Lil' Maggie gets some new hardware!

[Lil Maggie]

And so begins my third year of ownership of Lil' Maggie, and, based on the poor performance of the old (original equipment) jib and mainsheet cleats, it came time for a replacement...first the old:




and now , the new:




I used the original mounts for the old clam cleats...took the cutting wheel/grinder to them, then drilled, sanded and polished (some) and installed Schaefer clam cleats and a Harken 40 series sheave with a stand-up spring...no more floppy sheaves. I really wanted a hexa-ratchet but couldn't find one in "Harken classic" schwag....I'm not too keen on the look of the new carbo-sheaves.

Also on the upgrade, say good bye to wire-rope/line halyards and say hello to New England Ropes, 1/4" double braid, I did my own splices and recycled the old shackles after almost getting a heart-attack when I saw the price of the new stuff; oh! and a new 5/16" mainsheet too!...all in all, and a couple hundred bucks later I think I'm done with the "boat" improvements for now (still pending a new rudder foil). Next (and I already have the stuff to do it) is replacing the trailer axle..I re-did my bearings this spring and found that the spindles were pitted wit rust, especially around where the bearing seal makes contact...plus the old axle was a C-channel, not fully boxed...just waiting for that NY minute to do it...well that's all for now... I'll post more pictures of the axle job when it's done
Cheers
Mike


This was taken Memorial day before our first trip of the 2014 season:

[Swashbuckley]

Nice!

[rnlivingston]

I did a similar thing with the cams for the jib sheets on my Daysailer 2444. After trying out this arrangement, we found the angle of the jib sheets coming off the pulleys mounted on the coaming was too high and the line wasn't staying cleated in high winds. We solved this problem by mounting a fairlead on each thwart about 10 inches from the centerboard trunk. Running the sheet line down to this fairlead and up to the cam cleats gave us the perfect angle.

[GreenLake]

Mine are staying cleated with less of an angle (but what do I know about high winds). I've read about and thought about the various arrangements and come to the conclusion that I'm not a fan of captive sheets - I prefer being able to take the former lazy sheet "with me" as I cross; which means that I'll want the cleat accessible from the top, which would be prevented by a fairlead. Downside is that when I do want to adjust from the high side, a helping foot is needed. I've added ratchets to my jib track cars to see whether that would increase the range that I can keep the jib sheet in hand.

For the mainsheet, I've sailed on boats that have the Harken Hexaratchet. I still have the original swivel block, but use a ratchet on the boom. Works well for me. I prefer the Ronstan Autoratchets (55mm) and I use them in the "auto" setting, where the ratchet engages if the tension exceeds a threshold. Wind strengths fluctuate quite a bit here, and often just around the range where one would disengage the ratchet for the light airs and have to reengage them a few minutes later as the wind picks up.

[Lil Maggie]

Good point on the jib sheet angle...I looked and looked at it when making the change and decided to mount them opposite from the original cleats, meaning, facing the high side of the bracket toward the sheave, otherwise it would have needed fairleads on the thwarts, OR just leave the old ones on the bracket...which I did not.

The mainsheet mod was a lot trickier than I thought...I ended up buying three different shackles before finally getting the correct one for that Harken sheave to work...Now I personally can handle the main sheet even with the old sheave..it's my "first mate" (the Mrs.) that can't, so even if she's driving I have to handle both sheets for her...but the bottom line is that my original main sheet cleats had a groove burnt into both clams, so when I replaced the old main sheet it was slipping right through. I picked the Schaefer cleats because they have more aggressive jaws to them (and they were a few cents cheaper). I fell in love with the hexaratchets when in My teens when I used to sail Lasers...I wish I had known about the Ronstan ratchets.

Well, moving on, today I used my father's day card for catching up with "projects", one being replacing the old axle on Lil' Maggie's trailer...I was shocked at how little metal was holding those to the trailer: ONE U-bolt per side!!! (plus rust). Anyway, the new axle from Trailerpartsdepot.com came with pre-drilled holes for the spring nipples, except they were on the WRONG SIDE!...had I used those holes the wheels would have had a toe-out to them, because of the axle camber...no problem! Flip to the proper side and measure/drill new holes...done! The rest went smooth as a brand new pre-greased pair of hubs! Pictures coming soon!
M

[GreenLake]

Not too late to add a ratchet. You don't have to have the ratchet in the block at the base of the swivel, just replace the next block in line (the one right above, hanging from the boom) and you are in business. For even higher winds you can replace any other blocks over which your mainsheet runs with ratchets. I know that K.C. mentioned that he uses two. I went with one and found it serves my needs.

The one complication is that people new to the boat, but otherwise with some sailing experience don't realize it's a ratchet and will rig the sheet going the wrong way

I used to take mainsail and mainsheet off the boom when I got the boat. I don't do that any more - and that means I don't have to worry about things like that, unless for some reason somebody unreeves and rereeves the sheet.

How much did that axle set you back? Just curious.

[Lil Maggie]

GL, I think the whole thing (axle, hubs and axle tie kit) was something like 190 bucks delivered to my doorstep. The axle itself was $80.00.

[Lil Maggie]

Finally loaded some pictures of the new and the old trailer axle:

[Lil Maggie]

Updating the new hardware post: the jib cleats work perfectly! mounting the cleats sloping upward toward the jib tracks seemed to do the trick...while solo-sailing today in winds from 5-12 kts I was able to easily trim the jib (and the mainsail as well) on either tack...I almost wish the old stock piece of stainless I mounted the mainsail cleat was further away from the sheave, but it works! BTW, I am "stationed" on Long Lake (Harrison, ME) for the month of July...at least on weekends...perfect day sailing today (just saying)