LINK:
http://cruisenews.net/cgi-bin/docksi...fig.pl/read/78

"Posted By: Paul VandenBosch
Date: Saturday, 23 December 2000, at 4:37 p.m.

I found this post on the Trailer Sailer site and wanted to archive
it for use in preparing my own boat for big water.

Posted By: ScottS/H18.5/27'Catalina/"Rhonda Lynn"/Oriental, NC
Date: 12/21/2000 7:09p.m.
In Response To: How many times have you sailed YOUR boat around
the world? (Bob K, Santana 2023C, Music City

Congratulations on picking up a Catalina 27. They are fun, easy to
handle boats. My C-27 did well on the 3 year circumnavigation.,

To answer your question, I used to write articles for the sailing
magazines, but they were more "how to do it" type of things rather
than "there I was crossing an ocean". May, 1988 issue of Cruising
World published one crossing an ocean article titled "The Big Step"
about making a nonstop, 53 day, 6,400 mile passage from Darwin,
Australia to Durban, South Africa in my Catalina. They might still
have a copy they could send to you. Caribbean Boating, a St. Thomas
publication, ran a number of Juggernaut crossing oceans type of
articles between 1982 and 1984.

Writing is not an easy thing for me to do so I never put that many
stories together about the trip. It is only recently that I started
working on a book about the trip, but who knows if it will ever get
finished.

John Vigor just came out with a new book called "Twenty Small
Sailboats to Take You Anywhere". He included the Catalina 27 and I
gave him a lot of information for that section.

About the voyage; Leaving Miami in Jan. 1979, I cruised through
the Bahamas and kept going to St. Thomas. From there it was an easy
down wind sail to the Panama Canal. Across the Pacific to Cairns,
Australia. Around the top end of Australia to South Africa. I always
wanted to round one great cape, then across the Atlantic to St.
Thomas. There were a lot of fun stops and a number of passages between
1,500 and 3,000 miles.

Juggernaut was a very basic boat. The boat had a VHF, RDF, plastic
sextant (which I do not recommend) cassette tape player, short wave
receiver and my depth sounder was the keel. Back packing across oceans
was an adventure, a lot of fun and work. If I were to do it again, it
would be in a larger, more comfortable boat full of electronics and
certainly another person.

I?m sure the people at Catalina would not recommend crossing
oceans in a Catalina 27. If sailed in the correct seasons, latitudes,
handled properly and not overloaded, the 27 can do a good job of
sailing long distances.

This is getting to be a long email so I will send a list of
alterations separately. Of the alterations, installing chain plates
for the aft lower shrouds, and enlarging cockpit drains , I feel were
the most important.

Check out this web site http://www.sailopo.com go to the main page
then go down the left side and click on SWAN SAILING. I run some of
these offshore sailing trips on Swan 48s when I am not running my
construction business.

Where in Dixi do you keep your boat? Let me know how you make out
with your Catalina 27.

Alterations to "Juggernaut" a Catalina 27 Built in 1973, 271108,
Traditional Interior Plan, Standard Rig, Shoal Draft

1) Boarded outboard engine well to mount self steering vane.
Mounted Navik self steering.

2) Strengthened starboard transom to accept outboard engine
bracket. Installed one inch thick mahogany plank on inside of
starboard transom.

3) Installed four large cockpit drains horizontally through aft
end of cockpit and piped through to transom.

4) Made shelf in large cockpit compartment extending full length
of compartment to hold gallon size containers and utilize upper
section of wasted space in compartment.

5) Installed 3/4" wood frames around base of fuel tanks in
lazerette and installed tie downs.

6) Reworked companion way entrance. Raised threshold wood to 2
1/2" above fiber glass threshold to force water running down slats
into cockpit. Made overhang on hatch 3/4" thicker to overhang
companion way slats.

7) Made new hatch runners for tighter fit. Installed plastic tabs
on front of hatch to help reduce spray entering hatch runners and into
cabin.

8) Cut fiber glass section from rear of quarter berth to open new
storage compartment under rear section of quarter berth.

9) Bulkheaded all storage compartments beneath berths.

10) Moved electrical switch box to high inside quarter berth.

11) Opened fiber glass panel behind port and starboard bunk back
rest for added storage.

12) Installed sliding doors for starboard shelf over bunk.

13) Drilled drain holes from all storage compartments under bunks
to drain water onto main salon floor and into bilge.

14) Installed Whale foot pump for salt water at galley sink.

15) Made splash boarder around sink.

16) Installed aft lower shroud chain plates rather than using deck
plates. I first tried installing deck plates twice as large and thick
but that only threatened to pull a larger chunk of side decking out of
the boat.

17) Installed chart rack, dish rack, radio racks, medicine
cabinet.

18) Made door for hanging locker.

19) Made door for small locker over the head.

20) Cut new access panel for storage under V-berth at port side of
walk in area.

21) Made front vertical panel for walk in section of V-berth so
this otherwise useless area could be used for storage.

22) Changed stove burners from alcohol to kerosene. The threads
are the same so it is a simple matter of unscrewing the old burner and
screwing in the new one. Still, propane would be the best stove fuel.

23) Installed double head stays set on Y plate with one turn
buckle at bottom of plate. It would have been better to have one turn
buckle for each head stay.

24) Installed heavier upper and lower aft shrouds. Forward shrouds
stayed the same.

25) Installed open faced turnbuckles of a stronger caliber.

26) Installed double back stays with back stay adjuster.

27) Removed forward bolt on rudder bracket going through tiller
and replaced with two stainless steel hose clamps. A hole through a
solid wood (non laminated) tiller, at this point, creates a weak spot
where the tiller can (and did) snap under stress.

28) Installed half inch bolt through rudder post cap attaching cap
to rudder shaft. Original bolt is to small diameter and eventually
wears an oblong hole.

29) Moved life lines from interfering with anchor line.

30) Installed hand rails and grab rails inside cabin and on deck.

31) Made inside companion way slat guides wider than outside
guides to facilitate installation of slats in a choppy sea way.

32) Made three companion way slats rather than four. The top slat
can then be inserted in a louvered position to deflect rain over the
other slats keeping cabin dry and allowing ventilation. It is easier
and quicker to insert three slats than to sort out four.

33) Caulked around water tank filler cap at deck to stop leaks.

34) Caulked all bolts going through deck to stop leaks.

35) Replaced corroded aluminum main anchor cleat backing plate
with large 3/4" teak block.

36) Installed galley harness to free both hands while cooking in a
seaway.

37) Installed straps to hold SCUBA tank to top of quarter berth.

38) Installed cam cleats for jib sheets.

39) Rerouted icebox drain hose from sink through-hull to drain
into bilge. Sea water would back up into icebox from through-hull.

40) Installed medium duty electric bilge pump in bilge fitted with
float switch and manual override. Installed large capacity electric
pump with float switch in protected area under cockpit for extreme
emergencies in case cabin became flooded.

41) From the outside, at the hull deck join, caulked with 3M-5200
sealant to fill void behind rubrail. This was needed to stop leaks at
the hull/deck join.

42) Installed 12 volt cabin fans

The Shoal Draft model: There is no advantage to the shoal draft
except the boat runs aground in more shallow water. The keel weights
on the earlier Catalina 27s were the same for the 3' and 4' draft. The
lack of one foot of keel made for a tender sailing boat and a very
uncomfortable one at anchor. "

Mic 67