[C320-list] Thoughts on winterizing and servicing C320 with 3GM30F (E20931)

[Troy Dunn]

As a relatively new owner with a to-do/wish list that far exceeds my spare
time I've had to be judicious about which projects I take on.   Winter
layup was not something I wanted to tackle last year.  This year I had the
time to get smart and do it right.   I thought I'd share my experience with
the list since the list/website was so helpful in figuring out what to do,
and more importantly what not to do...

Keep in mind that my Hull #514 was manufactured in late 1997 and is a 1998
model, so it is equipped with a Yanmar 3GM30F Euro Version 3 Cylinder
Diesel.   Catalina went through at least 3 different brands of power
equipment on the 320s that I'm aware of, so my experience might not fully
apply to you if you have an earlier Hull Number with a different
brand/model engine.

Karl Mielenhausen's Winterization Tips article is a must read if you are
headed down this path.   Also, for general maintenance I have found the
excel based checklist/workbook on the C320 site to also be an invaluable
tool that I have tweaked and customized for S/V Wonky Dog.   The
spreadsheet spring commissioning check list worksheet is where I make notes
of things that creep into the must do category for next spring.   Examples
of this for next spring include new belts (purchased), impeller and o-ring
(purchased), full freshwater coolant replacement.  Another really
interesting resource is a set of Youtube videos recently posted by
"Spelunkerd".   The one on changing fuel filters and bleeding the fuel
lines is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub0zfW42mVo&t=135s  He has
also posted videos on oil change, etc.   Really fantastic confidence
booster!

Is this effort worth your time?  Will you save money?   I think this is
probably too personal a question to answer for anyone but yourself.  A lot
of variables come into play here.   I can share with you my own personal
thinking and some of the facts surrounding "how this made the cut".   For
myself, the entire boat is a hobby.  For me this means, I don't put too
much stock into value trades of my time from a monetary perspective
because  I'm still working and it would be impossible for me to do these
things as quickly as a professional, so that aspect is a bit moot.   It is
more a trade of time cruising vs. time messing about...I enjoy both.

I paid about $650 last fall to "winterize" the boat.  About $200 was
"material".    I got a one time 25% discount on that price due to my recent
purchase.  The price this year without the discount would be north of
$800.  Doing the job myself this year I paid about $200 for parts and
materials, but I paid an additional $80 for tools that I will use over and
over (e.g. oil extractor).   Some of those parts are things I don't need
until the spring (impeller, belts, etc.) and are also items that weren't
serviced by the yard last year so it isn't an apples to apples comparison.
  It probably took me about 16 hours to complete all of my winterization
tasks this year.   I'm guessing roughly 50% of that time was spent
"figuring stuff out".   I think I could complete the tasks in 8 hours next
year.  Some comical time sink moments include: raw water hose sucking
itself to bottom of 5 gallon bucket so that the water pump wasn't pumping
any coolant, Air Conditioner losing prime and refusing to reprime for
winterizing, cabin lights breaker deciding to fail intermittent in middle
of winterizing project, prediction for 19F temps 3 days before haul out =
late night trip to winterize bilge pumps and drains (I know...probably
overkill in 51F water, but better safe than sorry).

Ironically, the one item I fretted about the most, changing the fuel
filters and bleeding the fuel lines, went very smoothly.   My advice for
that task would be watch the aforementioned Youtube video for confidence
building, then use the Racor pump to prime the entire system opening and
closing bleeder screws moving toward the high pressure pump.    I did not
need to bleed at the injectors, manually pump the feed pump, or by-pass
compression and crank to prime.   The Racor has sufficient pump pressure to
get the fuel prime all the way to the injectors on my hull.  I did bring
the engine up to temp prior to the filter change and bleed, I felt like
this was helpful with absolutely no basis for my thinking other than how
rapidly the engine fires up when it is still warm.   The engine fired up
right away with no cylinder misfires, stalling, etc.

One item for consideration by anyone who has never winterized/serviced the
boat on their own.   You will learn a lot about your boat that could be
useful, maybe even life saving in the future depending on your cruising
plans.  Also, I found out so many new and interesting things about the boat
that "come together" to give me a much clearer picture of our purchase and
some items to focus on for preventative maintenance in the near future.

Thanks to everyone that contributes to the list/site/association.

Fair Winds-

Troy Dunn
S/V Wonky Dog
Hull #514
Havre De Grace, MD