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Our "new" Typhoon - a '76 Weekender - needs a new compression post installed. The PPO installed the compression post on the cabin sole and cut it to the length of the sagged cabin top and made no attempt to push the cabin top back in line.
I have purchased a floor jack that should do quite nicely to raise the level very slowly over the next several months. The question is: where to cut the hole down to the keel and how to do it.
Does anyone have a picture? I do great with visual aids! I am loathe to start cutting holes at random locations in the cabin sole.
Thanks in advance...
B Hartley
CD Typhoon #1163 Miranda (Just look at a picture of the moon Miranda and you will get an idea as to what our girl looks like )
First of all, have you decided that you MUST cut a hole in the sole. Is there an access hole in the sole nearby, maybe under the porta potti? If so, see if you can reach in and build up a solid base between the keel and the bottom of the sole.
If not, level your hull fore and aft and athwartship. Lay a straight edge across the coamings. Place a spirit level on the straightedge and adjust the hull till level.
Next, using a rotating laser ($12.95 at Harbour Freight), raise or lower the hull with the trailer tongue jack until the waterline is level. If you don't use a laser level, you can use a water level to adjust the hull.
With the hull leveled x/x and y/y, pass a plumb bob cord through the electrical hole in the center of the tabernacle mount and mark the sole for the center of the mast. Mark the post's contour around the mark and saw the hole out. Piece of cake.
Good luck
O J
P.S. By leveling, this is a good way to true up your waterline, too.
Last edited by Oswego John on Aug 16th, '05, 19:40, edited 2 times in total.
Thanks for the "up from below" suggestion. There is an access hole in the sole which should let me reach forward and put something [maybe a piece of pressure treated 4x4???] up underneath. Using the sole alone won't work on this boat.
Level is going to be hopeless on this trailer... She's already cattywumpus (a good southern expression for completely crooked).
Sadly the distance from the bilge hole in the sole to the spot for the compression post is over 3' so there is no way to put something in from underneath.
If anyone has any further suggestions or a photo of how their compression post passes through the cabin sole, I would appreciate it. You can actually see the deformation in the cabin sole from the old compression post that was not run through to the keel.
I went the same thing as you are about to. I used a floor jack and went through the cabin sole to the keel. I was able to gain access through a storage opening just in front of the porta potty location.
I also used wooden blocks to set the base of the post on. In my case I used two pieces of 5/4 CCA sistered together and then covered with epoxy.
I had to cut the block in the shape of a "V" to give me a flat surface to set the jack on.
OJ is right on about how to find the location to drill the hole through the sole. It took a lot of time and a LOT of measuring and re-measuring.
After it was installed I raised my cabin roof approximately 1/16 to 1/8 inch each day till I got to a height of 38 1/2 inches from the floor to the underside of the mast step. In my case this was a move of about 1 1/2 inches. This height I found looking through the archives. Anyway it worked for me. My decks are now even around the chain plates and the boat sails like a dream.
Did you remove the jack or use it as the permant post? I'm not clear from your description. I need to go up at least 2+". Thanks for the info on the timing of raising the deck.
Tom, it sounds too good to be true, but am I correct that you had the deformed deck before you jacked the cabin roof from the inside. And afterwards you had cured the chainplate deformation?
I'm going to give the procedure a try this winter (hate that word...) and was wondering if I should try to get the height set before the freeze sets in or if that doesn't likely make a difference.
Also, how much space is there beneath the cabin sole between it and the keel in the spot where the compression post will go?
Bly, yes I have left the jack in place. From what I have read Cape Dory at some time provided "knees" to "fix" the problem of a sagging cabin top.
When I was searching for my boat I saw a number of boats that had "knees" and the cabin top was still down. So rather than fabricate my own, I went with leaving the post in place. You do lose some space for the porta potty but for me it was the way to go. I did put a wet coat of epoxy on the bottom of the compression post just to make sure moisture would stay away. Others have used stainless tubing. If you check the archives there is a great deal of information available.
Jonathan, the raising of my cabin roof and leveling of the deck at the starboard chainplate was part of an entire restoration project. The cabin roof had extensive core decay on the starboard side and a crack in the deck next to the chainplate. After I repaired the roof and found no rot on the deck I slowly raised the ceiling. I did my work in the Spring in an enclosed temporary garage. It had a greenhouse effect to it so the temperature remained very warm. I don't know if I would try it in the middle of a Freeport winter.
But to answer your question, yes. Raising the cabin roof did correct the deck deformation on my boat.
CD's kit for the Ty was a SS post with a horizontal flat plate that screwed to the cabin top area near where the tabernacle was and was skewed forward to the liner vertical wall about 4-6" forward. At that point there was another flat plate, vertical this time, which bolted to the vertical wall on the inside of the liner. Allowed full Porta-Potti access.
My Ty was uncompressed. I believe the 1st owner was a careful person who put the case in "just-in-case".
A lot of us had this mod. Sold my Ty several years ago, otherwise, pictures.
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