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Catinal Morgan 38 Sea Worthiness

rubright

rubright

New Member
So there have been question of the Morgalina 38s (hybrid Catalina Morgan 90-98). I have scoured the web with alternative opinions....but no one who has actually put a boat in harms way beyond the bay of Biscay (not trying to downplay Biscay) and written about it in a comprehensive manner. I intend to change that. let me first say that I have several thousand hours of blue water time and over 60,000 hour of live aboard time on Tatyan's, CSys and Vagabond's. I have also survived Cat 1 conditions in blue water surfing a 47 Vagabond down waves in a horrendous blow that killed people in North Carolina (When it was over we were off Delaware)

Some will call it stupid, others ballsy, but I just bought a close to Bristol condition 38 Morgalina. It is truly stunning and plan to take it off shore. BUT, when your surveyor is not only a retired Coast Guard Officer but also a Naval Architect you find out some interesting things about the boat. For example when he says "wow the steering quadrangle is really well built" it says he doesn't just sell parts at west marine and the Morgan Quality of the time translated over to our typical views of catalinas, he means it built like a brick shit house.

Luckily the previous owner got fleeced.....sold oversized standing rigging for a premium. Works for me. I will be sailing this vessel single or double handed on an outside run from D.C. to Tampa at the start of hurricane season.....yes a time window not a weather window. Hold on to your shit because you will get run over. Now to be clear this boat will go into the yard in May and every thru hull Maerlon valve will be replaced with a bronze seacock below the waterline capable of 500lbs of torsional and straight g loading. (I don't play games) running rigging will in many cases be replaced with 5/8th dyneema with close to 40,000lb tensile strength as will be the storm bridle. In short this boat will have to be slammed by a 30+ foot breaker to smash the hull to fail (we fail long before that). I will post an update after the trip to hopefully put this issue to rest. I WILL highlight the boat's shortcoming, not just be a cheer leader for a brand. And if sucks, I will swallow my pride and say so. But this test should leave no doubt as to what this boat can do, unless Neptune takes mercy on me, in which case I will be happy to report no lesson learned yet.
 
An interesting side note. The original rudders came in 5/16" glass. After talking to the Largo plant they tell me there are available upgraded ruggedized 1/2" glass rudders. I have not heard of any rudder failures on these boats but I was also unable to ascertain why the ruggedized version was designed. Obviously a catastrophic rudder failure is a serious issue offshore. Given the sugar scoop stern configuration a windvane system is not optimal as an emergency system and even questionably possible without major reconstruction which is not the point here. I will be carrying a stripped down Galerider drogue for an emergency drag induced steering ability but this has the drawback of compromising performance of both turn radius and speed significantly. The naval architect and I will be looking into the yaw tendency of the beamy stern and smallish rudder size in following seas to determine the likely increased stress loads on the rudder in really bad weather. I am not a big fan of the idea of running downwind with large following seas with a hatch that has no oblique angle to dissipate wave energy (look at the aft hatch and you will see what I mean). This will be especially true if the rudder is of questionable strength at 5/16". Show stopper, not at all. Sea Anchor/Galerider/Heave-to with one of them connected to a bridle on the bow should work fine (note Galeriders are not meant to used from the bow but some people have reported success with them). More to follow on prep when she gets hauled.
 
Well She is getting hauled. A few observations on a 20 hour run. Boy is she squirrely compared to a full keel. Great reaction when you want to turn but a strong weather helm reaction. So much so that singlehanded tacking can get wild. For single handing an auto pilot is a must so the outside voyage will be a two handed. Cant say any real weather has been encountered (19 knot wind and 4 foot waves). Looking at a 2 month refit on the seacocks, new batteries, new battery monitoring system, and may take her down to gel and start with a fresh barrier coat and build up as we have some time. This is going to push us into the late July early August time frame for the outside run so we will surely hit some weather. Cant be helped as my fellow crew-woman is only available then. The nice thing was that she held true in a 4 foot following sea with balanced sails so the yaw factor I was worried about may not be such an issue....of course 4 feet is no 24 feet.
 
When you get to Tampa bay Give me a nood would love to see your boat . Lee N 1982 384 Tarpon Springs fl
 
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Not sure why your not comfortable with marelon sea cocks. They have stood up well. I replaced all my bronze sea cocks in my Endeavour 40 and would do it again with Tru-designs. They have a sleeve that when fitted is as strong as you need it to be. And no worry about a hole in your sea cock due to electrolysis, which sunk my Endeavour. But every one has their must haves and have not's...
 
So the trip is done. So first for Bobfnbw, I have nothing against Marelon but the set up you have probably does not meet ABYC standards. You can get a Marelon Thru Hull assembly that can take 500 lbs of lateral force in 360 degrees (which is now the standard) but the typical valves cannot handle more than about 200 Lbs of lateral stress. And remember ABYC standards are much like Coast Guard standards, they are written in blood. Bad things had to happen to boats and people for the standards to come about, they were not determined just because it was a Monday. And personally when I am going to single hand an unproven boat 500 Nautical miles offshore while still in hurricane season I am going to make sure my boat is to standard.

So the real question is how did the boat do? Mixed reviews is what I have. Best conditions (though not for sailing) was 3 days of flat calm doldrums. Worst conditions were a thirty knot tailwind out of the North causing waves to stack and get steep from the North flowing Gulfstream Current in the Florida straights. Waves were steep as hell, 15 to 20 feet and breaking with a 8-9 second period...not horrific by any measure but certainly enough to get your attention and rip off my bow running lights. Good times. Bottom Line Up Front, the boat made a two week open ocean passage in the Atlantic facing various conditions. It is very hard to argue that the boat is not seaworthy after such a run. Going Solo made the run even more challenging but at no time did I feel the good ship was in danger or did I question her ability to continue or fear that the integrity of the boat may be compromised. So yes this boat is sea worthy. But it is far from enjoyable in some conditions.

Being a center cockpit and therefore high in the water, with true fin or winged keel, the boat does not offer the sure ride of a true blue water cruiser as on would expect. But it gets worse. When reaching speeds of 9-11 knots going down the face of waves the weatherhelm tendency of the boat is beyond pronounced. It can actually overcome your auto pilot and put you broad side to a wave. Scary as shit when your single handed and have to sleep after being up for days. The boat yaws from the rear and drives to winward with speed. So fighting this for 100 miles across the Gulfstream in a raging gale will test the stamina of and peg the fun meter of anyone. To exacerbate this the bilge is very shallow, so when healed at sever angles is pretty uncool to look down and see water in your galley. Worse is the motion. I am literally unable to get motion sickness from blast damage to my inner ears, almost a super power except my hearing is shit. Thank god. The boat in heavy weather would routinely roll 30 degrees from side to side. That should pretty much make anyone barf in the dark. My scariest moment of the whole voyage was below. The boat accelerated down a wave face, ass end yawed, bow turned hard into the wind and the lateral g-force literally threw me across the cabin where I laid groaning for 30 seconds before checking to see if anything was broken.

On the other hand, with todays technology and a storm anchor there is no reason you should have to fight conditions worse than I faced or you can button up. Even going trans Atlantic is doable. The boats lay out is extremely nice with the centerline queen berth aft. The galley is well laid out and I spent hour comfortably reading in the main salon. The boat feel rugged and stable when not being challenged by Neptune. And even in heavy seas it never felt bogged down, it bobbed over the waves with ease. I have no doubt that I did not strain the boat. It is my belief that the boat could have taken much more than what I encountered and that the real limit would be me bouncing around the boat fracturing limbs not the boat failing on me. There were no sqeeks, groans, pops, vibrations, bangs at all. The boat just kept on chugging an rolling unmercifully.

For picture of the voyage to include Instrumentation showing me heading into the Florida Stratghts at 9 knots visit:
https://cer06rwr.imgbb.com/?list=im...s_hidden[userid]=aYS&params_hidden[from]=user

*****I discourage anyone but very experienced sailors from attempting to sail boats, especially boats they are not extremely familiar with, in open ocean voyages by themselves. Solo sailing blue water is a dangerous undertaking that can cost you your life. Anyone contemplating it should have a minimum of TWO epirbs capable of broadcasting on the 406 to satellites, a medical kit that includes one handed tourniquets, IVs, multiple antibiotics, pain medications, Quick Clot bandages (the military variety), a suture kit and be prepared to step off your boat with a ditch bag at any time and within seconds. In no way does this post endorse single handed sailing or encourage people to take the risks that are incumbent with the inherently risky and potentially life threatening practice of single handed sailing.*****
 
If by any chance a sailboat manufacturer see this I am more than happy to test your vessel. Just click on my portrait and e-mail me.
 
Hey stnick, I am in Tampa now, and the boat is for sale....a sad casualty of a divorce....another reason I soloed rather than did a duo sail. It is a little banged up inside where the TV came loose of its tie down and I couldn't go below due to weather conditions but it is a fine coastal cruiser for sure. Let me know if your interested or if you just want to see the boat, you are more than welcome.
 
Hi - I keep my 381 in the Baltic and was so pleased to come across your commentary on your boat's performance. First its almost unique as a "stress test" of this design.Second, I too have had surveyors complement its build despite its looks and spade rudder etc.Third, the more we sail, the more we push ourselves, and the more we wonder about the 381's capabilities despite category ratings etc.
One thing we discovered when slamming into a near gale and well heeled is that we were collecting water. Sand on the interior sides on the forepeak berth were a bit of a giveaway and explained why the mattress in there was often damp. Seems to me the deck "shoebox lid" connection to the hull sides had not been sealed properly - something we will pay a yard to fix for us before this year's cruising. Just wondered, given your comments about water in the galley, if you found any intrinsic failures in the construction that means the basic function of a boat i.e. keeping the water out and keeping afloat, was compromised.

The only other major surprise to us was in cutting the interior lining under the saloon floor to make more space for extra batteries. This year the floor lining cracked with a sonic boom a few minutes after being lifted out for the winter. Looks like we may have compromised the lining by cutting more battery space. I didn't know the lining was subject to so much stress.

Other than that we love the boat as you cant beat the interior for space and comfort, although I am surprised an adventurer such as you isn't bemoaning the lack of a real sea berth. A plan is forming in our minds to more south from the baltic, cross Biscay, head for the Canaries and take our boat home to explore the eastern seaboard. That's why your headstrong venture was so interesting. Would love to hear more about your experiences if you keep sailing her. if not, then best of luck with the sale and the future. Oh and yes, gratifying to see a deck and saloon more cluttered than my own.

Fair winds
 
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