issue ( non issue ) is that the wires from the mast are a 2 pair and 3 pair . The black wire in both are 'common'.

This is what I started with. those joints are soldered twisted wires covered with Liquid rubber and then two layers of electrical tape.

You can see the 4 wire brown sheathed cable in the lower right hand ( Port side ) of the picture.

With some careful pulling, I was able to extend the brown sheathed cable out another 1.5" but still not enough to be able to connect to the terminal block if it was secured to the side of the bilge and there would be no reasonably easy way to get a screwdriver in there to secure the wire terminals.

I elected to have the terminal float and secured by a zip tie.

First task was to document the wire connections.

4 Wire: 

Red - White stripe to Red Two Wire

Red - Green Stripe to Black Common two and three wire

Red - Black Strip to White Three Wire

Red - Solid to Green Three wire

Using a knife I peeled back the wrapping and then cut the wires close to the solder joints

Cut the outer covering of the Two and Three wire cables so that they were all the same length.

Stripped the wire ends for Crimped Ring Terminals

After shrinking the terminal covers, it all went together really easy.

I'm anticipating pulling the mast in December to do a few jobs on the mast and to replace the standing rigging.

Also cleaned up the sheaths of the two cables, just had to wipe them down with a Clorox wipe.

I put the terminal block cover on and secure it to with a couple of small zip ties.

Next: Test it!

Peggy operated the switches while I rushed around the boat on and off the dock to check the lights were working. 

Anchor Light 👍 

Steaming Light 👍 

Deck Light 👍 

Running Lights 👍  ( Tested but not part of the Mast wiring )

So all deck and Nav lights are working

With the wiring checked out, I secured the terminal block and the 2 & 3 wire cables to the P clip that is under that screw in the top left corner of the picture.

Yes, I cleaned up the deck support and the bilge before closing it up and re-testing - all's good.

Cross this one off the list and updated the Service history.

See you on the water.

Paul

Fixing the Crapper

Replacing the Toilet

We keep the bathroom as clean as possible, you never know when a visitor has to 'go', so our toilet is clean, but it leaks, and it does not matter how clean it is if it leaks!

We replaced the discharge hose from the Toilet to the Holding tank, but we keep getting a small amount of fluid on the floor in the head, pretty sure it's from the toilet, the cost of the bits to service the old unit, along with the work, just doesn't make sense when a new unit is less than $200 from Defender.

So we are now the proud owners of a brand new Jabsco Twist 'n' Lock Manual Toilet - 29090-5000. Ordered on September 1st and arrived on September 5th. I checked the condition of the product before taking it down to the boat as I had read that some recipients had reported damage to the toilet. This was very well packaged and the box showed no signs of external damage - well done UPS.

In theory, the hole pattern for the base should exactly match the old unit's so that should make it an easy task.

We flush the toilet with Fresh water - if you have seen inside the holding tank after the toilet has been flushed with salt water for a few years you'll understand why.

So I'll blank off the hose port on the back of the pump assembly.

Looking at the pic above, i can see that the Discharge port on the base of the pump assembly is pointing upwards but on the boat, the port is pointing to the right ( towards the bow ), however, checking the new toilet, that discharge port looks to be able to position in three directions by just removing the 3 screws, pulling the port off, rotating it and reassembling.   Fingers crossed!

I'll apply a thin film of Butyl tape to the underside of the base just to ensure there's no way for any liquids to seep under the base should there ever be a leak.

OK, as always, that's the plan.

Well that went really well.

Turns out that the Toilet was only secured by 3 lag bolts, the back left hand lag bolt was missing and when I removed the Toilet, that screw had previously broken off and I could see the old screw shaft had been leveled off so that it did not protrude. Oh, well, one less lag bolt to worry about.

The output port is not triangular, it's circular, so that means the port can be rotated a full 360º just by easing two screws accessible from the front of the toilet (one can be seen in the picture above )

The whole job would have taken about 10 minutes had I not left my socket set at home. Most of the time was spent unscrewing the lag bolts in the very limited area behind the toilet.

I used the 'old' toilet seat, it was only replaced comparatively recently.

All done with enough time to do the mast wiring fix for the Anchor light before heading home. 

A good day.

See you on the water.