There are a bunch of procedures that professionals use to make sailboats work and look better. Most of these procedures are simple and easy and can be done by most boat owners. The DIY business in sailboats has been and is big business. West Marine is in that business with good results. In most cases, the labor force (you) needs to ask questions before work starts. Another way for Com-Pac owners to get this information is to read about some of our DIY projects below. The latest project listed will be on top. The old stuff is at the bottom of the page.

Project 24: Old Com-Pac 16s had vinyl cushions in the early days and most of those cushions have died from old age. Owners didn't buy new cushions because they were expensive. Com-Pac came up with a new feature in their new Legacy that is very popular. The cushions are an option on the Legacy that no one buys (cost), but the boat has a standard indoor-outdoor rug installed over the bunk area that works well and looks good. If that idea will work on the Legacy, it should work on all of our old 16s without cushions. We just did this project on a 1976 model and it looks good. You can buy a rug from Lowes that’s 6 feet wide and 5 feet long. That size will cover the bunks will a little extra left over. We used a heavy rug with a pleat. You roll the edges under the bunk boards and staple. We also used contact cement to hold the rug in place while we trimmed the outer edges with a box cuter. We cemented a nice black rug between the bunks. It's a big improvement over the missing cushion problem.

Project 23: This is a continuation of Project 21. We removed 500 pounds of ballast from the bottom of a 1400-pound keel to make a Yamaha 25 usable in coastal North Carolina. The boat currently should have 4 of draft after our planned modifications. Moving lead inside the boat will maintain the draft and increase the boat's stability. Reducing weight above the deck in the mast and rigging will also help with stability. We have installed a Com-Pac 23 mast and standing rigging with good results. The forestay will need to be increased by 8 inches and we did move the spreaders on the mast, which shorten the lowers by 4 inches. All and all not bad fit. The Yamaha was designed as an IOR race boat. Back in good old days, sailors raced IOR boats as a class and they were powerful boats that could be raced in the ocean. The secret to speed in all sailboats is being able to drive the boat. By drive the boat, I mean the boat's ability to use all the sail power that's available against its ability to stay upright. Lots of sail power doesn't work if the boat is heeled over sailing on its side. The draft and the ballast on the Yamaha was reduced and the sail area to drive the boat could also be reduced. I'm looking for the right amount of sail area to drive a 3200-pound, plus or minus sailboat in coastal conditions. The Com-Pac 23 at 3000 pounds works well. The Yamaha should be a coastal cruiser with standing headroom and a diesel. It doesn't have a shower, but you can't have everything.

Project 22: Dave Krugler from Michigan has installed an electricl system in his Sun Cat. The system looks good and will make the boat more useful. This is what he said about the installation process:

Hi Keith; I did a project to add lights to my 2001 Suncat which was ordered by the previous owner without the light package. I had some particular personal requirements that the factory package differed from anyway so here's what I wanted and did:

I wanted a full compliment of navigation lights, this includes bi-colored bow and all-white stern running lights plus a steaming light and a mast head mounted all-round white anchor light. I also wanted a headliner mounted cabin light that could be switched on and off without leaving the cockpit and mounting it just in front of the cabin hatch provides the best light coverage for the cabin interior anyway. I also wanted my switch panel mounted in the cockpit so I wouldn't have to enter the cabin to switch lights on and off. This is a safety item when it's rough or when negotaiting congested waters, especially if single handing. The compass light is switched with the running lights so if running lights are on the compass light is on.

The lights themselves are Hella 20 series lamps purchased from West Marine. The 3 mast lights are mounted on simple 18ga aluminum sheetmetal brackets. I found the sheetmetal on E-Bay through a seller called 'Cut Metals' and they even cut my 3 bracket strips for free and sent them along with the balance of a standard sized piece of aluminum to me. I bent the brackets, mounted the lamps to the brackets and the assemblies are pop-riveted to the mast. To minimize wiring complexity all mast mounted lamps are grounded via one of the lamp to bracket mounting screws then through the brackets to the mast and stub. The stub is grounded to the negative side of the battery. The stern light must be grounded via it's own groundwire which also connects to the negaive post of the battery.

In an effort to preserve easy Mastendr mast stepping and weather tight plugging of mast and stub I mounted a Perko 2 pole deck connecter right on the top of my mast stub plug and brought the mast wiring through the mast plug and sealed the wires to the plug. I routed wires for the boom gallows mounted stern lamp through the portside gallows upright tube. Since in a previous garage modification I had cut the gallows tubes to allow removal of the gallows I had easy access to the inside of the tubes to route the wires. The gallows tubes happened to be cut 12' above the deck and a 6' long piece of the next smaller size tubing was inserted halfway into the lower tube to make a slip joint so combined height of the deck tube is now 15'. I found an 18' long 3/8' aircraft drillbit on E-bay and used it to drill the wire hole through the deck without having to remove the deck tube. With the problem of drilling the deck hole solved it was then a simple matter to pass a snake wire through the gallows tube and deck and pull stern lamp wires back up the tube. I needed another wire connecter inside the gallows upright but it makes a neat installation when the wires are packaged inside the gallows tube. A 1' long piece of 3/4' maple dowel was center drilled to allow stern lamp wires to pass through. The dowel rod was passed over the wiring, epoxied into the tube and provides a sturdy support for a female half of a Perko 2 pole wire harness connecter which was attached above the dowel rod. The male plug was attached to the lamp side of the wiring. It can be simply plugged together as the gallows is assembled and it safely pulls apart if you forget it's in there when disassembling the gallows for garage duty. See pictures.

The battery box is a unit sized to accept a compact tractor battery and is mounted in the cabin locker on the port side. All wiring is Ancor marine grade tinned copper wire. Battery leads are 14ga red and black and a 15 amp fuseholder was installed at the battery to protect the battery leads from battery to switch panel. That way if there is a short in the battery wiring the battery leads won't overheat and cause a fire. This is very important. All running light, steaming light, anchor light wiring is 16ga except the stern lamp wiring inside the upper gallows tube is 18ga because it needs to be flexible to keep it from kinking and fatiguing when the gallows is assembled and disassembled. My simple color coding was brown or black wires are ground, green is running and instrument lamp wiring, yellow is steaming light, white is anchor light and red is positive lead from battery and the positive side of the cabin lamp. The disadvantage of putting the switch panel in the cockpit instead of in the cabin on the chainlocker bulkhead is all the mast wiring and battery wiring is much longer having to be routed aft to the panel. I bundled the wiring in black plastic spiral armor and ran it behind the port side cockpit trim panel aft to the panel. Every place a wire passes through the mast I installed a protective rubber grommet to prevent chafing the wire insulation on sharp edges left by drilling. I took the piano wire core out of an old outboard cable to use as a wire snake to get wiring pulled through the mast.

Everything comes together at the cockpit mounted Paneltronics switch panel. This item came from Defender Marine. I liked it because it was waterproof, had just the right number of circuits and has panel mounted bulkhead fuses and pilot lights. I found a back cover at West Marine to protect the back of the panel. I mounted a 4 pole terminal strip to the outside of the case and brought all ground connections together there including the negative side of the battery. Positive battery feed goes to a wire pigtail inside the cover and individual connections are made to each switch for the different lamps. I use 5amp fuses in each circuit. Fuses in the panel protect wiring from the panel to the various lamps. They would not protect the battery wiring so the 15amp fuse holder at the battery must be used.

This project was a bit complicated but not so difficult the average do it yourselfer cannot handle. For the sailor who buys a boat without the lighting package it makes night time use of your boat safe. Future additions to the electrical package for my boat will probably include more instrumentation, GPS and a sounder, and either an engine driven charging system or a solar panel system to keep the battery charged.

Project 21: This is a big project and doing everything may not be possible for most DIY sailors. In my opinion, just about all sailboats are territorial. An example of the truth in that statement is when a deep draft sailboat is located in a shoal draft area. You can't make a boat sail if the keel is on the bottom. Sailors in coastal North Carolina can live with a draft of 4 feet or less. Boats with more draft have a hard time getting to their marinas when it's time to go home and they spend lots of time on the bottom. Getting to the sailing area from your slip is the big problem. Most creeks that connect the two points are shallow. Boats with deep draft can sail in the ocean, but ocean sailing isn't that interesting unless you going somewhere far, far away. A sailboat that's in the wrong location should be a cheap sailboat. Is a sailboat that doesn't leave the dock a real bargain?

Sailboats for the most part are generic and some boats can be modified for your local sailing area. The project sailboat, a Yamaha 25 was very cheap and a had a draft of 5 feet 2 inches. It was built as an IOR racer back in the 70s in Japan. People only sail in the ocean in Japan and it was built for ocean sailing. This boat spent most of it's life in the Hawian Islands sailing out of Peal Harbor. The right boat for the right location. It was moved to the Chesapeake Bay at some point and became less usable. The boat's value and condition deteriorated in the Chesapeake Bay and the boat was then moved to North Carolina. The Yamaha was going down hill fast.

To be useful in North Carolina, the keel had to be reduced in draft to 4 feet. This boat has an iron keel and cutting iron isn't easy. The boat's original displacement was 3900 pounds. The keel weight was 1400 pounds or 40% of the boat's displacement. I decided to remove 500 pounds of iron from the keel to reduce the draft to 4 feet. To compensate for the lost ballast, I had planned on adding lead pigs to the boat's interior. I don't think I will have to replace the total amount of ballast because I also plan on reducing the sail area from 280 square feet to 250 square feet. We happen to have a Com-Pac 23 mast in stock that has the same deck dimensions for the standing rigging. The mast is almost 8 feet shorter in length and it also has furling gear. Coastal sailing is not as severe as ocean sailing and lake sailing isn't as severe as coastal sailing. Our modifications should work well for coastal sailing in North Carolina. The modified Yamaha 25 should get wet early next year and I will report on the results.

Project 20: Everyone needs a ladder on their transom. Some boats like the Sun Cat are designed in such a way were installing a new ladder after the boat was built is difficult. Dave Krugler from Michigan has come up with a better (easy) way to install that ladder. This is what he said about installing his ladder:

Hi Keith; My projects for this summer were to install a factory ladder, mount a compass and install nav lights and an anchor system. I wanted a factory-looking ladder installation but didn't want to disassemble the tiller funnel or instal a 6' access port so I dreamed up another way of installing the ladder. I bought brass furniture thread inserts threaded 5/16-18 inside to get a little larger OD on the outside insert threads. Using the ladder for a drill template I drilled 1 hole and inserted a bolt to locate the next and so on til all 7 holes were located. I then drilled the located transom holes up to a size that accomdated the threads on the outside of the inserts. I coated the brass inserts liberally with industrial 'Smooth-On' epoxy and drove them and let them set overnight. Next day I used a rotary grinder and carefully ground the inserts down flush with the fiberglass surface of the transom, chased the threads and installed the ladder with 'Boat Life' caulk under the mounting flanges.

Dave has a good looking ladder and a good looking boat.

Project 19: A project that most people dread is replacing the trim tape on a boat. Installing the new tape isn't that bad, but removing the old is really hard. The hair dryer trick doesn't work that well and a razor blade can damage the gel-coat and maybe a finger or two. The automobile people have a tool that really works well and it basically erases the old tape. You can buy the tool at a car parts store and they are not expensive. Using the tool in a drill works well, but you need to keep the drill speed slow. You can burn a spot in the gel-coat or paint if you run too fast or for too long in one spot. After buffing and waxing, your old hull may look better than it did when it was new. Most marine tapes come with plastic cover on the outside. This allows you to pull and bend the tape without stretching the tape. This outside cover should be removed after the tape is in place on the boat. The plastic will turn white with time and fall off.

Project 18: Everyone that owns a Com-Pac 19, 23 or a Sun Cat has a rudder lifting problem. The rudder lock handle that locks the rudder down is down close to the water and that's too much of a reach for most people. I think Com-Pac invented the rudder-lifting handle for the Horizon Cat and it has been a popular accessory for the other boats as well. We have to make our own lifting handle now and then when we can't get a handle from Com-Pac. They have their hands full when business is good and they don't have time to make some accessories.

Our handle is made from 1-inch stainless steel tubing and other parts that are available from West Marine. We have 2 trees that have grown close together about 3 feet above the ground. They are our bending tool that's needed to make the compound curve in our tubing. Make sure you keep both bends level with each other. In my case, it hard to see through the trees to make sure the other end of the tube is level. Doing your bending with 2 people is helpful. One person on each side of the trees will help maintain a level tube. The slot at the bottom of the handle is a hacksaw cut. We cleaned up the slot with a Dremel tool. The other fittings are mostly bimini frame parts purchased from West Marine. It helps to install the top fitting before you make the top bend, but it can move around the bend with a hammer. They slide better on a straight tube. The top handle is a "T" handle fitting used for pulpit construction. It's also available from West. I replaced the fitting screw retainers with pop rivets to make sure the fittings don't move. The metal retainer at the top of the rudder is a bent stainless steel chainplate. We plan on welding a stainless steel fitting for the rudder top soon. That will make construction much faster. That fitting is installed with 1/4-inch bolts. You need to drill and tap for their installation. The red line in the picture keeps the handle from moving backwards beyound your reach. The white Starboard under the top fitting is used as a guide

We think the failure mode for the rudder will be the pop rivet holding the top fitting. When you go aground with some speed, the rudder should kick up by shearing the top rivet. We haven't tested that feature yet.

Project 17: We have all wanted to do touch-up work on our boats at times. Most jobs require a shop that has an air-compressor and other painting equpment. We now have something new that's going to help boat owners make their boat look better without going to a shop. It's a portable sprayer that can be used with most liquids and it can be reused several times. The sprayer and the bottle can be cleaned after each use. We are currently doing most of our small gel-coat work on our yard with this equipment. The sprayer does a faster job and you can see the repair better when you work outside in the sun. You need to be careful with wind direction because you could spray someone else’s boat. The little spray bottle cost $7 plus shipping. Is this a cool tool or what?

Project 16: Sun Cats are great boats with very little working room in the bow. Installing a bow roller, a deck pipe or anything else in the bow area is difficult. The big problem is that pretty teak bulkhead with the little door. Getting the battery in and out is a tight proposition and working on hardware up there is almost impossible unless you have 6-foot arms. The easy way to install equipment in the bow is to remove the teak bulkhead. 4 screws hold the bulkhead in place and they are located behind the small trim pieces on the sides of the bulkhead. The trim pieces are nailed in place and they can be removed with a thin tool between the trim and the bulkhead. Don't mar the finish as you ease the trim pieces off. Mark up and down and right and left because you are going to use the same nail hole to re-install the trim. Move the bulkhead to a position like the one in the picture and the bow hardware will be in arms reach. Not easy arms reach, but a lot better.

Project 15: Project 15 and 14 go together. Read both projects for a better understanding of how to repair gel-coat. New boat gel-coat is easy to repair. Just follow the instructions in Project 14 below. An older boat repair is more difficult to do and it takes more time to make your problem go away. The difference between the two is the natural chalk that an old boat generates over time. You can look at the gel-coat under a hatch edge on an older boat and see what the original gel-coat looked like when it was new. Gel-coat that's been exposed to the sun appears to be much lighter. Some boats appear to be almost white, even thought the original color was an off white or cream color when new. Dark colored hulls and decks are more of a problem.

Matching a color is more difficult with older boats. I like to think that we have a new boat color hiding under the chalk and that's true. Removing the chalk from an older boat is an expensive and time-consuming proposition and not very practical. We could match the current color that's been modified by the chalk (lighter), but when we work the repair, the original gel-coat will show through as a halo around the repair. A better solution is to repair a whole panel. We can fool our eyes with this automobile repair solution. Most people have a hard time picking out small color differences if a whole panel has been gel-coated or changed. We normally spray our repaired panel with a gun to get the right type of coverage.

The best place to buy your gel-coat is from the boat builder if you have a new boat. A builder will not have gel-coat for their older boats. There are several sources for colored gel-coat on the Internet. You can also mix your own with a base and pigment obtained from West Marine. Both solutions will work, but they both take lots of trial and error and time.

Some gel-coats come with no wax in the can or bottle. Some boat builders might send out a container of gel-coat without adding any wax to the container. Your gel-coat will never get hard if it doesn't have wax added to the gel-coat. If you do get some gel-coat without wax added, you could try covering your gel-coat with tape. Gel-coat without wax is used in the laminating process and the absence of air should make it kick. That's how a boat builder builds boats. It will take a little longer to get hard. Most gel-coats used for repairs will have wax mixed with the gel-coat. The shelf life of gel-coat is not very long and the absence of air in the container will make a small quantity of gel-coat kick in the container. Keeping the container cold could make it last a little longer.

Paint is better than gel-coat as a marine finish. Paint is much harder than gel-coat and will keep its shine for a longer period of time. The reason boat builders use gel-coat is gel-coat is the cheapest way to build a boat. If we are going to restore or refinish a boat at some point in time, the best solution is paint.

Most first time gel-coat repair people think they can repair a crack by just using some new gel-coat. Cracks can't be repaired until they are opened up with a tool. The crack must be at least 1/8 inch wide and maybe a little more. If you don't like the idea of making holes in your boat, you need to practice on something else first. Use a Dremel to cut the gel-coat next to the crack and then fill that space with filler and gel-coat as required (Project 14).

Gel-coat, MEK harder (you can buy it at a Car Parts Store), a Dremel and an assortment of wet/dry sandpaper (600, 800, 1000 and 1500) are the main gel-coat repair tools. When your gel-coat repair is as good as it is going to get, it time to buff and wax the repair. Good luck with your repairs.

Project 14: If you own a sailboat, you are going to have a gel-coat problem at some point in time. You may hit a dock, ding the boat on the trailer or do something else that requires a repair. When that happens, the boo-boo needs to look like it never happen. The repair is easy, but it takes time to do it right.

The first thing we should do is evaluate the damage. We should check the depth of the existing gel-coat because we will have to blend our new gel-coat into the original gel-coat. If the existing gel-coat is very thin, blending will be difficult. The next step is to check the depth of the damage. A filler will be needed in most cases. You can fill the damaged area with gel-coat if you only have a shallow repair. Let say in this case, the gel-coat is damaged into the glass and the color of the glass is light brown. The gel-coat color in this example is white. Since thin gel-coat can be transparent, you might see the light brown glass through the gel-coat unless the gel-coat is very heavy or unless you used a white filler under the gel-coat. Using a white filler is the best solution. Fill the repair with a white filler and make it level with the surrounding area. Use tape to prevent damage to the surrounding area when you work your repair. When the filler is hard, reduce the filler with a tool down to the bottom of the original gel-coat. Fill this new space with gel-coat and work the area between the new and old with 1000 wet sandpaper. If the old gel-coat is thin, you might see through the old stuff at this time. Avoid this problem if possible. The picture below shows a repair that's ready to be sanded. The next project will review buying gel-coat, gel-coat repairs for old and new boats, spraying gel-coat, tools and answers to other related gel-coat problems.

Project 13: Some Sun Cat owners would like to store their boats in their garage during the cold months. The standard Sun Cat is a little over 7 feet tall and they can't get through a 7 foot garage door. The factory makes an option to make this possible, but that modification is difficult to install in the field.

Dave Krugler from Michigan has solved the garage door problem with several good ideas. This is what he said about his garage door project:

Hi Keith; I made another big step toward simplifying the process of putting my Sun Cat in the garage through a standard 84" high door opening. One of the major problems I had was the swing-away type trailer tongue jack would not lower the bow of the boat anywhere near enough to get the mast stub under the door header. I finally found a Dutton Lainson model 6740 tongue jack that does not swing away for towing but does mount the gearbox above the frame and the tongue wheel can be cranked to within 4-5/8" of the bottom surface of the tongue. Even that was not quite enough when mounted in the Performance Trailer factory tongue jack location, I had to move it back. Now the drill is remove the gallows, then remove the mast hinge bolts and insert the main mast half hinge lock pin tab into the sail track. Insert the long mast pin through the hinge bolt holes to lock the mast down below the top of the stub mast hinge assembly. This allows me to back the trailer tires just onto the flat garage floor with my Ford Econoline van. I then disconnect, remove the tongue, lower the jack wheel all the way and push the boat the rest of the way into the garage. "It's so simple a caveman could do it." as they say in the Geico ad. Here are some pictures of the tongue jack, modified gallows, mast positioning etc. Thought you might be interested. I drove 400 miles to the upper peninsula of Michigan from my home in Detroit this week just to get this boat in the water and try it for the first time. Boy is it nice. I can't wait til next summer when I can really sail it. Now it's time for kids and school so it will have to wait but it is stored nicely in the garage up there for now.

Note: Dave used a 7/8th stainless steel tube inside the 1 inch gallows tube to make the gallows removeable. That procedure is covered in Project 10 below.

Project 12: Com-Pac's new Boom Tender system on your boat may be just what the doctor ordered. You can keep your sail on the boom and under a sailcover when your mast is down. No more bending on the main sail every time you go sailing. It's a cool modification.

This project is going to be a Com-Pac 16 project, but Boom Tender will work on the Com-Pac 19 and many other brands of small sailboats with a few changes. We only sell kits for Com-Pacs. The basic Boom Tender kit cost $245 plus $20 for shipping. You will need a drill, bits, rivet gun, rivets and some other hand tools.

You can make the connection between the boom and mast fixed or you can keep your current slide fitting. The fixed connection that comes with the kit works best with the Boom Tender, but you will have to barber haul the main halyard with the fixed connection. You force the gooseneck connection down to get main halyard tension with the slider connection. You can use either connection.

You start by removing the boom casting. Drill the center of the 3 pop rivets that hold the casting to the boom. When the casting has been removed, lay the kit parts out in order. All of the kit parts and pieces are not used on all boats. Use the parts required to make your boom hinge using the picture below as a reference. If you plan on using the fixed connection, measure the sail luff with a tape. Make sure you leave at least 3 inches of free play at the top of mast for fabric stretch. Install the fixed connection on the mast. Assemble your gooseneck and connect it to the boom and the mast. The boom should fold parallel to the mast.

To keep your kit cost low, you can use your existing mast step with your Boom Tender system. We will also make the mechanical connection between the step and the hinge for an extra $20. You need to mail your mast step to The Sailboat Company, PO Box 575, Richlands, NC 28574 for this service. Our UPS address is 5937 Gum Branch Road, Richlands, NC 28574. We will mail the mast step back to you with your kit. Allow 4 weeks for delivery. If you can drill and tap 4 holes in our stainless steel hinge, you don't need this service. You can also buy a new mast step with the kit for an additional $45.

The Com-Pac 16 has a high point on the deck where the mast step is located. The hinge will be screwed to the deck behind that high point and a white filler board will be attached to the top of the high point to cover the old screw holes. The mast must be fixed in the mast step in a rigid manner. You can use the original nut and bolt and drill one more hole in the mast for another bolt. Two bolts will secure the mast in the mast step in a fixed position. We don't want this connection to move when we hinge the mast at its new location behind the high point on the deck. We recommend using screws and not nuts and bolts to secure your hinge to the deck.

The mast gallows is not included with the basic Boom Tender kit. The mast gallows cost $450 plus $40 shipping. Tools required are bits, a drill, allen wrenches, caulking and some general hand tools. The stern cleats are no longer required and can be removed. We recommend using #12 screws to fill the holes. Place the forward gallows supports on each side of the boat and drill the holes using the supports as a pattern. Secure the forward supports and temporarily install the gallows cross members, sliding supports and the short struts. This will give you the correct location for the aft supports. Drill your holes and install the aft supports. Assemble the gallows using the cross member connector and the support set screws. Use the top picture as a reference. If you have a hard time removing the stern cleats, we can provide access ports to make removal and installation easy. The access ports are an extra cost item and shouldn't be required if you are small enough to work inside the boat or if you arms are extra long. Getting to and holding the nuts on the inside is the problem.

Project 11: You need to stop your Sun Cat from leaking. Some Sun Cats have had water leaks since they were new and they need to be repaired. I will start with the most common leak and work my way down to the most complicated.

Ports: The ports are plastic ports and they were installed with 3M5200 sealant. The ports can leak at the sealant joint or they can leak where the glass makes contact with the frame. Plastic frames can bend and the glass in the ports can't. A test for a port is to watch rainwater puddle between the frame and the glass. If the water doesn't puddle, the water is going inside the boat. You can see the damage inside a boat from the rainwater. The cabin ceilings with the teak strips will need to be replaced. A fix for the sealant problem is to remove the outside trim pieces and caulk the seam. A frame that doesn't match the flat glass will need the port adjusted. If your port gaskets are damaged, Com-Pac has new gaskets in stock.

Mast Stub: The mast stub should be checked for a good seal at the base of the mast where the mast enters the deck. The sail slug groove in the mast must be sealed and it is hard to do. The stub itself is open at the top and will also leak water inside the boat. That's 3 places in the mast area that can leak. A fix is to caulk the mast base and the mast groove and install a plug at the top of the stub. The area under the mast should be dry.

Seat Hatches: All Sun Cats have gutters that protect their seat hatches from taking on water. The Sun Cat gutters are too shallow. If you park your Sun Cat at an odd angle when it is on the trailer, rainwater can overflow a gutter and go into the bilge. If you have rainwater in the aft bilge, it will become visible in the forward bilge after you trailer or launch your boat. This is common in the early boats with the full centerboard housing. The big question for people with those boats is where did all that water come from? The answer is that it came from the aft bilge and those low gutters. You can't see the water in the aft bilge until it moves forward.

Older Sun Cats with the full centerboard housing can have a centerboard pennant leak. All Sun Cats can and will get some water in the cockpit when they go fast. Water rushing into the centerboard housing will move up the pennant tube and you will see water in the cockpit. Some of the older boats may have a leak between the deck and the pennant tube inside the boat. To check for leaks, you tie a dry cloth to the centerboard pennant tube under the deck. The cloth should still be dry after a good run with the motor. If the cloth is wet, you need to repair the leak with small 2 inch fiberglass tape. Wet the tape with resin and wrap the tape around the tube from the bottom to the top. This will do 2 things. It prevents the rigid tube and the flexible deck from breaking the seal at the cockpit floor when a large sailor moves around in the cockpit and it will also seal the tube. There are several variations in the pennant connection for older boats and this fix will work for all of them.

All Sun Cats have stainless steel centerboard housings. They also have zincs installed on their centerboards. If you don't maintain your zincs and you leave your boat in the water all the time, your centerboard housing screws can become damaged and your centerboard housing could leak. Electrolysis is what does the damage. Inspect your boat if it has been in the water for a long period of time. The screw head should look like new. If your screw heads look bad and the boat doesn't leak, check your zincs and renew. Tin bottom paint should be used on your centerboard and the housing. Don't use copper. The tin paint that should be used is designed for the inboard/outboard lower unit on powerboats. Copper paint on metal will increase the possibility of electrolysis.

A few early Sun Cats have a gas storage hatch that was made out of plywood and painted. Most of these hatches work well and don't leak. A fix for a damaged hatch is to lay 6-inch wide fiberglass tape inside the hatch. The tape covers the bottom, sides and back of the hatch. We use heavy tape and lots of resin. The old hatch is being used as a mold for the new hatch. The glass becomes a waterproof pan with a good connection to the drain in the rear and the floor in the front. We drill a hole through the glass to make the drain work through the glass.

I think that covers the all the possible leaks. Most users shouldn't have any leaks and that's great. If you do have a leak, find it and fix it is the best plan. A dry boat will be worth more when it comes time to trade boats and a good boat deserves to be a dry boat.

Project 10: A Mark I Com-Pac 16 is a great boat. It's a very basic boat compared to the Com-Pac 16 Mark II and the other newer Com-Pac 16 sailboats. It has a short aluminum bow pulpit that limits most improvements at the bow. This project modifies the bow pulpit and makes room for a new Com-Pac Legacy anchor roller. The secret to this improvement is that some 1-inch stainless steel tubing can be used as a splice for our 7/8 inch aluminum tubing. Com-Pac uses 7/8 inch tubing on all of its pulpits including the pulpits on its larger boats. In this example, we bent a new longer piece of aluminum tubing and used 2 short 1-inch pieces of stainless as splices. You could cut the pulpit, use the existing aluminum in front of the splice and make your splices longer on both sides. The results would be the same.

Stainless steel tubing is really flat metal that's welded together by a machine. It has a ridge on the inside where it was welded. Sometimes this ridge must be removed or rimmed to make 7/8 inch tubing fit inside 1-inch tubing. Filing or sanding the ridge inside a short piece of 1 inch is easy and sometimes not required. Tubing made by different companies may not fit. The inside diameter of tubing is a gray area and very little is published about this dimension.

Project 9: We recently talked to someone (In Answers) about the Sun Cat cabin liner and how well it could hold heavy objects. The answer is better than I remembered. The liner in the picture below is very thick, but I don't think you can count on every liner being this thick. The hole below was cut over another hole that held a depth sounder that didn't work. A depth sounders is one of few marine instruments that has to tested in the water. This boat made a trip to the launching ramp and the new depth sounder was tested after installation. The job is done when the new installation works.

Project 8: Buffing your gel-coat after it has become chalky is the best way to get your boat back to looking new. Using a white compound is the way to remove the chalk and flaws from gel-coat, but that procedure does require a good machine and some experience by the user. Most of the chalk removal is accomplished while the compound is still wet. As the compounds dries, you reduce the pressure on the machine and that technique produces the shine. You remove or cut the chalk and flaws while the compound is wet and then polish the gel-coat as the compound dries. I said that twice because that's the technique that works and you need to practice that procedure. A good machine is an automotive buffer that sells for more than $100. It has the muscle to make the compound work. Normally, little baby buffers do not work that well.

You could buff through the gel-coat if you buffed in the same spot for a long time. I have never buffed through the gel-coat on a Com-Pac Yacht and I don't think that's a problem. Make sure you wash the boat after buffing and then apply a good wax to finish the job. The little 16 in the picture has a painted hull. The original deck gel-coat including the non-skid was buffed and waxed with good results.

The red 16's hull was spray painted using AWLCRAFT paint. AWLCRAFT is used by professionals and can only be applied with a spray gun. AWLGRIP paint is a sister paint that can be applied with a paintbrush or a roller and can be used by anyone. Once the paint is hard, you use the same buffer technique to make the AWLGRIP paint look like it was spray painted. I could repeat that same sentence for the third time, but I think you get the idea. Paint looks better over a longer period of time than gel-coat and if you sail a boat built in the 80s, your boat is going to need some cosmetic paint before long. We don't like painting decks for several reasons and that will be the subject of another project.

Project 7: Some Com-Pac owners worry about stuffing box leakage. That's the device that stops shaft leakage if you have a diesel motor. Most sailors want to know how much leakage is acceptable. The answer is none if your boat is in the water and hasn't been used for 24 hours. The correct leakage rate for a boat that's being used is in drops per minute. The drops are hard to measure and you may not see any drops while the shaft is turning. You will be able to see a bathtub ring in the area where the drive shaft enters the box. Counting drops after using your boat doesn't count. You have to wait 24 hours for a good measurement. Stuffing boxes are suppose to leak while the drive shaft is turning and they will retain water when the shaft stops. Leaking water provides the lubrication and cooling needed for the shaft and the stuffing box. If you have a dry stuffing box after 24 hours and it puts out a nice spray while the shaft is turning, your stuffing box is working correctly and it doesn't need to be adjusted.

Most stuffing boxes on shoal draft sailboats work pretty well. The stuffing box is really located at water level or maybe a little below water level if the boat is loaded. You can see where the stuffing box shouldn't leak if the stuffing box seal is at or above the water line when the motor isn't being used. Sailboats with engines installed in their keels or where the stuffing box is located at some depth below the surface have more difficulty with leakage. Shaft rotation moves water to the stuffing box seal for lubrication and cooling on shoal draft boats.

Proper stuffing box adjustment is where you tighten the stuffing box cap until you can't turn the driveshaft by hand. You loosen the cap to a point where you can turn the driveshaft by hand. The shaft will be hot or warm to your touch until the adjustment friction has been reduced with use. This is normal. An important point to remember is that you hold the stuffing box body with a wrench when you break the locknut and hold the stuffing box cap when to tighten the locknut. If the body doesn't have flats like the one in the picture, use a pipe wrench to hold the housing. Screwing the cap in and out should be accomplished by hand. If the stuffing box is old or corroded, you will need a wrench. Remember to always use 2 wrenches when you work on a stuffing box. You will be twisting the connection between the rubber hose and the stuffing box if you use 1 wrench. Most Com-Pac Yachts may never need new sealing flax if the correct adjustment procedure is followed when needed.

The picture below shows the cap on the right, the lock nut in the middle and the body on the left. The hose on the far left is the connection between the stuffing box and the stand-pipe that holds the cutless bearing at the stern.

Project 6: How many sailors like colored hulls? I think the answer is that most people like colored hulls and that's what they are buying. They are one of the popular options on sailboats being built today and they do look good when they are new. Keeping them looking like new can be a problem because dark colors show flaws more readily than our white hulled boats.

Most new owners want to wax their hulls and keep the color protected as long as possible. They use a quality marine wax with mixed results. The boat shines, but now they can see all of those little white spots that they hadn't noticed before. You don't see the same type of flaws in a white hull after waxing. The difference is the color and what our eyes see.

The recommended wax for your colored hull is a COLORED WAX. Car-part stores sell that type of wax for dark colored cars. The wax can be used on gel-coat and it really works. The residue that left behind after waxing a hull with that type of wax is the right color. If you have already waxed your hull with a white marine wax, it may take some time for the new wax to settle into those small pinholes and make them disappear. When your flaws are filled with a colored wax, your eyes will only see a pretty hull that shines. That's what we call magic. The first picture below shows a blue hull that's been waxed with a marine wax. White pinholes were located on both sides of the Com-Pac logo. After waxing the right side with a colored wax, the white pinholes on that side have almost disappeared. The second picture shows the wax we use on green hulls.

Project 5: One of the best modifications that a trailer sailor can make to his boat is a Mast Tender system. You don't have to rig your sail in the parking lot and the mast is much easier to raise. The sail lives on the boom like boats in a boat slip and that alone makes it a worthwhile project.

A Sun Cat owner had several of his sailing buddies sail with him all the time because their boats were too much trouble to rig in the parking lot. He had the most popular boat in his group of sailors because he had the quickest way to go sailing. You will sail more if the parking lot ordeal is easy and you will become very popular with your sailing friends.

Most small sailboats can be modified to work with a Mast Tender system. The heart of system is the mast hinge and the stock hinge for the Picnic Cat will fit the Com-Pac 16. The stock hinge for the Sun Cat will fit the Com-Pac 19 and the stock hinge for the Horizon Cat will fit the Com-Pac 23. The factory can make a custom hinge for a brand X boat if they have the proper mast cross section specifications. We sell the stock hinges at The Sailboat Company.

Shrouds can be modified (shorten) with Staylock or similar terminal (West Marine) ends if required. The Mast Tender system needs a boom gallows for storing the spars as you go down the road. Building a boom gallows will be discussed in a future project.

Building a Mast Tender system requires lots of measurements and they need to be correct. The mast needs to fold into a horizontal position for trailering and still have enough room under the hinge to hold the boom and the sail slugs. When the mast is in the up position, the boom with the sail raised has to be higher than the boom gallows or the boom will hit the gallows. When the mast folds, the mast needs to rest in the center of the boom gallows. To make this happen, you need to secure the mast stub inside the boat last. A small position error at the mast base makes a big error when you point the mast top at the gallows. The actual work of cutting the mast, the stub and installing the hinge is straightforward. The match between the mast slide groove at the joint needs to be very accurate in the closed position for smooth sail raising.

The secret to making the system work is making the mast stub the proper height. The mast stub is the mast part that extends below the hinge with the other end secured inside the boat. The extra mast part called the stub is required to provide the rigid strength necessary when you lever something like a mast up and down. You secure the deck to the stub inside the boat and the stub will act as a compression post. Securing the bottom of the mast to the top of the deck is not recommended. The top of the sailcover needs to be modified by cutting off the neck. Most stock sailcovers have a neck that's too large for the space available under the hinge.

The Boom Tender system used on the Legacy may be an easier way to do the same thing on smaller boats. We plan on installing one on an older 16 this summer. You will publish the results in a later Project report.

Project 4: Rudder bearings help make precise sailing possible and they improve the feel of sailing. The definition of sailing is making a boat move in a balanced condition with wind power. The feel you get from the tiller tells you how well your sailboat is balanced (weatherhelm) and is an important part of sailing. After a few years of use, most small Com-Pac sailboats have enough slop in the rudder to make precise sailing difficult. If you plan on installing an autopilot in your Com-Pac sailboat, you need bearings first or the autopilot will discharge your battery while it is trying to maintain a heading.

Com-Pac sells after-market bearings for your rudder. The easy way to install these bearings is to remove the complete rudder including the part that's bolted to the transom. You need to drill the existing holes (pictured below) to 31/64 inch. You can use a drill press or a hand drill for this purpose. 4 holes need to be drilled, 2 in each rudder part. You will install 4 bearings. After drilling the holes, your new bronze bearings can be pressed into the rudder housing with a standard shop vise. This modification is easy to do and you will be happy with the results. The picture below shows the housing drilled and the bearing in position ready to be pressed.

Project 3: Pettit paint products recommend a 12-mil thickness for its barrier coat system. The reason for having a barrier coat on your boat is explained in Project 2 below. The thickness of a barrier coat determines its blister protection capabilities and we recommend owners measure this thickness when your bottom is painted. The thickness of a business card is about 12-mil and we can use one to measure the thickness of our paint. Holding a business card next to the painted edge is a good way to measure your protection. You can feel the size difference as you rub your finger over the joint between the card and the paint. We see new boats every now and then with thin bottom paint. Maybe the maintenance person didn't know about the 12-mil rule.

Project 2: All owners that sail their boats on lakes sometimes wonder why they need bottom paint. Bottom paint is designed to resist marine growth and we all know the lakes don't normally have barnacles and other marine growth. A new boat still needs barrier coats and bottom paint if the boat is going to live on a lake because we need to avoid gel-coat blisters. In this country, all sailboats have colored gel-coat on their bottoms. Some English boat builders build their boats with a clear gel-coat because they know about the pigment problem. The color pigment in gel-coat is a material that can dissolve. If the pigment dissolves, it leaves a void in the gel-coat that can cause gel-coat blisters. White boats have pigment in their gel-coat just like the blue boat below. Seeing the differences between the top and the bottom on a white boat is more difficult. The little gel-coat bumps will be there on both boats. If the boat is going to stay in the water, a new boat needs to be properly prepared. An old boat doesn't need fresh bottom paint, but it does need bottom paint. If an old boat has never been painted, you do the barrier and bottom paint.

Project 1: All Com-Pac Cat Boats need a mast plug. This keeps rainwater from running down the mast stub and into the boat when the mast is folded. You purchase a piece of Starboard (a white plastic material) from West Marine. Any thickness will do, but thicker is better. Put a piece of carbon paper on the mast stub and tap the board that's on top with a hammer to make an outline. Another way to make a pattern is to use some thin cardboard. Lay the cardboard on top of the stub and use a small hammer to tap the inside mast edge through the cardboard. Using a jigsaw or bandsaw, cut to the inside line making the plug just a little large. Sand the edges with sandpaper. Then hammering the plug in place gently will shave a small amount of Starboard off the edges for a tight fit. You can see the shavings in the picture below if you look close. You also need to caulk the mast grove at the deck level for a dry boat.