We also own a 30' C&C ZCC30515M79C which we purchased in May, 1995.
Luck for us in that we know the last 3 of 4 owners since she was built. A lot history and knowledge came with the boat. She is well built, a great boat to sail and will be around long after we fall off.

She has the rotting mast step stringers and I would be interested in how you repair your stringers. I have somewhat repaired the aft stringer by sandwiching 1/4"aluminum plates to either side of the stringer and then drilling and filling that stringer with West system. The middle and forward ones are next, but still not sure what to do with them. The forward end of the wooden mast step sinks about 3/4 to 1 inch from when we step the mast in the spring to the end of the season when unstep her. That worries me, but I not sure what to do about it.

As far as water leaks, all C&C 30' leak. Its part of their charm. But we are slowing finding them and fixing them one by one.
Have not seen the bulkhead delamination yet, but that will be on my list for this spring.

Electrical, oh yes, how we have come to expect more and more out of our boats. Last year, up graded to 30 amp shore power and added 2 GFI's on the back bulkhead and properly installed 4 additional 110v plugs. 2 in the main cabin and 1 over the head sink and 1 behind the head door. That one was there before, but with no plug cover. This spring the main fuse panel will be replaced with a new panel (I was in the prototype business) with 6 110v circuit breakers and 18 12v circuit breakers. Will also upgrade the alternator from the 30 amp to a 55 amp. Need to keep our pop (beer) cold. Had the old Alder Barber rebuilt last fall. Still believe that the old feron 12 is better that the new stuff.

While I was in the area, I removed the counter top over the ice box and found a lot of room under the aft storage bin. So, I'm moving the ice box aft the 11" and rebuilding the storage bin forward of the old ice box spot. Will try to cut some doors or drawer in the front panel to match the ones next to the companion latter. Will also better insulate the area around the ice box and hull. There is a lot of dead space in there.

The boat was surveyed by a surveyer who also knew the boat and the last 2 owners. No secrets or surprises here.

2 years ago, we spent 2 months in the North Channel and are planing on do the same this summer. Had no real problems then ( if you don't call the gears in the drive motor on the Autohelm 4000 wearing out a real problem) and I expect none this time.

Looking forward to hearing and talking more about the 30's
Dick Okopny
Moondance
C&C 30 '79 out of FYC, Grosse Ile, Mich.

Things to watch out for:
#1) Rotting mast step stringers - Take off the mast and the wooden mast step and inspect the stringers that it rests on in the bilge. These were made of wood and have a habit of rotting from water running down the mast. Replacement is about $1,000 or several day's of your own time. I did mine and it wasn't fun.
#2) Deck leaks - C&C didn't properly seal deck penetrations when attaching hardware. The cabin-top handrail was particularly bothersome. Look for spider cracks around the handrail and stanchions. These will have to be drilled out with an oversized bit, filled with epoxy, and then re-drilled and the equipment re-mounted with sealant.
#3) Bulkhead delamination - the normal flexing of the boat over the years can cause the tabbing to loosen where the fore and aft bulheads meet the hull and particularly the deck. Most are accessible and can be ground off and replaced with fresh fiberglass and epoxy. After 25 years two of our bulkhead tabs have been re-glassed to the deck and two more need to be done.
#4) Wiring - after many years, particularly if this is a salt-water boat, the wiring needs replacing. I have an on-going work effort to replace the wiring as I replace electrical equipment. I replaced the fuse panel with a proper circuit breaker panel and use marine-grade wire and connectors. Check out the Anchor Marine web site because electical standards have changed remarkably in the last few years.
Don't forget to have a qualified marine surveyor do a thorough survey prior to purchase. It's worth the money and peace of mind.
Good luck.
Wally Kowal
Whistler II
C&C 30 '74 out of LSYC, Toronto

Dick,
Concerning your mast step stringers, there are three stringers in the bilge under the mast step, all differently shaped, but they all conform to the hull shape. They are arched at the bottom to allow bilge water to flow freely fore and aft. It is the arch in each stringer that lead to the rotting, the arch was cut through the stringer and not epoxied afterward to protect from bilge water.

Due to the three unique shapes of the stringers, you will need a template for each one. If your cut each stringer out along the hull line, the piece you remove becomes the template for the replacement.

The new stringers should be built up from marine grade plywood for lateral strength and for resistance to rot. Each stringer should be covered with epoxy for protection ann then epoxied in place. Then a new mast step board can be installed as a bridge across the new stringers.

I watched a friend do this to his 30. I don't know if it was more painfull for me to watch or for him to do the work. It is a slow process, however not all that technical.
Good luck
Joe Longtin
Moonlight

I did the step/rebuild thing just as joe explained. I made templates, laminated about 3/8" solid glass w/poplar sandwich, then glassed to hull. Remember, grind old surfaces. It took awhile to do, but damn well worth it.
Davey Stowers
Outlaw '74 30-1

Lake Erie

Joe,
Thanks for the info on the stringers. I understand how they are built. Just wasn't looking forward to trying to remove them. Especially the forward one that is in under the molded floor. Oh well, I'll just break out the "chain saw" and start cutting them out. That looked like the easy part. The hard part must be fitting the forward stringer back in and reglassing it in place. I did install a Par bilge pump that has a pick up tube under the middle stringer. That should help with the water problem. The original manual bilge pickup if farther aft in the bilge and it leaves a lot water in the boat.
Dick
Moondance

Dick;
We have a 74 C&C 30. I think our stringers were 2 or 3 inch laminated plywood. Didn't seem like a very good set up. No matter how dry the bilge was it seemed that the wood was always wet. I filled the entire cavity between the stringers with epoxy. There is a keel bolt under there some where so you will have to leave access some how . I think i used a large plastic coke bottle trimmed to fit. I also ran some 1/2" plastic hose from the front of the bilge area towards the bow to the main bilge area for the water to drain through. I also found i had to drill a new hole through the mast shoe into the area where the keel bolt is. Water drains into the main bilge from the keel bolt area through the hose. The water that comes down the mast when it rains has to go somewhere. I did this 10 years ago and the mast step is still solid. A fellow boater in our harbor with a 35MK1 did the same thing with good success as well. Dick i am not sure but i think we may have met in Gore Bay last year. We have a Green C&C 30, Magic Dragon.
Brad Kolpin
Magic Dragon

Hi Brad,
Thanks for the info. I have talked to one other C&C 35 owner who did the same thing with concrete ( I think). Putting the hoses and clearance hole for the keel bolt is not a big deal. I was worried about what kind of stress load the mast step board would transmit to the hall it everything is solid. But your idea will give me something to think about this spring. I'll let you know how I tackle the problem.

Yes we did meet you at Gore Bay 2 years ago. That was about half way through our 2 month trip. Looking forward in going back there again.

Brad Kolpin wrote:
I had the same problem on my 30. The small frames underneath the oak block are made of relatively cheap plywood which delaminated due to the vicinity of the bilge water. First I took exact measurements of the mast step location. Now everything was removed and I made new frames out of marinegrade mahogany plywood. The new frames were completely covered with glass and epoxy and glued into place with epoxy and glass strips. The plywood of a better grade is now completely shielded from water and I am sure this repair will last for the life of the boat. The oak block is screwed to the new frames as before. I have seen other 30s that needed this repair.
Henry Fierz 1973 C&C30 CAMELOT III

Jim-
I've heard of folks using ultra-high density polyetheylene (UHDPE) for this, It is similar to the white plastic "carving boards" you can find in many markets. It takes compression very well in the UHD form. Others have built up a shoe of welded stainless to raise the mast base. Sure, hardwood would to the job but UHDPE simply can't rot and is just as easy to obtain and work.

Brad-and Jim-
There's a really simple trick you can pull with anything porous like wood, or leather. Take the new piece of oak, trim to size, and then put it in a ziplock bag filled with penetrating epoxy (highly thinned epoxy with a slow cure time). Make sure the bag is sealed well and has no air bubbles in it. Now place the whole thing in another zip lock, water filled. And a third if you can. The second two bags are for safety, in case the first leaks. What you do is place the whole thing in a mesh basket, tie it to a weight, and submerge it 30-60 feet underwater. The water pressure (2-3 atmospheres) squeezes the incompressible fluid in the bags, and the only "air spaces" left are in the pores of the wood. So the penetrant (oil,epoxy, your choice) is forced into the wood under a good deal of pressure and impregnates it like a simple soaking never could. The zip locks will hold better than you think, although a test with just water would certainly be reasonable.
If you use too much epoxy you may have to cut the excess off the oakblock...but even then, at least you'll have a stronger (& rot resistant) piece of wood to work with.

Jim
I replaced the mast step on my 1973, hull # 100 C&C 30 many years ago. The original wood plate mounted beneath the Aluminum cast box was made of white ash. After years of water coming down inside of the mast, and draining thru the Aluminum box and thru the ash wood block, I could detect some discoloration in the wood and noted a small amount of rot in the ash plate. I decided to replace it, and used a piece of oak the same size. I did not have ant deterioration of the underlying laminated ribs that the ash plate rested upon. Just as added protection, I epoxied the ribs. I also installed a plastic drain pipe that was threaded into the Aluminum, and sealed as it passed thru the new oak plate.
Since I felt the original rotted as a result of water wicking into the end grain of the ash, I thought the drain pipe and the seal would solve the problem. I varnished the new oak plate, and carefully monitored it for any discoloration, peeling or evidence of water damage. I kept the boat for another 10 years, and never noted any evidence of a problem. The entire task was pretty simple, and it only cost me the price of the oak plate (7.5"x19.5" x 1.75") ,a short piece of plastic pipe and a little bit of my time for trimming the wood, drilling the holes, epoxying the ribs, mounting the pipe, varnishing the final plate, an installing the new system.
I just realized, that I still have the original ash plate, having kept it asan example of what could happen. Actually, it's not bad, with only a little rot, emanating from the original drain hole. Looking at it now, I probably could have reinforced it with some epoxy, re sealed it and used it for another 10 years or more.

I fixed my step problem by making two sections similar to what was there but about twice as wide, formed a tunnel in the bottom for water to flow then filled with concrete , inserted two 1/4 x 6 SS bolts upside down in it to hold a piece of 1 1/2 teak in place. The perfect Job. Cost app. $20
Vic: