If you could take some pictures and post them it might help. The H16 rig is
slack until you tighten up the jib. This makes the shrouds tight and ready to
sail. If you keep dropping the mast during stepping , get more help. There are
several mast erection systmes out there but it is generally considered a 2
person job.
my $0.02

NT


--- In beachcats@yahoogroups.com, newdlhead@... wrote:
>
> cat trax Armageddon
>
> hi folks.
> you don't want to know what i did trying to unfreeze the wheel on my cat trax,
but i may as well have thrown out of an airplane. or ran them over with a diesel
locomotive.
> regardless, the cuff on the outside of the frozen wheel would not budge and it
did not survive my efforts. it appears that all four of those cuffs are the
same, they shield the ring with the cotter pin on both sides of each wheel, then
drop in radius size to fit into the tires, holding two 2 inch pvc pipe sections
in place that in return holds the delrin needle bearing at the center of each
wheel.
> as it stood, in the middle of the pyrotechnics, Florida sailcraft returned my
call? and we talked about what i was up to. He was surprised one side was still
good. it seems the metal bearing race that rusts is molded into the wheel. i was
hoping if it was rusted enough, i could get it out and put a piece of rolled
spring steel or a spliced piece of? pvc pipe of a large enough diameter in
there, as a race replacement. He also was surprised the tires had held up. well,
after finally getting those derins to peep out from under the tire, just as they
cleared, the tire let go. i was not happy. the delrins, meanwhile, are all in
one piece, literally; they are frozen to each other. they looked just the right
color for a denture commercial, they look like a bracelet, and are still sitting
on the axle. they do not appear to have been chewed by rust flakes. tomorrow i
will bring some denture cleaner and see if i can get the stains off them. i will
then cut them in half, add a hinge and clasp and wear them as a reminder of the
great bearing struggle.
> i was told that the new trax have separate wheels and rims due to that molded
in metal rusting, but i'm not game for the expense. does anyone want to chime in
and tell me if florida sailcraft sells those cuffs, or do i have to hold my
breath for the next 13 hours? i wonder if i can fix the rupture in that tire
too. glad i didn't think ahead and have murrys toss in the bearings @ $20, or
the end caps too in my last order.?
> i'm off to one of those surplus web sites that sell atv tires and rims and
pillow bearings, etc. i hope i'm wasting my time, but if murrays doesn't carry
the old spec cuffs, i bet florida sailcraft doesn't either. but i will let you
all know what they say in the AM.
>
> meanwhile, I got my shipment from murrays from the marina. it had the two
black shrouds, the black anchor cover, two ancher plates, one seven hole, one
ten; line for the jib track cars, the mainstay-Aussie-pigtail combo which save
me $23 and; the Aussie jib set up. I think someone ran it through the washing
machine before they sent it to me as a courtesy, but unfortunately left it in
the dryer too long on high. after looking at the images of the pulleys for two
years, with no real reference for size, i expected the lil thangs to be at least
the size of my hands. I was shocked how small they are, fig sized maybe? they
look like toys.
> well, i guess all our hobbies are really toys anyway.
> well, time to start up a pool to see who can guess how many times i drop the
mast this time....
> of course, with no wheel, the boat is going nowhere fast. the town boat launch
is at least three blocks way.
> my pappy suggested that i have the marina put it in the water with one of
those lifts they use on forty foot Chris Crafts. at a charge of $500 each way.
hah!
> i rather just have four guys pick her up and drop her in the same bay without
employing the lift. But then i'd have to navigate her out of the marina. i guess
i could with an our and a long pole...
> someone vandalized the vessel my boat was stacked on, and even though mine
slid and fell a few feet, she looks sound. it is getting to be a real zoo.
> and a week after dealing with her last fall i go home and wind up in the
hospital with a blood clot in my liver. which means coumadin / waferin, which
means i better not cut myself monkying around with the cat, something that
occurred to me after all my various struggles today. i better go to the pharmacy
tomorrow and pick up a medical warning bracelet so the folks understand that the
reason i am wearing a tourniquet for a paper cut is because i am on blood
thinners.
> well, thanks Sue, helping me with the trax and for the info on the derin
bearings, and thanks bill cash for offering to help by assisting me in finding
someone to let me watch them set up an h16. i almost made it down to the
Atlantic highlands, but the sunday public transportation system did not co
operate with my urges.
> i was told by murrays that tightening the jib gets the slack out of the
shrouds. which was my main worry, so we shall see how that goes.
> if we drop the boat in the water, or a friend with a trailer gives me a tow to
the town ramp, that would be good. i started looking into how the township ruled
on moorings last season, and to see if they was anyplace folks can leave boats
beached with the mast up for ?extended amounts of time. at least that would make
the wheel issue not such a desperate one.
> wish me luck.?
>
>
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>