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Catalina Direct Discussion Topics / Catalina 22 Discussion Area / Sails / Roller furling too hard to furl
 
 
Author Roller furling too hard to furl
Bill Braun & Christine Sammel
Evanston, Illinois

Boat Name: Da Doo Run Run

Model/Year: 1989 Catalina 22

Hull No. 14840

Hailing Port: Wilmette, Illinois
06/06/2006 10:41 AM Pacific Time

We just bought Catalina 22 hull #14840, and this is our third posting to this forum. We are very grateful to have you all to address our questions to!

We have a 150 genoa on a roller furling. We don't know the make of the furling gear, but it's the kind where you don't use the jib halyard, but rather raise the sail onto the furling track by using a light line to pull a black plastic piece down a front track while feeding the luff rope up a rear track. We were surprised at this arrangement, but it seems to work, at least to raise the sail up the track.

Our problem is furling the sail. The sail unfurls rather easily when we pull on the jibsheet as normal. But when we want to roll it back up, it's close to impossible. Bill is a strong man, but he has to put the furling line on a winch with several wraps in order to get the sail to wind up. This is not the way it should be, we know, and we're very concerned about breaking the furling line. We soaped the furling line, thinking that it just needed lubrication, but that didn't really help. Any suggestions?

Thank you.
Bill and Christine

p.s. We've written up our other current problem under "Hull/Keel/Rudder/Tiller" and titled it "Rudder too loose/Tiller too tight" if you feel like tackling that too!
Steve Morgan
Bayport , NY

Boat Name: no name yet

Model/Year: 1988 wing keel

Hull No. #14444

Hailing Port: Bayport NY
06/06/2006 2:29 PM Pacific Time

I had a similar situation with my furler. My boat is #14444 so we are close in age. It sounds like you have a CDI Furler which is what I had as well. When I first got my boat (three years ago) I had posted a similar question as I had also found furling my 135 genoa very difficult. As I recall, not too many people responded and I learned to really loosen the jib sheet and/or turning into the wind a little toease the load before trying to furl it up. The first few turns were a battle but as the sail furled it got easier. The furler 'cup' seems to be made of aluminum and my unit ( I found out later) was missing what CDI calls a 'thrust washer' which is a small washer that rides between the black plastic furling drum and the white plastic piece that is inside at the base of the aluminum cup that the black plastic drum fits over. (sorry if I lost you there). Anyway, I never had a problem even winching the furler if I had to, it is pretty tuff. On another note, I broke my plastic furler foil last fall while dropping the mast and bought a whole new CDI furler this spring. It comes with a stainless steel cup instead of aluminun and I can now compare how out of round the aluminum one was. This one furls much easier. You should check yours to make it as 'round' as possible and also as flat at the bottom of the cup as possible. I think the missing washer greatly increased the friction factor.Hope this helps
Steve
Bill Braun & Christine Sammel
Evanston, Illinois

Boat Name: Da Doo Run Run

Model/Year: 1989 Catalina 22

Hull No. 14840

Hailing Port: Wilmette, Illinois
06/12/2006 10:48 AM Pacific Time

Steve -
Thank you so much for your very complete and helpful answer. With your aid, we were able to identify our furling equipment as CDI, and have been on their website. We don't know what model we have as ours has characteristics of both FF2 and FF3, so we will be trying to contact CDI to find out. The next step is to try to get the cup raised up to see if our thrust washer is missing.
Your ideas about taking the load off the sail before trying to furl it are good, and we will do that. Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to try, as our brand new Tohatsu outboard is malfunctioning so much that we haven't been able to get out on the lake. The last two times we ran it, it died in the channel. Not a problem the first time but a big problem the second, when the boat was pushed up against the breakwater and rocks. Scrapes along the side of the boat and a cut on my daughter's leg. Could have been worse, I guess, but we're not going anywhere till that motor gets repaired.
Oh, the joys of boat ownership!
We'll post again when we've had a chance to try your suggestions.
Thanks.
Bill and Christine
greg klein
hotsprings, arkansas

Boat Name: elena

Model/Year: 1977 c27

Hull No. 3477

Hailing Port: brady mountain marina,lake ouacita
06/18/2006 7:00 PM Pacific Time

bill an christine, i have a cdi ff2 on my c22 as well. i had a rough time on mine furling too. since mine was new and i checked to make sure i had it installed correctly i found the problem. i installed a harken bullet blok on the deck behind the light on the bow its app. 8-12 inches behind it. then i placed a block on the lower part of the back bow pulpit bracket. fromthere i ran a rail mount fairlead on the 2 lifeline stanchions and a clete with fairlead near the cockpit. this solved my problem as the furling line wasnt at the coorect angle to wind up. i can even furl the sail full of wind. hope this might help.
Bill Braun & Christine Sammel
Evanston, Illinois

Boat Name: Da Doo Run Run

Model/Year: 1989 Catalina 22

Hull No. 14840

Hailing Port: Wilmette, Illinois
07/12/2006 9:11 AM Pacific Time

Thank you Steve and Greg,

We finally got our motor problem fixed and are now able to work on the furling situation. We found that the furling mechanism itself works fine -- Bill went up on the bow and furled the sail by hand, by turning the mechanism, and said that it turns easily. So the resistance has to do with the furling line. We will work on seeing if we can get a better lead to the hole the line comes out of/goes into. That hole is off center to port by the way. We may also try to pop the cover and see if there's something interfering with the way the line is taken up.

Taking the load off the sail helps a lot -- Bill is able to furl it without having to put the line on a winch. Nonetheless, we think it should be even easier, seeing the ease with which friends can furl their headsails. So we'll work on the lead, and report back.

Thanks.
Bill and Christine
tim beckerman
bay shore,new york

Boat Name: storm seacher

Model/Year: c22 1988

Hull No. 14448

Hailing Port: bay shore, new york
07/14/2006 1:51 PM Pacific Time

bill and cristine, I have a c22 #14448 also with a CDI furler it was dealer installed when I purchased the boat in 1987 (yes I still own it, its a great boat) the hole in the cup is off center to starboard (yes), there is one block on the first lifeline stanchion on the port side this makes the angle from the can stright on, with the block being the only resistence point. I have one cleat on the gunwale just aft of the winch on the out side workes great and in 19 years never really had a problem. Thats with a whole lot of hours and all kinds of weather. Enjoy your boat and be careful out there.
Bill Braun & Christine Sammel
Evanston, Illinois

Boat Name: Da Doo Run Run

Model/Year: 1989 Catalina 22

Hull No. 14840

Hailing Port: Wilmette, Illinois
09/09/2006 9:17 AM Pacific Time

Steve, Tim, and Greg,
The answer turned out to be too simple: dirt and dryness. A harbor Catalina 22 neighbor showed us how to lift the furling mechanism out of the cup, and that showed that the inside had enough caked-on dirt to make furling close to impossible. We cleaned out the mess and lubricated with WD40, and - voila! - it works like a charm. (We realize we have to wipe out the WD40 and replace it with a non-rust-producing lubricant, which we will do.)
Thank you all for your assistance. Without it we wouldn't have known where to begin.
Bill and Christine
 
 
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Catalina Direct Discussion Topics / Catalina 22 Discussion Area / Sails / Roller furling too hard to furl