Official 1980's Weekender/Sundancer 300 thread

I want to replace the shore power inlet since the cord was ripped out of it a few seasons back when some 'helpful' person tied off all the slack in my cord and at dead low tide, the cord went tight and was pulled out of the socket. Some of the threads are damaged and its getting a little worn looking anyway. Currently it has one of the plastic Marinco sockets with snap down door. I'd like to install a stainless Marinco unit. I have Several questions, 1. is the screw pattern the same on these two inlet sockets? Don't want to have extra holes. 2. Is it held on with machine screws and nuts or wood screws? 3. How do you access the back of the socket? Looks like it would be located somewhere in the hanging locker on the port side on the 300DA. Any help appreciated.
 
I want to replace the shore power inlet since the cord was ripped out of it a few seasons back when some 'helpful' person tied off all the slack in my cord and at dead low tide, the cord went tight and was pulled out of the socket. Some of the threads are damaged and its getting a little worn looking anyway. Currently it has one of the plastic Marinco sockets with snap down door. I'd like to install a stainless Marinco unit. I have Several questions, 1. is the screw pattern the same on these two inlet sockets? Don't want to have extra holes. 2. Is it held on with machine screws and nuts or wood screws? 3. How do you access the back of the socket? Looks like it would be located somewhere in the hanging locker on the port side on the 300DA. Any help appreciated.

I replaced mine several years ago when I had my 300 Sundancer.
Not a bad job at all.
Remove the long combing panel on the starboard side aft of the cabin door.
It’s secured to the boat with “Tee Nuts” anchored in the back of the panel, studs coming out of the nuts, and then fender washers and Nylock nuts. You’ll need an assortment of 7’/16” combination wrenches, deep socket, and 1/4” ratchet to get them all.
My 7/16” ratcheting combo wrench got most of them for me.
All of those panels are held on the same way.
Goes on and off pretty quickly once you locate all the nuts back there.
There were nuts on the back of the screws on my inlet. Needed an assistant to hold the heads on the outside while I used a socket on the nuts. Pretty sure it was still original when I changed it so your’s should be the same.
Stainless and plastic should have the same screw pattern.
I replaced plastic with plastic because I didn’t want to take a chance of the stainless streaking down and staining if it was poor quality, or pitting over time.
Take a close look at the wires when you take them off of the back to make sure there are no blackened or burnt ends. If there are, you probably have enough slack to cut back to clean.
I had some on my ground wire so I replaced the piece that went between the inlet and the galvanic isolator. Pretty sure it was 10 gauge.
I wound up replacing the galvanic isolator the following winter as a winter project.
 
I did mine years ago, the hole pattern is the same. Mine had screws and I changed it to bolts. Only real issue was the wires were short and not easy to connect.
 
Took the boat out this weekend. It had a fluke style anchor and when you try to let it down it would not start it’s way down the roller unless you went up and gave it a shove. I went out and bought a delta anchor thinking the curve in the shank would help it start going down on its own. The roller seems to turn freely but I don’t want to have to walk up to the bow to start the anchor going down. Any ideas?? It would be nice to just use the windlass from the helm!!
 
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
Took the boat out this weekend. It had a fluke style anchor and when you try to let it down it would not start it’s way down the roller unless you went up and gave it a shove. I went out and bought a delta anchor thinking the curve in the shank would help it start going down on its own. The roller seems to turn freely but I don’t want to have to walk up to the bow to start the anchor going down. Any ideas?? It would be nice to just use the windlass from the helm!!
This problem could be be as easy to fix as taking the anchor off the rode and then going to a very quiet spot on the water where you boat. Once there, deploy the entire rode, back down until it is played straight out to the bitter end, and then retract it into your chain locker letting the windlass do all of the work. If your rode does not have a swivel on the end that attaches to the anchor, buy a good quality swivel and install that and your anchor. Removing all the twists from your rode makes anchoring easier. Installing a good swivel prevents new twists from developing. Make sure you secure your bitter end to the boat before you attempt this procedure.
 
Took the boat out this weekend. It had a fluke style anchor and when you try to let it down it would not start it’s way down the roller unless you went up and gave it a shove. I went out and bought a delta anchor thinking the curve in the shank would help it start going down on its own. The roller seems to turn freely but I don’t want to have to walk up to the bow to start the anchor going down. Any ideas?? It would be nice to just use the windlass from the helm!!
just my input but... do you not have a safety hook on your anchor while under way ?
can save you a world of issues if the gypsy slips while on plane.
 
Thanks for the replies. I thought about the safety hook just after i posted this. It has been decades since my last boat that had a windlass. Come to think of it that old boat did not have a safety hook. Guess i got lucky on that boat! Guess its not such a big deal since i will have to release the safety before anchoring anyways. Thanks!!
 
Has anyone had to replace the black plastic inserts behind the helm seat grab handles? Mine are cracked and I am looking for a replacement option. Picture attached for reference.
I replaced mine with teak inserts. Look at my profile, I think there is a pic or two of them in my album.
 
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Apparently our albums went away during one of the upgrades so lets see if I can post a pic of those inserts.
 
On our 300WE we have a hatch for the anchor line. The underside is plywood and the outer is fiberglass.

Has anyone had to replace the old plywood and if so what did you use? That storage area stays wet due to the line being wet.

I was thinking PVC would be a better backing and use 3200 to adhear it to the glass, would that work?
 
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I just used marine plywood soaked in epoxy resin and covered in glass. I painted it with white bilge paint.
 
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Problem is I can't find anyone local that has marine grade plywood. I guess I will have to order a section in

The outer fiberglass is in great shape, it's just the plywood that is shot
 
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I've never done this before so excuse the dumb question, how do I soak the wood in the resin?
 
Use a penetrating epoxy like Totalboat from Jamestown Distributors. You just keep painting it on and the wood absorbs the thin epoxy. It doesnt cure fast so it stays wet and goes into the wood. When it wont take anymore, let it set up and then glass it in place.
 
Problem is I can't find anyone local that has marine grade plywood. I guess I will have to order a section in

The outer fiberglass is in great shape, it's just the plywood that is shot
Yes, been there, seen that!
 
Yes, been there, seen that!

New exterior plywood is done and in. It should cure overnight.

New question, it seems the hatch had a bumper or stop screwed to the outside. Does anyone still have one of these and can you post a picture for me
 
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Haven
t seen one with a bumper or stop yet. Mine didn't have one
 

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