CD300 Motorsailer Rigging

[TomFogarty]

Good Morning All,

We recently sold our CD 270 and purchased a 1989 CD300 Motorsailer.
There is an issue that escaped me and apparently the surveyor at the tome of the survey.
When the lower shrouds are tightened and not to the tension they should be at, the cabin top starts to raise. Resulting in a gap between the bulkheads and the ceiling. I know there weren't a lot of this model built but if anyone would have any knowledge of or experience with this
issue, any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Smooth Sailing,
Tom Fogarty

[Joe CD MS 300]

Tom,

We have had our MS 300 since June 2005 but haven’t had any issues like that. Are the gaps all around port and starboard, forward and aft? Tightening the shrouds should push the mast down on the cabin top not pull it up. The outer shrouds attached to the hull should push down on the deck cabin top mold down on the the bulk heads. I’m not coming up with any ideas. Did you try to run it by the surveyor?

Where are you located?

Joe

[TomFogarty]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for replying.
The upper shrouds and the fore and backstays keep the mast down tight to the cabin top and the compression post. No problem there. The lowers, port and starboard attach to the sides of the cabin top. I would imagine it's the same of your boat. When the lowers are tightened, or pulled together or apart for that matter, it raises the cabin top at the point of connection. The starboard bulkhead goes from a flush fit with the ceiling to the point that I could fit the tip of my pinky in the gap created by how the brokers rigger had the rigging tuned. But as you look towards the center of the ceiling the gap closes where the mast is pressing down. Same issue on the port side with the bulkhead between the settee and the head.
The boat was surveyed on the hard without the rig installed so there was no gap to be seen when we inspected the interior of the boat. On the sea trial I spent all my time on deck checking out how the boat ran. My mistake.
I don't know if there was a bond between the cabin top and the bulkheads that failed but there is some serious flexing in the area where the lowers attach.
Good idea contacting the surveyor. I'll get an email out to him.
I bought the boat in New Bedford Mass. and keep it in Bayville NJ.
Thanks again for the info. I think this is going to be a challenging one. But we do love the boat so far.

Tom

[Joe CD MS 300]

Tom,

I’d need to look at the manual to see if the cabin roof and and deck are all one mold. I thought that it was. In general when it came to fiberglass CD’s were over built. It would seem that it would take a lot of force to deflect the outer sides of the cabin roof upwards. It would be working against the curve of the cabin roof and the stiffness of the deck. Any chance they are being over tightened?

What order are the stays and shrouds being tightened? Maybe snug up on the stays and outer shrouds first, then tighten up on the inner shrouds? Shouldn’t the stays and the outer shrouds be doing most of the work.

Quest, our MS 300 gets launched next week. I’ll take a look to see if we have any gaps.

Joe

[TomFogarty]

Hi Joe,

I would like to see a manual for this boat myself. I don't believe the cabin top and deck joint are the issues. That area looks to be a single mold. I believe there should be a connection between the cabin top and the bulkheads. I'm going follow this approach. It looks like there may have been some type of repair in this area. The owner of the marina told me as he was adjusting the rigging he stopped because it was starting to raise the cabin top before the shrouds were tight. Our marina is all sailboats so I have to believe that he knows what he's talking about. I only get to the boat weekends so I'll be checking it out again this weekend.
Glad to hear that you are going back in the water. Always a good feeling. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks for the interest.

Smooth sailing,
Tom

[Joe CD MS 300]

Tom have you seen the info here on the MS 300? Below is a link to the MS 300 specs. At about the middle of the page there is a link to the owners manual. It’s part of a multi model manual.

http://www.capedory.org/specs/cd30ms.htm

[TomFogarty]

Joe,

I did see the owners manual and scrolled through most of it. Very Informative. I removed the trim from the top of the bulkhead on the starboard side and found nothing but a couple screws that either were connecting the wall to the ceiling or someone added them to attempt a repair for this issue. Either way it looks like a good place to start reconnecting. Still researching.
Thanks for the idea with the manual. I'll let you know.

Tom

[Joe CD MS 300]

Tom,
Quest was launched last week and brought down to Boothbay Harbor from Rockport Maine Friday Saturday. I don’t see any gaps in the main cabin anywhere. We were motoring so I couldn’t check for any flexing as if we were under sail. There has been a small gap in the head where the wall meets the ceiling for years but has not changed over the years. Any new info or guesses on what is happening?
Joe

[TomFogarty]

Joe,

Glad to hear that you are in the water. I hope that you have a great sailing season.
I didn't get to spent the time I would have liked to researching the problem. I did however take off a piece of trim on the starboard bulkhead on the main cabin side to see how and if the bulkhead was attached to the ceiling. The bulkhead itself doesn't fit tight to the ceiling and there are two screws attaching the bulkhead to where the headliner/ceiling comes down a bit on the v-berth side that seem to have become pulled free. If I figure out how to post pictures here it would make it much clearer. Still researching, I'll keep you updated and maybe post some pictures.
Smooth sailing,

Tom