This happened to me a couple of years ago but as we, at least in the NE, start to get ready to launch, it might be worth checking.
I went out to my boat (on a mooring) one sunny day and found the forward end of the boom had fallen out of the gooseneck. It was held up at the stern by the topping lift.
A quick inspection revealed that the clevis pin had worked it's way out allowing the boom to disengage. The oddity of this is that, unlike normal clevis pins that have a hole at one end to allow a cotter pin to be inserted, mine did not. Instead, there is a vertical hole in the top of the gooseneck thru which a pin was inserted (see picture). This pin went into a hole in the middle of the clevis pin. This pin must have sheared from stress and broken, allowing the clevis pin to wiggle free from the movement of the boom while on the mooring.
Luckily the forward end of the boom fell into the vang rigging or it could have gouged up the deck. It could have been disastrous if it had happened while under sail. A normal clevis pin and cotter ring solved the problem.
I have had cotter rings come loose on other parts of my running gear so captains might want to check all points that have clevis pins and change out the gooseneck clevis pin if you have what I had.
Regards,
Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Hi Chuck,
The clevis pin you show has the cotter pin cross hole at the top. I presume the clevis pin has a flange at the other end. It should be on top. The cotter pins should never see a shear load, the flange was designed to do that. If it actually like that reverse the direction of the pin.
Regards,
Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 Mk-I TR #495
Eldean Shipyard
Lake Macatawa (Holland, MI) Lake Michigan
Rallyback@comcast.net
The clevis pin you see is the replacement pin.... not the one that fell out. I sent the picture just to show the hole on top of the gooseneck. Whether it had stress on it or not, the vertical pin broke (I can't imagine how it could have fallen out in an upward motion) and the clevis pin fell out.
Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Update: It looks like the fitting is different for the in-mast furling version. My bad. The vertical clevis pin still isn't held on by cotter pin. There is a flange on the original to keep it from falling out. Perhaps the previous owner got one by on you.
That doesn't look like an original gooseneck. Mine looks like the picture below, but it is a Mk I, so maybe it's different. It was taken from Catalina Direct's website. I do not have the small blocks on both sides though.
David
Mobile, AL
S/V Beach Belle
1983 Catalina 36 Mk I #154
Std. Rig, Fin Keel, M25
It is always interesting to see all the differences between the same boats..
In the pictures how it is on our Siler
Durk Nijdam
S/V "SILER"
Catalina 36MKII - 2001 / hullnr. 2013
Stavoren - Holland