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AlanH
08-04-2017, 12:26 PM
Everybody has a project list, right?

1.) replace the lens in the forward hatch. I stepped on it a few weeks ago and cracked it and then George went clean though. Today I cut the piece of lexan-epoxy-bonded-to-smoked-acrylic to size and rounded the corners. The lens goes in with black silicon spooge on Saturday (tomorrow).

2.) ditch the *squeeze* backstay adjuster and replace with an 8:1 cascading system. I think I'm gonna use Garhauer anodized aluminum blocks for this. They're heavy but I like 'em and they're beefcake.

Is 8:1 enough? Well, I can easily one-handed pull a 70 pound steady-pressure pull. Easy-peasy-- I mean I pull two-handed 200 pound cable pulls at the gym, 3 x 8 or 3 x 10 all the time. OK, 70 x 8 = 560 pounds. So I can put at least 560 pounds of tension on my backstay with this setup. Seems like enough.

3.) clean the foam backing off the inside of the boat. When I got it, the previous owner had applied ultra-cheap-and-tacky foam backed cloth to the inside of the hull and cabintop. It was a playing ground for mold, so I tore it off within weeks of purchasing the boat, but large trails and blobs of foam remain stuck to the inside, looking butt-ugly. That's gotta go. S-2's glasswork is good enough to just be painted.

4.) autopilot... waiting on Brian to knock out my very own Pelagic

5.) New rudder. The stock rudder from Graham and Schlageter is a monster. It's freaking immense, from rudder head to the very bottom it's almost 7 feet tall. It's *very" balanced, there's a LOT of rudder in front of the axis of rotation and the thing is absurdly thick, like 3 inches. It weighs about 80 pounds. It's also a kick-up job, which is great if you sail in places where the water gets really skinny but not needed here.

This rudder never loads up. I mean, *Never*. It never requires work to turn. We can be totally out of control and spin out and I've got three fingers on the tiller. I figure that there's no S-2 7.9 One Design activity here, so no reason to stick with the stock rudder. The guys in Puget Sound who did a doublehanded Pac Cup in 1998 on one recommended NOT taking the stock rudder to Hawaii. They tried, and busted it in 1996 about 200 miles out. They had Jim Betts build them a custom job. I think I'll go with Phils Foils/Custom Composites. They can make a wood core, 16-inch chord, semi-balanced, semi-elliptical rudder with one layer of carbon, one layer of glass, and NACA 0015 foil for an only slightly shocking price.

BobJ
08-04-2017, 03:01 PM
I have a project coming up that I'm dreading. After the 2008 SHTP I did a pretty complete refit, including removing every bit of deck hardware, fixing some wet core and repainting the nonskid. I cheaped out and went with rolled-on gelcoat (w/nonskid "beads") instead of Awlgrip. (Yep - the one time I cheaped out on Rags!)

Roll forward eight years: The port side and foredeck is looking pretty thin and it really needs to be repainted. To do it right means again removing all the deck hardware, etc. Ugh!

Critter
08-04-2017, 04:12 PM
Nothing urgent, but ...
1. I really ought to do something about non-skid. I never seem to have a problem, but I've seen crew sliding around.
2. Build a smaller, more hydrodynamic, better balanced E-rudder. My cassette and transom bracket are adequate if ugly, but the blade is a horror. Some of you have seen it. And I've never found a great place to store it on the boat ... which is moderately important.
3. Find a place to mount the SSB that I borrowed from Scott Prusso for the 2010 SHTP and bought from him last year - thanks Scott! Last time it was low over the quarter berth, making the berth unusable.
4. Get a few more of the cabin lights working again.
5. I'd really like to replace the big water tank under the V berth with two smaller ones under the settees, to balance the boat better and to be legal for ... shumytpehrmyen or whatever ... without carrying jerry jugs.

BobJ
08-04-2017, 08:28 PM
to be legal for ... shumytpehrmyen or whatever

Is that the word you use when you don't want the Admiral to know what you're talking about? I notice it contains the right letters in the correct order. I may adopt that word.

Sailronin
08-05-2017, 08:15 AM
My small project list is pretty minor, replace halyards, better storage in interior, etc. My long term (before any attempt at SHTP or qualifier) is pull mast, remove and check chainplates, survey and replace standing rigging as needed and maybe drop keel and re-seat with new keel bolts. I don't know that any Olson 29s have ever had keel problems but she is 30 years old!

AlanH
08-05-2017, 05:24 PM
The hatch lens is in and spooged in place. I also discovered that I could pretty easily separate my test pieces. I'd epoxied a 16 x 16 piece of 1/8th smoked acrylic onto a 16 x 16 piece of 1/4 inch lexan, then trimmed to the 15 3/4 in each direction that I needed. We shall see, I suppose.

While I was down there, the Russian guy with the yellow J-24 two boats down from mine was there with a couple of his buddies, pressure washing their deck. He very kindly declined the $20 I offered and let me use his pressure washer on my decks. All the deep gunk...dirt, moss, embedded hawk poop from all the years at Moss Landing in dry storage, that was embedded in the anti-skid is now gone. Regular scrubbing with soap and water didn't take it off but the pressure washer did. YAY! I have clean white decks again.

AlanH
08-05-2017, 05:25 PM
shumytpehrmyen...

New desert sailboat rating system....

I can't even pronounce that.

AZ Sailor
08-06-2017, 09:35 AM
2.) ditch the *squeeze* backstay adjuster and replace with an 8:1 cascading system.

You might look at the Wichard manual backstay adjusters. I put the wheel adjuster on my S-2 8.6 and really loved it. No problem turning the wheel to tension things up. Liked it so much, in fact, that I recently installed the same model on Morning Star, even though she's a bigger boat with a much stouter rig than my S-2. It takes more heft to tighten it up, but not a problem. Should be easy to turn on the 7.9.

Critter
08-06-2017, 03:35 PM
Is that the word you use when you don't want the Admiral to know what you're talking about? I notice it contains the right letters in the correct order. I may adopt that word.
More like, I wanted to drop a hint without raising expectations. Hard to sneak anything past an accountant!

AlanH
08-07-2017, 01:49 PM
I had one of these on my Santana 3030 and liked it. Hmmmm. It would require putting on another chainplate, tho. The 7.9's chainplates are very widely spaced on the transom. Still, might be doable.

Gamayun
08-08-2017, 08:04 AM
Wow, where to start? Is this the must-do-before-TransPac list or the it-shur-would-look-purdy-to-do-that list? For the former, it includes installing the SSB that I bought from Doug off Foxfyre, upgrade to a bigger alternator, install solar panels, add a couple of sailing displays, add more handholds, rebed all port lights and hatches, and install a couple more winches. I ripped out the headliner last year and have been thinking about this one, too. Will probably paint white as I like having access to the through bolts, and may also install a strip of LEDs at the wood interface to bring more light into the boat because I liveaboard, but not sure if that might turn it into the Good Ship Lollipop....

Philpott
08-08-2017, 08:29 AM
"... the Good Ship Lollipop" : Nice minds-eye image, but I doubt the GSL could have done the LongPac the way Kynntana did.

AlanH
08-08-2017, 01:35 PM
Wow, where to start? Is this the must-do-before-TransPac list or the it-shur-would-look-purdy-to-do-that list? For the former, it includes installing the SSB that I bought from Doug off Foxfyre, upgrade to a bigger alternator, install solar panels, add a couple of sailing displays, add more handholds, rebed all port lights and hatches, and install a couple more winches. I ripped out the headliner last year and have been thinking about this one, too. Will probably paint white as I like having access to the through bolts, and may also install a strip of LEDs at the wood interface to bring more light into the boat because I liveaboard, but not sure if that might turn it into the Good Ship Lollipop....

Whatchoo' need more winches for?

BTW, do you have an anchor windlass?

Solar panel installation isn't too bad, just takes time, like everything else.

Gamayun
08-08-2017, 03:18 PM
Whatchoo' need more winches for?

BTW, do you have an anchor windlass?

Solar panel installation isn't too bad, just takes time, like everything else.


Hey Alan, the winches are for that far-off time in the future when I quit being a wimp and learn to fly the spinnaker that I don't yet have. I do have an anchor windlass, which is connected to this big-a** anchor and 150' of chain on the bow for those rare times when I might actually need to anchor....at least it's all ready for Hanalei Bay. Solar panels, sigh. I really should see if I can get a new PHRF for when I race on SF Bay with a self-steering vane and solar panels hanging off the boat :(

Jackie, the Good Ship Lollipop probably would have still fared better than I did during the LongPac!

The Smokester
08-09-2017, 11:42 AM
Carliane, You might be able to use rope clutches in lieu of installing winches. Takes less room and less moolah.

SeanRhone
08-09-2017, 12:49 PM
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has zero spinnaker experience! My major todo is sea time! I missed doing the New England Solo/Twin race which was going to be my first solo race, had trailer/keel winch/vhf issues (I have lots of issues). Besides sea time I need the following

1) Replace one upper shroud and forestay
2) Install five rope clutches
3) Buy and install AIS transponder
4) Figure out what to do about an e-rudder
5) Install second battery
6) Install solar panel and probably need a second one. The one I have is 90 watts
7) Buy a new mainsail, current one is older and probably not a good enough for a passage like the SHTP
8) Storm jib
9) layout where things need to be for the trip
10) Finish Kiwi grip of deck.

Stuff I've got accomplished
1) All new standing and running rigging. Yes I said I need to replace one upper shroud and forestay, I somehow got a kink in the shroud after a road trip with the boat and the forestay needs to be shortened a few inches.
2) Installed all new deck hardware including primary winches, cam-cleats and one rope clutch.
3) Move electrical panel to new spot higher up and easier to work on.
4) Removed all household electrical wiring previous owner put in.
5) Replace running and steaming light with LED
6) Installed new VHF with AIS and antenna
7) Fixed issues with retractable keel
8) Installed Edwina, the new ST2000 auto-pilot
9) Had all jibs inspected and converted to hank-on. When replacing the forestay the 1st time the roller furling was found to be missing parts
10) Learned how to raise/lower mast alone

BobJ
08-09-2017, 01:48 PM
4) Removed all household electrical wiring previous owner put in.

Now what did you go and do that for?

That stuff is 'da BOMB! (http://sfbaysss.org/forum/showthread.php?1487-communication-and-navigation-equipment&p=11869#post11869)

AlanH
08-09-2017, 05:20 PM
Hey Alan, the winches are for that far-off time in the future when I quit being a wimp and learn to fly the spinnaker that I don't yet have. I do have an anchor windlass, which is connected to this big-a** anchor and 150' of chain on the bow for those rare times when I might actually need to anchor....at least it's all ready for Hanalei Bay. Solar panels, sigh. I really should see if I can get a new PHRF for when I race on SF Bay with a self-steering vane and solar panels hanging off the boat :(

Jackie, the Good Ship Lollipop probably would have still fared better than I did during the LongPac!

mmmeeeehhhh.... uuuummm... **here's where you listen to whiny, equivocating noises**

I dunno, you made a pretty convincing argument about "no spinnaker" while we were talking at the WestPoint regatta. Your boat is not REALLY set up for one, and if you DID have one, it would be weensy. It's a Freedom, let it be a Freedom.

Big heavy boats need big anchors and windlasses. So, that you have one, is good. When you get to Hanalei you will actually stay in one place, mostly. Meanwhile when I get there with my 22 pound Danforth, I'll be waterskiing all over the anchorage, and when it's time to pull it up, hand over hand after being in there for a week and 60 squalls, it's gonna be ugly, and I'm going to be very tired. You, on the other hand, will still have an intact manicure. ("hand"..."Manicure"..see what I did, there?)

Your nice, big boat is going to be very happy with a Monitor windvane. Your bank account won't be, but the boats gonna love it. Your solar panels will power the autopilot, a bit, but I bet mostly the SSB and your microwave. (joking!)

AlanH
08-09-2017, 05:40 PM
I mean...

http://photos.mostsailboats.org/1990/f/1990-Freedom-Yachts-Freedom-38_9424_15.jpg

Not sure this is worth it. "Let your Freedom be a Freedom". On the other hand...

http://photos.mostsailboats.org/1990/f/1990-Freedom-Yachts-Freedom-38_9424_11.jpg

That's a dinky little spinnaker and you can always hide it behind the main AND ...this is a biggie on a Hawaii race....you don't have a headstay to wrap it around.

I might consider getting what is essentially a 135% 1.5 ounce nylon headsail, really full-cut and putting that out on a whisker pole. You could even mount the whisker pole to a fitting on the deck, just cut the sail so that it has a really high clew.

Whisker poles are usually set up like this, right?

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legacysailing.com%2Fsaga_43_le gacy_for_sale%2Fimages%2Fdeck_13.jpg&f=1

But does put a stress point on the mast. stress from a whisker pole is a lot less than stress from a spinnaker and pole, but it IS stress. However, there is no law that says you must mount the inner end of your whisker pole on the mast. A strong fitting on deck, say on the cabintop a foot in front of the mast is just fine. As long as the clew of the "headsail"...."running sail" is high enough, all should be fine.

cpt_757
08-10-2017, 08:08 AM
Hello,
This is my first time posting here.
My project, new auto pilot and reefing. I am still debating slab or single line reefing. Single line looks easier but even singlehanded working at the forward is still not that bad if I was prepared. For slab, hooks at gooseneck were removed. Thinking how install a hook and about single line main has roped luff, so maybe friction may issue. Can't decide,,,,

BobJ
08-10-2017, 10:18 AM
The consensus over the years leans against single-line reefing. One recent exception is the single-line reefing setup on the J/88 - maybe you can find one to look at. I like getting the luff set up tight and then grinding in the clew reef separately.

If you lead the reefing lines down and aft, make sure the gooseneck can handle the odd loads. Mine couldn't and I had to go back to using the hooks for the tack reef. If there's a good-sized vertical bolt attaching the gooseneck to the mast lugs, you should be able to find a hook assembly for it. Or Svendsen's Metal Shop can make you one.

Lanikai
08-10-2017, 12:15 PM
The consensus over the years leans against single-line reefing.

Yep. And I'd say if your boat isn't already set up with halyard and reef lines going to the cockpit, don't bother, just do it all at the mast. I went to the trouble of installing all the hardware needed for single line reefing to the cockpit, and then regretted it. Tons of friction and lots of swear words and still needed to get on the cabin top to help crank in the clew end anyway. But!

Then I "invented" a new technique using the topping lift and now I love it! Of course, this is probably how most people do it and I'm just slow to the game. Obviously only works if you have a topping lift and no rigid vang.
1: release the vang
2: drop the halyard some, but not all the way, so the reef cringle on the luff is still clear of the boom, gooseneck, etc. The reef line tends to foul on stuff if the cringle is all the way down.
3: pull the topping lift so the boom comes up to meet the reef cringle on the leech. Pull in the slack on the reef line -- easy peasy! Waaay less friction. Tie/clutch it off.
4: release the topping lift
5: drop the halyard the rest of the way and pull in the remaining slack
6: vang on

You'd think that during step 5 the clew end would quickly take any slack and ruin your nice tight reef, but for whatever reason this either hasn't happened or results in just a couple inches that need to be cranked back in. The whole process has made my 1st reef process go from about 5 minutes to less than 1. 2nd reef is also easier using the same process, but a little uglier since the lines and cheek blocks tend to foul with the sail folds from the 1st reef.
If I could go back in time put the effort and money toward other projects, however, I would. Reefing at the mast isn't so bad.

All that has added to my project list: modify mainsail so the bottom slides are on a loose line (whatever the proper term for that setup is), not stitched hard against the luff rope. Got a nice little tear cranking the luff cringle down toward the cheek block on the boom, instead of to the reef hook that it was designed for.

The rest of my own project list is very croozer related. I'll spare everyone the horror.

mike cunningham
08-10-2017, 02:49 PM
Yep. And I'd say if your boat isn't already set up with halyard and reef lines going to the cockpit, don't bother, just do it all at the mast. I went to the trouble of installing all the hardware needed for single line reefing to the cockpit, and then regretted it. Tons of friction and lots of swear words and still needed to get on the cabin top to help crank in the clew end anyway. But!

Then I "invented" a new technique using the topping lift and now I love it! Of course, this is probably how most people do it and I'm just slow to the game. Obviously only works if you have a topping lift and no rigid vang.
1: release the vang
2: drop the halyard some, but not all the way, so the reef cringle on the luff is still clear of the boom, gooseneck, etc. The reef line tends to foul on stuff if the cringle is all the way down.
3: pull the topping lift so the boom comes up to meet the reef cringle on the leech. Pull in the slack on the reef line -- easy peasy! Waaay less friction. Tie/clutch it off.
4: release the topping lift
5: drop the halyard the rest of the way and pull in the remaining slack
6: vang on

You'd think that during step 5 the clew end would quickly take any slack and ruin your nice tight reef, but for whatever reason this either hasn't happened or results in just a couple inches that need to be cranked back in. The whole process has made my 1st reef process go from about 5 minutes to less than 1. 2nd reef is also easier using the same process, but a little uglier since the lines and cheek blocks tend to foul with the sail folds from the 1st reef.
If I could go back in time put the effort and money toward other projects, however, I would. Reefing at the mast isn't so bad.

All that has added to my project list: modify mainsail so the bottom slides are on a loose line (whatever the proper term for that setup is), not stitched hard against the luff rope. Got a nice little tear cranking the luff cringle down toward the cheek block on the boom, instead of to the reef hook that it was designed for.

The rest of my own project list is very croozer related. I'll spare everyone the horror.

Wow, I am going to try that reefing method. I have run out of swear words when to comes to reefing my boat. I can not remember not having to go up to the mast to sort out some crapola or another with my single line system.

BTW my swear word inventory was significantly beefed up when my Aussie brother in law recently visited. Those guys down there must have nothing better to do than invent new ways to cuss. Even G rated language is ...well...creative. He's a pilot in New Guinea I asked him what it was like at night. Apparently it is "darker than the inside of a dead cow"

AlanH
08-10-2017, 03:42 PM
Yeah, the notion that all your lines should be led back to the cockpit...I am very much not so sure.

It's nice to be able to drop the main from the cockpit and be close to the tiller...yes it is, and I do that a lot when coming into my marina, because I can sail in to about 75 yards from my berth. However, pretty much every other time I hoist or drop, I'm doing something at the base of the mast. Absolutely, for reefing, have to be at the mast. If I ever have a cruising boat, absolutely the halyard winches will be on pads, on the mast. If not there, then 2 feet away from the mast on the cabintop with a jammer in-line between the winch and the turning block.

The same goes for dropping the headsail. You stand in the middle of the boat, pop the jammer and then dash forward while the headsail tumbles down, half of it overboard. It makes no sense. Better would be to have a dedicated winch up there with a turning block at the base of the mast, situated so you can take the tail of the jib halyard forward and control it as you gather the headsail in as it comes down.

The one halyard that really makes sense to me to have terminate near the cockpit is the spinnaker.

Gamayun
08-10-2017, 04:36 PM
BTW my swear word inventory was significantly beefed up when my Aussie brother in law recently visited. Those guys down there must have nothing better to do than invent new ways to cuss. Even G rated language is ...well...creative. He's a pilot in New Guinea I asked him what it was like at night. Apparently it is "darker than the inside of a dead cow"

This sounds like how they talk in the south though I think the good Cajun folks of Louisiana might have us all beat! I should ask my ex who was born and raised in deep, rural North Florida. He once mentioned something about shortnin bread, and since I looked so clueless, he called up his parents and they actually knew all the words to this song and sang it over the phone. I can't remember all the best sayings, but the one I still use the most is, "the faster you go, the behinder you get." To your children when they misbehave, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it." And if you really love pork, it's the whole animal that goes on the spit, which is so delish that nothing will be left "from he rooter to the tooter." Shall I stop now...?

mike cunningham
08-10-2017, 04:43 PM
This sounds like how they talk in the south though I think the good Cajun folks of Louisiana might have us all beat! I should ask my ex who was born and raised in deep, rural North Florida. He once mentioned something about shortnin bread, and since I looked so clueless, he called up his parents and they actually knew all the words to this song and sang it over the phone. I can't remember all the best sayings, but the one I still use the most is, "the faster you go, the behinder you get." To your children when they misbehave, "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it." And if you really love pork, it's the whole animal that goes on the spit, which is so delish that nothing will be left "from he rooter to the tooter." Shall I stop now...?

We need to get busy inventing some sailing slang. I'll ask my Aussie colleagues to put their minds to it. My guess is there are a lot of good ones already fully developed.

BobJ
08-10-2017, 09:23 PM
Drake's Bay races this weekend make me as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine!

Gamayun
08-10-2017, 09:37 PM
Drake's Bay races this weekend make me as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine!

You ain't right.

Wylieguy
08-10-2017, 11:30 PM
Back to serious projects! Mine is keeping the @#&%$ (or whatever an Aussie would say) Tides Marine track hooked into the clips on the mast. Gordie and have had the mast out 3 times and I'm still pulling track off at the bottom batten. But then Wyliecats are weird I suppose. %@?&+ it all!

cpt_757
08-11-2017, 06:41 AM
The consensus over the years leans against single-line reefing. One recent exception is the single-line reefing setup on the J/88 - maybe you can find one to look at. I like getting the luff set up tight and then grinding in the clew reef separately.

If you lead the reefing lines down and aft, make sure the gooseneck can handle the odd loads. Mine couldn't and I had to go back to using the hooks for the tack reef. If there's a good-sized vertical bolt attaching the gooseneck to the mast lugs, you should be able to find a hook assembly for it. Or Svendsen's Metal Shop can make you one.

Thank you so much,

cpt_757
08-11-2017, 06:45 AM
Yep. And I'd say if your boat isn't already set up with halyard and reef lines going to the cockpit, don't bother, just do it all at the mast. I went to the trouble of installing all the hardware needed for single line reefing to the cockpit, and then regretted it. Tons of friction and lots of swear words and still needed to get on the cabin top to help crank in the clew end anyway. But!

Then I "invented" a new technique using the topping lift and now I love it! Of course, this is probably how most people do it and I'm just slow to the game. Obviously only works if you have a topping lift and no rigid vang.
1: release the vang
2: drop the halyard some, but not all the way, so the reef cringle on the luff is still clear of the boom, gooseneck, etc. The reef line tends to foul on stuff if the cringle is all the way down.
3: pull the topping lift so the boom comes up to meet the reef cringle on the leech. Pull in the slack on the reef line -- easy peasy! Waaay less friction. Tie/clutch it off.
4: release the topping lift
5: drop the halyard the rest of the way and pull in the remaining slack
6: vang on

You'd think that during step 5 the clew end would quickly take any slack and ruin your nice tight reef, but for whatever reason this either hasn't happened or results in just a couple inches that need to be cranked back in. The whole process has made my 1st reef process go from about 5 minutes to less than 1. 2nd reef is also easier using the same process, but a little uglier since the lines and cheek blocks tend to foul with the sail folds from the 1st reef.
If I could go back in time put the effort and money toward other projects, however, I would. Reefing at the mast isn't so bad.

All that has added to my project list: modify mainsail so the bottom slides are on a loose line (whatever the proper term for that setup is), not stitched hard against the luff rope. Got a nice little tear cranking the luff cringle down toward the cheek block on the boom, instead of to the reef hook that it was designed for.

The rest of my own project list is very croozer related. I'll spare everyone the horror.
Thank you, friction bothers me, too.
I will try,
Like from BobJ's post suggested, I will stay with slab.

Steevee
08-11-2017, 09:25 AM
I know there's been talk among some about not bringing a spinnaker. One of the first projects I will undertake when I get home is setting my boat up for easy spinnaker handling.
My passage to Kauai this year was fraught with light wind. I had no spinnaker. Although we were just cruising to Hawaii, I was still.kicking myself for not bringing one. I discovered that light to no wind on an ocean crossing is more terrifying than a gale...at least for me.

AlanH
08-11-2017, 01:04 PM
I know there's been talk among some about not bringing a spinnaker. One of the first projects I will undertake when I get home is setting my boat up for easy spinnaker handling.
My passage to Kauai this year was fraught with light wind. I had no spinnaker. Although we were just cruising to Hawaii, I was still.kicking myself for not bringing one. I discovered that light to no wind on an ocean crossing is more terrifying than a gale...at least for me.

That's for Carliane's boat, Kyntanna. Kyntanna is a Freedom 38...an "almost catboat". Look up pictures online. There is a foretriangle for a headssail, but it's a dinky little thing and the hoist only goes halfway up the mast. Well....3/5ths of the way. Using her standard halyards and so on, she'll get a spinnaker fit for a 28 foot boat, on her 38 foot cruiser. I kind of don't think that makes a lot of sense, but that's just me.

Philpott
08-11-2017, 02:20 PM
Drake's Bay races this weekend make me as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine!

No no no. It's "happy as a pig in mud". City slicker.

Steevee
08-11-2017, 08:58 PM
That's for Carliane's boat, Kyntanna. Kyntanna is a Freedom 38...an "almost catboat". Look up pictures online. There is a foretriangle for a headssail, but it's a dinky little thing and the hoist only goes halfway up the mast. Well....3/5ths of the way. Using her standard halyards and so on, she'll get a spinnaker fit for a 28 foot boat, on her 38 foot cruiser. I kind of don't think that makes a lot of sense, but that's just me.

Got it.

Gamayun
08-11-2017, 11:08 PM
Back to serious projects! Mine is keeping the @#&%$ (or whatever an Aussie would say) Tides Marine track hooked into the clips on the mast. Gordie and have had the mast out 3 times and I'm still pulling track off at the bottom batten. But then Wyliecats are weird I suppose. %@?&+ it all!

I have a Tides Marine track, too, and the first night out on the LongPac I went to reef, but the thing pulls all the way down to the boom. What's the worse that can happen, I said, and kept on sailing. The next morning, I needed to unreef and figured that as the halyard tensions up, the track will rise with it. No go. And that big pouch in the sail is messing with my racer mentality, so I did what any self respecting sailor would do...got the crow bar and hammer out (ask Michael Jefferson - they're my favorite tools). That @#&%$ track still never fully went all the way back up until I was back in the estuary 3 1/2 days later and could really pound on it. Thanks for reminding me to put this on the list. I had burnished it from my memory till now!

JohnS
08-14-2017, 10:07 AM
I have a Tides Marine track, too, and the first night out on the LongPac I went to reef, but the thing pulls all the way down to the boom. What's the worse that can happen, I said, and kept on sailing. The next morning, I needed to unreef and figured that as the halyard tensions up, the track will rise with it. No go. And that big pouch in the sail is messing with my racer mentality, so I did what any self respecting sailor would do...got the crow bar and hammer out (ask Michael Jefferson - they're my favorite tools). That @#&%$ track still never fully went all the way back up until I was back in the estuary 3 1/2 days later and could really pound on it. Thanks for reminding me to put this on the list. I had burnished it from my memory till now!

What variety of hammer was employed? Everything works better (crowbars, drift pins, screw drivers, wrenches) with a 3 lb drilling hammer.

Gamayun
08-14-2017, 12:17 PM
What variety of hammer was employed? Everything works better (crowbars, drift pins, screw drivers, wrenches) with a 3 lb drilling hammer.

It's quite a small hammer actually. I also have a sledgehammer (what I believe you're calling a drilling hammer) for when I'm really frustrated, which I was after this weekend's sail to Drakes Bay. The @#&%$ track slipped again right off the bat and conditions were too big to go pounding on it though in hindsight I really should have tried because it created a huge pooch in the sail when I wasn't reefed. This meant I couldn't point well, which in a Freedom is already a problem, and it was just a huge bash all the way up there. So now this item and fixing the reef lines have moved up to the top spots on my list...getting a back up navigation system has also moved up in priority, too, after navigating Drakes Bay in the dark with chart alone.

Wylieguy
08-14-2017, 09:06 PM
My problem isn't the track sliding down. There's a large bolt holding it in place at the top that also serves as the sail stop (the bottom is loose so it can flex when the unsupported Wylie carbon mast bends off to leeward in a blow - 3 feet or more - which bends the mast, shortening the track distance - like belly wrinkles when us older slightly overweight guys bend over). The problem is the track "jumps" off the clips where the battens land against the mast. Creates a "pooch" in the track which I can sort of smooth out by over trimming the dowhhaul - the tack "floats" so the downhaul is the Cunningham. I'll put more clips where the bottom batten lands, creating an almost solid "clip" for the track to slide onto. Since the mast flexes the track needs to move up and down. Sort of complicated to describe to the "shroud crowd."

I had a real hammer on my Newport 30 - came with the boat. I never figured out why. But it sat in the tool drawer rusting away for as long as I owned the boat. Didn't help me go faster! --Pat ;-)

JohnS
08-14-2017, 09:39 PM
All kidding about the improved function of wrenches and screwdrivers aside, the drilling hammer (mini-sledge) is much more persuasive for things like moving stuck roll pins and other suck ilk. Or more aptly for us in the "shroud crowd" punching clevis pins out of chain plates in the unfortunate event that such surgery should become necessary. With the much larger mass of the drilling hammer you need not wail at the object of your affection with reckless abandon, so your efforts are likely to be more accurate. Plus, the mini-sledge has a much larger face so improved odds of making actual contact. If you ever have a chance to work on some recalcitrant pins in a shop setting, try it with a 16 oz claw hammer (what most of us envision when someone says "hammer") and then with the drilling hammer. It's an interesting experiment.

As for making you go faster, you need to relocate said hammer from the drawer to the bottom of the bilge.

John (who is now possessed of a strong urge to have an up close look at a Wyliecat 30 mast)

Wylieguy
08-14-2017, 11:53 PM
John, Come sailing. Sausalito YC beer canner, Tuesday, Aug. 22.
Leave the berth around 5:45 pm. Pat <broderic at sonic dot net>