Posted: September 13 2008 at 18:52 | IP Logged

hey guys been awhile been working hard and fishing harder,lol. Floater sorry to hear that your not coming this wayseems like another great weekend,low winds and high sun.Great job on the decal.

Gas prices hear at the marinia went down 4cent a gallon to $3.95,car gas is still same $3.45 to $4.00 depending on the stations.Filling up the chrissy tomarrow incase all goes south .

Glad all hear made the last few storms will little or no damage.

Posted: September 15 2008 at 16:28 | IP Logged

Hello to all!

hope everyone had a good weekend! went to visit the floater, the lake went from flooded to low pond, they are anticipating a rainy season so they let alot of water out of the lake. the prop and rutter were touching the sandy bottom. was afraid to take her out because there are alot of stumps around the marina and i dont want to do any damage. so i left her tied up and gave her a couple of short blasts forward and blew me out a large sand hole around the prop, so now if the level drops anymore, the bottom will be on the sand and not sitting on the rudder! i need to know if the galley table is the same on the 251 as it is on the 280/281, im working on this inlay and if it is not finished before i sell the boat, im going to give it away to whoever wants it. im doing it strictly for the hobby!

FLOATER

Posted: September 15 2008 at 21:06 | IP Logged

Dewy, good to hear from you, really hoped to meet ya, well, perhaps sometime in the future.yah, sis did a good job on that logo, shes done a fiew for a fiew boats, alot of dirt track cars and tons of karts. very creative mind. anyone intersted?

ok! shes back on craigslist charlotte nc aera. anyone watching this forum, you know the quality of these boats! first offer near 5k its theirs. the automobile buisness is slowly declining and realisticly i cant afford to keep her, but i dont want to take a hard hit either. i will save my logo because i WILL be a boat owner again in the future. so perhaps a "floater #2"! humm, sounds like a , you know!

see ya soon! Floater.

Posted: September 15 2008 at 22:25 | IP Logged

Hey Floater,

As much as would love to see you keep your Catalina...did you try the BoatUS Classified?  We get a free online ad and it is good for a few months.

Here is the link:

http://www.boatus.com/classifiedads/adtype.aspx

Here are the 251's on Boat US now...

	1983	Chris Craft	25'11''	MD	$8,700
	1980	Chris Craft	25'	NY	$6,500
	1977	Chris Craft	25'9''	FL	$8,500
	1977	Chris Craft	25'	NY	$3,500

Yours being an 1982 and at $5k, sounds like an awesome deal to me!

Tom

Posted: September 15 2008 at 22:39 | IP Logged

Hi everyone,

Just in case you're interested...I posted a few new videos from this past weekend on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT-SO8Ti3Wg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdaNzQPmi6Y

Tom

Posted: September 16 2008 at 09:34 | IP Logged

Hi Boatman,

Not sure if that handle is original with my Chris but it was there when I got her and looks like a readily available part from any marine supply.

I am pretty sure your '86 294 and my '85 280 are the same from the rubrail down as far as the hull is concerned.  Mine is listed with a centerline length of 28' 10.5" not including the pulpit and platform.

She runs great with the single engine and gas consumption has not been too bad at all.  I have not been tracking the fuel per hour but it seems to be average around 10gal/hr with running her as I do...fast cruise between 3200 and 3400 RPM and going to WOT every so often. 

I absolutely love the boat and am very happy with the performance (relative to being a cabin cruiser) economy, space and lasting quality of it as a 23 year old boat.

Tom

Posted: September 20 2008 at 20:52 | IP Logged

Hi Ya'll, still no hits on the boat. but, here are some work in process pix of the marketry. next is to mount it to the table top and use some bar top pour on finish

Posted: September 21 2008 at 08:34 | IP Logged

SwanneBill, i got the dimentions of the table top and subtracted 4 inches from all 4 sides, made a templet with some foam board. just refered to a picture on the internet. it took me this long to atempt  doing this only because i could not find a kit. i dug out of the veneer pile some bubinga because it has a less figure than the walnut. used birch because it is light colored and well, thats what i had! i just wish the teak was not so figured, i think it takes away from the inlay. well, i guess im going to work on it some more today. have a peacful sunday.

floater

Posted: September 22 2008 at 08:34 | IP Logged

Floater, good job! That is just too cool. You got some talent goin' on. I have a feeling some of the other cat owners will want one also. Boatman, the St. Lucie river looks like a mud puddle. I'm sure the Caloosahatchie dosn't look any better. Capt. Heavy

Posted: September 22 2008 at 10:15 | IP Logged

Boatman, just thinking about the finacial mess makes my blood pressure spike. A c.e.o. makes 50 or 100 million a year while the co. goes bankrupt. Then the government (taxpayer) bails them out. Someone needs to go to jail. Most of our clients here at Hinckley are pretty upscale. It's going to be interesting to see what effect the economy has on our business. It can't be good. Floater , I know your in the auto business and it's hurting you too. No matter who gets elected in november, we're screwed. H

Posted: September 24 2008 at 20:33 | IP Logged

capt heavy, winds starting to pick up here in central nc. temps 63deg, 10-15 mph wind (normal less than 1 mph) windows open! sipping on some irish coffee. i wish it would stay like this all winter!

struck up a conversation with a customer of mine, come to find out he,s a high up with a yacht club on lake wylie. hes VERY familiar with the cc line and is a fan of the 251 and 280/1. he is going to pass the word to "the group" about the floater. so, maybe some more posibilities. he told me also to do not let her go for any less than 6g.

NO GAS....there is no gas anywhere around here.crazyass people waiting in lines for hours, fights breaking out, massive traffic jams. both my and my wifes low fuel lights are on. luckally i can walk to work if i need to. what the %#!! is going on? can anyone shed some light on this?

floater.

Posted: September 25 2008 at 21:35 | IP Logged

hello ya'll! storm is trying to show its face here, fizzling out by the time it gets to us. a little wind is about all. i hope it does pass, im walking to work tomorrow. yep, no gas! mrs floater hung out in the soup line this morning, when she got to the pump, they ran out of regular but did have premium. what a nightmare for her. the station was in a not sooo nice part of town. the people are nuts, the non english speakers could not follow directions so they caused a serious multi car pile up at the station, one lady got hit. wife freaked could not get out, finally the police had to clear it all up. i'll just walk! dewy, i bet that looks amazing, i love to see people getting out of the mass produced oak same-ol! that is something i would love to see! as for your table, sounds like either ipe or brazilian cherry. i have some of the cherry, it can easily be mistaken for teak, just a little on the redder side and will smoke a drill bit and heavy as a brick. 

have a good night, floater

Posted: September 27 2008 at 10:26 | IP Logged

Hi there fellow Catalina owners...another soggy day up here in NY

I was wondering you anyone could tell me the brand/type of transmission is in my Catalina by the picture:

I went down to the boat yesterday and found a noticable amount of transmission fluid (prehaps a few tablespoons worth) floating on the surface of the bilge water.  I put some of the oil absorbant pads to soak it up and checked the fluid level which is just below the low mark on the dipstick.  I knew the tranny was leaking, seems to be coming from where the linkage goes in. 

Could any of you recommend the parts, rebuild kit and/or company from which to buy the parts?  Is it common for the tranny to leak that much from this spot?  I noticed on the last few times out when in gear at idle speed (about 550-600 RPM) it sounds like the shaft/drivetrain has play in it as it makes a slight clunking sound as if the prop is catching then slacks, then catches...could low tranny fluid cause this? I typically have 4-6 feet of water under the boat so I ruled out the bottom.  Anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Tom

Posted: September 27 2008 at 10:50 | IP Logged

Tom,

The transmission a Borg Warner 'Velvet Drive' with, if you have the Murcruiser 230 engine,  a 1.52 to 1 reduction gear (that's the rounded casting thing bolted to the back of the actual gear.

The leaking is probobly coming from worn 'O' rings in the shifter assembly... a simple thing to service. Please locate the prevous discussion on the thread for details. 

Diver 

Posted: September 27 2008 at 10:57 | IP Logged

cat, mines leaking too, but my trans does not look like yours. my shifter is on the top center and my dipstick is on the left side. diver, what trans do i have? it is definately leaking from my shifter seal.

floater

ps; starting to get  gas shipments! still raining

Posted: September 27 2008 at 11:13 | IP Logged

Heavy,

Probably a Paragon gear.  Should be able find a picture online somewhere to confirm that.

Roy

Posted: September 27 2008 at 13:00 | IP Logged

Nauti Cat-

My notes on the transmission  'O' ring thing are on pg 18, Feb 17th,'08.

Roy

Posted: September 27 2008 at 16:54 | IP Logged

Roy, Yep! thats what it is!

Thanks, Floater

Posted: September 28 2008 at 09:59 | IP Logged

Hey Guys, what type of oil is used in the trnasmisions?  Automotive tranny fluid like Dexron or Type F? 

Thanks,

Tom

Posted: September 28 2008 at 10:22 | IP Logged

Cat, i added dextron. i was reassured of my chouce only because while cleaning the engine compartment, i found 2 quarts of dextron atf . i guess the previous owner was aware of the leak too. i am glad to know what trans i have now so i can start to hunt down the necessary seals.

good luck! Floater.

Posted: September 28 2008 at 11:49 | IP Logged

Thanks guys,

with a little research... this website has some good information:

http://www.velvetdrive.com/7172.html

There are PDF documents and one has the fluid type...DexronIIE or DexronIII or any transmission fluid that meets Detroit Diesel Allison C4 specifications.

I just went down to the boat and there is no new fluid under the tranny, ran it up to temp, put it into gear for a few seconds, shut the engine and checked the fluid which is just under the min line on the dipstick.  The only wet spot on the tranny I can see is just under where the shift linkage goes in since wiping it clean.  I will have that o-ring replaced then take it from there.

Tom

Posted: September 28 2008 at 20:28 | IP Logged

Dextron III

Diver

Posted: September 28 2008 at 20:43 | IP Logged

Thanks Roy.

I picked up the DexronIII earlier, topped off the warm tranny and it took almost a quart.  I then ran the motor putting it into gear in the slip and nothing leaked out...guess Ineed to get her out on the bay spinning 3500 RPMs to check for leaks.  Boy, those outboards were so much simpler...At least I am learning as I go.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Tom