Finally, the day has come

[haiqu]

Pete, You're right on both points. I hadn't considered the need to hold the main up while reefing. And that mount is indeed too flimsy for a sail.

Setting a flag on a forward-facing line didn't make sense but day shapes does. And the topping lift can double as a flag halyard, of course.

It's all beginning to make sense.

[Lexx]

Hiya Rob ... I think you will find once you get further down the track that the mainsheet halyard has its job just as the topping lift has its job.

Makes it way easier to flake the main on your boom if you have the topping lift in place, lazy jacks help lots as well if ever you get around to adding them.

Up to you Rob, your boat and its great watching you go through your journey.

Keep having fun with it.

Lexx

[haiqu]

It's taking a bit of effort to get some of this into my dense old scone but I'm getting there. Just looked up what a lazy jack does, seems useful.

You still in Port Douglas? I'll be visiting some friends up that way later in the year if things go right. In fact it's a small place (or was last time I was there) so you might know one of them, Jim Davies.

Rob

[Lexx]

Hi Rob,

Lazy Jacks sure make flaking a main sail along the boom easier. Reminds me I got to replace mine before my next trip.

Yep still in Port Douglas but might not be when you get here cause we are planning to sail round to Darwin and on to the northern Kimberly Islands , leaving either very late March or early April. After that who knows.

Nice part of the world up here,

Lex

[haiqu]

Yeah, I was thinking of getting there about July-August, best time of the year up north. Your trip sounds interesting, may even keep heading that direction and circumnavigate Australia.

[haiqu]

Pleased with myself today, I put in a silly low bid on an Icom M710 HF transceiver and won it. The unit has an issue with Pactor but everything else works fine, including ham frequencies. Looks like the PCM Kestrel will become the emergency backup.

The 150 watt IC-M710 was, until the release of the M802, the gold standard in marine HF radios. Some even prefer it since it's better made. Regardless they're still in production and I couldn't have wanted more for the price.

$424 plus shipping. RRP is $1699

[haiqu]

Removed the fiddle blocks on the mainsail today to replace a frayed rope. Imagine my horror to discover that the rollers had collapsed. And then to find out Ronstan have discontinued them!

Scoped out Google and found a guy in Qld who had advertised an RF1175 pre-Xmas and it didn't sell so I emailed him. He had both that and the corresponding RF1176 (with becket) which was also on its last legs, so we agreed on a price and they're coming. Whew!

[Lexx]

Rob, you coulda used different ones as long as they are similar they will work just as well ...

Lex

[haiqu]

Agreed, but I only redesign stuff when I consider myself an expert in the appropriate area of expertise. Finding the original part numbers if they ever break again will be someone else's problem, these ones lasted 35 years.

Turns out the guy I bought them from is a yacht designer, a useful contact.

[haiqu]

Have wondered how I'd get aboard again if I ever went swimming, either purposely or accidentally. Problem solved, I just won a stainless steel ladder off eBay for $52.00

Came off a timber 30'er and is 900mm long with big beefy brackets for mounting to the deck. Also pivots if you want to swing it aboard for storage or safety.

[Lexx]

Good one Rob ... its too late to think about getting back on board once you are in the water ... I have a home made rope ladder with steps always attached to the rail so I can grab the rope and pull it over the side....

This is a huge safety step so its great you have thought of it early. Its something that everyone should think of.

Lexx

[haiqu]

Yep. And for that price I couldn't even pay anyone to weld them up, so it's yet another "scrounger special."

Today I'm attacking the cupboards in the head, with a flame thrower. Sound like fun? The old varnish needs to come off so I can re-lacquer them.

[haiqu]

A few more pitchers for yaz.

1. Front window patches complete. Darned pretty now even if I do say so myself.
2. Starboard side window patch applied. This is the timber insertion technique already mentioned, Auzzee.
3. HF antenna attached and run down the backstay support wires. The ladder line effect was made using 100mm sections of electrical conduit and cable ties. Radio background noise is now really LOUD but nothing much to hear due to the limited channels available.

[haiqu]

Apparently the HF radio is working fine. Just picked up an announcement from RCC Australia on 6215kHz requesting ships to look out for a missing vessel.

[haiqu]

Bit of a weird day here. First disappointment was when I discovered all the recent repair work was ruined. The filler I've been using is indoor/outdoor but I guess that doesn't include 12 hours of torrential rain. It turned to mush, even after sanding and painting. So those beautiful repairs you've seen above will need to be redone.

The next item on the agenda was fitting the topping lift halyard. Got it up there fine, but the pulley is fitted east-west instead of north-south so I'll have to put that on the list of things for Pete to look at next time he's back in town. I've ordered a replacement of the original pulley so they can just be swapped over.

Then I decided to solve the mystery of why all my dome lights glow in the dark, even with the switches off. This only started after I replaced the incandescent globes with LEDs, and since these LEDs have been poor quality generally I though I'd discovered yet another fault in them. Disconnecting one wire proved that theory worng, they still glowed! Turns out the Taiwanese bleepards that built these light fittings put the switch in the negative line, allowing them to leak even when switched off. Rewiring all four fixed it, but that was a waste of an evening where I could have been doing something more productive.

I hate having to redo stuff, especially when I've already paid good money for a brand new product that's supposed to do the job. Do I have to make everything myself, even filler and light fittings?

[Lexx]

When I need filler I use Plasti Bond, use it like bog, its a two part ... hardens in a few minutes and dries tougher than anything except for epoxy. Waterproof as well and available at most hardware stores in different size lots. Been using it as a filler for years.

Tip use a block and some 80 paper on it just before it fully hardens and that will make it easier to finish as its hard as hell to sand once it has set fully ...like in about 10 minutes.

Lexx

[Auzzee]

Sounds like its been a bugger of a day.
One of the problems peculiar to boats is that they 'rack'. As a wave passes underneath, buoyancy changes along the length of the hull causing it to twist or rack. Unlike a motor car, there is no suspension and the structure must absorb these unequal stresses.

Indoor/outdoor filler, even two pack such as vehicle bog, is not designed for use over timber and will loosen and 'pop' quickly especially if the timber is not 100% dry and solid. Most hardware shop type fillers are also hydroscopic, meaning they will absorb water, and salt and will crumble into sludge sooner or later.

Filling alone is, from a structural viewpoint, potentially dangerous as it hides weak points which may fail spectacularly in a big sea when the boat is racking heavily. Where timber is the medium to be repaired it can be done two ways. It can be replaced, or the damage can be cleaned out (where dry rot has set in) stabilised, braced and filled.

Everdure is the best item to use, after cleaning out the bad stuff, for stabilising. Being a very thin 2 part resin, it wicks into the timber and makes it exceptionally strong, allows flexibility and creates a good key for marine epoxy fillers to be used with a brace such as triaxial fibre glass cloth. This cloth acts in a way similar to reinforcing rods in concrete. The epoxy should be applied so that when it is set, it remains below the surrounding surface of 'good' timber. Epoxy being plurry hard, makes sanding it back against timber almost impossible without removing more timber than epoxy. So, the final fairing' can be done using the epoxy mixed with fairing powder. This bonds well, is also flexible and can be worked like teak. A final sand with 400 grit and a coat of paint, and the repair will outlast the surrounding timbers.

There are many products which appear as though they should be just the ducks nuts for use on a boat. But, Bunnings chandlery is always false economy. Bathroom silicone, roof silicone and such are simply no good. Sika products although initially expensive will save you a fortune, Bunnings stainless is usually not 316 and no matter what you are told by an enthusiastic aisle expert, the only plywood to use on a boat is marine ply. Structural, exterior, form ply etc. use the wrong sort of timber entirely. This is the main reason why so many home built trimarans flew to bits in the 60s and 70s and left the style with such a poor rep.

There's no doubt re-doing work is a pain, but just think....you can have all the fun over again. And don't feel bad....every one reading this will have had a similar experience. One day, when my embarrassment is sufficiently faded, I will relate my major DIY galley goof of 20 odd years ago...But for the moment, the psychological scars are still far too fresh...
Cheers mate.

[Aquaria]

Originally Posted by Auzzee

...

There's no doubt re-doing work is a pain, but just think....you can have all the fun over again. And don't feel bad....every one reading this will have had a similar experience. One day, when my embarrassment is sufficiently faded, I will relate my major DIY galley goof of 20 odd years ago...But for the moment, the psychological scars are still far too fresh...
Cheers mate.

Ooohh yea, you are perfectly right.
I love reading this thread with all the warm thought coming up about the awful things I had to do to my boat over the last 20 or more years.

Cheers
Uwe
SY Aquaria

[delatbabel]

Another trick with epoxy fillers is to smooth them over with a wet soapy finger before they set. You'll find you can get a pretty smooth finish that way.

Go up the mast on the halyard on the east/west pulley, put an additional north/south pulley in place above or next to it, and leave the east/west one up there for a flag halyard or similar. You never know when you're going to need an extra block at the top of the mast.

I have a nice new bosun's chair. Did I mention to everyone here that my previous bosun's chair broke (webbing split) while I was half way up the mast? Interesting experience that was.

[pete_winning]

I'm home somewhere around the 7th if this swing doesn't run over and would be happy to help. I'll be home for about 5 weeks so get your list of mast jobs together and we'll try to knock them out in a day. Is a wind indicator on your list? The other option to turn the block through 90 degrees is to add a second shackle. You will lose an extra 30mm of height but I can't see this being a problem.

Cheers.