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Old 10-01-2004, 05:51 AM   #1
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Hi.. I think my old username got deleted or something.. I had to reregister..

Hard Knots is still in Tempe..

The night I was supposed to leave my friend's boss threatened to fire him if he took that weekend off to transport HK to California for the voyage.. our backup plans fell through also. The voyage has been postponed until the third week of march.. Below is some other news.

Replacing OLGA: the home built self steering vane with a Cape Horn factory one.. I noticed during the monsoons her that the hardwood booms I had OLGA's drum mounted to were creaking and twisting just slightly. Modifications were drawn up involving cables and a little rolling trestle to sit below her drum, but I thought she'd look utterly ridiculous with all of this.

ADDING C.A.R.D. I lieu of the fact that I still can't afford radar, I've deiced to add a Collision Avoidance Radar Detector or C.A.R.D.

Masthead: The mast fell on me when I was destepping it..hitting the pavement below the boat the masthead forks that attach to the backstay and where two pulleys are located, was bent slightly. I was going to try and beat it out gently with a mallet as it doesn't look cracked but have been warned against this.. I'm looking to have the part remade now or at least to see if a machine shop could fix it. Any advice would be helpful in this matter.

Mainsail. The original mainsail had reefing points put into it by the only sailmaker I could find in the Phoenix area.. I paid this man 275, which was more than he wanted, because he initially refused to do the work as he was supposed to go back to Nebraska on vacation and said he didn't have time. The reinforced dacron triangular patches I had him zigzag sew to the main at the leach were placed too low or their counterparts at the luff. I was absolutely furious as I hoisted the mainsail and reefed the sail and saw the the boom hung way too low and rendered the boomvang virtually useless!!! I'm sending them to my real sailmaker who lives in Hampton, Virginia to see if he can fix this or make me a new sail..

Other than that.. I'm back at work. saving my money.. trying to get these final projects completed.

-Robin Scott Johnson

Hard Knots.
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Old 10-01-2004, 09:45 AM   #2
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Sorry to hear you've had to postpone your trip, hope things go better.

I worry about the damage to your mast, and hope that you find someone who can be sure that the impact and bending hasn't compromised the strength of the metal.

Sailmaker errors - amazing how many they make, how expensive it can be. We've had a genoa and a main ruined by bad (or perhaps careless) "sailmakers". My sympathy.

We liked our C.A.R.D. We bought one of the first ones, upgraded it when they came out with a better model, fried that one when lightning hit our mast, and got a replacement sent to us in Malaysia quickly! We have had very good experience with the unit and the company. We have never had radar, and though the C.A.R.D. is not a substitute for radar, it is, in my opinion, a worthwhile aid to navigation. Just remember that for it to be effective, ships need to have their radar on - and many of them do not.

Thank you for keeping us updated.

Fair winds,

Jeanne
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Old 11-27-2004, 03:59 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by name='Converted Post'
Originally posted by Robinsvoyage

The original mainsail had reefing points put into it. The reinforced dacron triangular patches I had him zigzag sew to the main at the leach were placed too low or their counterparts at the luff.-Robin Scott Johnson Hard Knots.
All is not lost. Instead of moving the reefing points at either luff or leach, consider a modified syste,. Use the existing leach point as is. Modify the luff points by securing a webbing strap through the reef point, and end it with a stainless ring. Then when you come to reef, you place the stainless ring onto the reefing horns instead of the existing luff point. You can modify the position easily by the length of webbing you add. And you will also find that the reefing is a lot easier. However, make sure that you alternate the exit of the webbing , so that at reef point one, the exit is for example to starboard, whereas at reef point 2, the exit should be to port.

Hope you understand what I am trying to explain.
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Old 12-24-2004, 06:39 AM   #4
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Winters said the "cloth butcher" (as they put it) ruined my exisiting main and I had them make me a new one... so I guess it's a moot point.. it'll have two reefing points and be a lot stronger than the original..

The voyage is now scheduled for the third week of March.. Almost everything is going as planned.

-Robin
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Old 01-28-2005, 12:28 PM   #5
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UPDATE 27/1/05

OK. vOYAGE STILL GREEN FOR 19 MARCH 2005.

However...

My friend Brian Call, who has done excellent work on his former vessel, Hard Knots, in preparation for her longest voyage to Hawaii, has informed me that he may not be able to finish the redesigned self-steering vane in time. I've decided to go with a Raymarine St1000 autohelm instead which I bought from Pyachts out of Maryland.

[^] I've given my notice to my employer, who suggested instead I go on terminal leave, in case things don't work out again.

Also, Hard Knots has a new mainsail, crafted by Neil Pride and finished by Winters Sailmakers Ltd, Hampton, Virginia. Brett Winters also touched up my old main to make it a more suitable backup.

The website http://members.cox.net/newport20centre will drastically changed soon. This site will focus generally on the Newport 20, and a Hard Knox Annex will be added with a direct link from the original sight. I hope to be finished on Tuesday 1 Feb 05 with this project.

-Robin[?]
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Old 02-10-2005, 02:05 PM   #6
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UPDATE: 10 FEB 05

Still on schedule for 19 March departure from Long Beach, California. Just installed ST1000 Autohelm aboard Hard Knots and received new NIMA charts for voyage. I'm posting a message in Cruiser Discussion forum about charts as they've changed.

-Robin
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Old 03-09-2005, 07:36 AM   #7
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Hard Knots is in Apache Junction, Arizona.. but in two weeks will hit the ocean at Long Beach, sailing with two crew to Avalon Harbor, and then singlehanded to Honolulu.

-Robin
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Old 04-08-2005, 09:19 AM   #8
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Hard Knots is comfortably sitting 26 miles from her starting point in Long Beach, moored in the very expensive Avalon Harbour. She will still be sailing to Hawaii. A 40 foot yawl called Peridida may sail in her wake when the time comes.

-Robin
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Old 05-30-2005, 12:58 PM   #9
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Long Beach, California

Avalon, California

Newport Beach, California

Tempe, Arizona

Hard Knots retired.
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