Quarantine Projects - Hull #37

[GreenLake]

Don't worry, that's why we are here to help. Better discover this now than on the water.

[tomodda]

Health, bad weather, and actual paid work have been slowing me down in my project.. excuses, excuses. Anyway, some progress, I got my Console Tree shaped and sanded, and made my Centerboard Cap:

Cap and Tree

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Also mounted my mainsheet swivel cam/jammer:

Jammer

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The "hard part" of all this was driving screws from the top part of the cap into the top edge of side rails. I'm using Tigerwood, a tropical hardwood almost as hard as Ipé. So everything had to be measured thrice (with digital calipers) and cut and/or drilled VERY slowly to avoid breaking bits. But now that I'm past the fiddly part of this project, it's on to the fun stuff... installing hardware! Or, as my wife calls it, "boat jewelry. "

[GreenLake]

nice.

[lemsteraak]

I like how you have kept and modified the original cockpit coaming. I was going to remove the one on mine, it is not in good shape. I like the transition, has a nice old boat look to it and your new cap adds to the old time feel

- Rich

[GreenLake]

Coamings are not simply decorative. Even trimmed down, they add support to the side decks.

[tomodda]

Finally finished my Centerboard Cap, with all attached doo-dads and hardware. Lots of measuring twice, cutting 3-4 times, with copious cursing in-between! Some pics, as always please don't mind the mess.... boat's been sitting out all Spring with tons of vegetation falling into it at every rainstorm, not to mention the usual construction debris.... really needs a good hose-down and scrub. Anyhow:

Cap from Aft

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From the rear (left side) to front, I've got a cleat for the spinnaker halyard, the mainsheet swivel cam/jammer, cleats for the spinnaker sheets/guylines (depending on which tack), a tube-swivel cleat for the vang line, a tactical compass, and cleats for my jib sheets on the thwart. I'll admit that it's a lot and may be too cluttered, but I think it will work for ME. Keep in mind that I'm not racing and I'm usually sailing solo, so I wanted everything close at hand for where I usually sit, about 18" back from the cuddy. I'll also admit that there's no good reason for the tactical compass except that I saw it in an antique shop in that nice walnut box and just couldn't resist. It's got a cover for when I'm not using it (and I put a mayonnaise jar over the whole thing for when it's on the trailer):

CB Cap, compass covered

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Anyway, all the hardware is screwed and glued to a 3/4" plank which is itself screwed and glued to two "side rails'" which are then thru bolted to the top of the centerboard case. The bolt-holes are about an inch from the top of the case, don't interfere with the CB at all, but I'll have to put some caulk at each of the holes to avoid weeping (right now, the cap is just test-fit onto the case). Most of the time, I'll be sailing with main- and jib-sheets either in hand or cleated down (depending on wind speed/steadiness) and grabbing the vang-line as needed. So not too cluttered, I hope. On the other hand, with everything set, you wind up with this:

Testing the lines

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Which I admit is a bit much - from left to right it's jibsheet, compass, vang, port spinnaker sheet, star spinnaker sheet, mainsheet, spin halyard. But remember, when the spinnaker is set, the jib will be down, the vang will be pretty much full on and then not touched, ditto the spin halyard. I'll only be playing the spin sheets and the main, so hopefully will be manageable. I've also set up my turning blocks for the spinnaker sheets, which I'll show in the next post....

[GreenLake]

Very nice and I like that you are using the old-style cleats for this boat.

[lemsteraak]

Nice, I really like the tactical compass. It will be very useful if you sail in big waters. We used to take a heading when entering the fog so we would have a general idea where we would come out. All your old school hardware add a nice touch.

Could you measure how high your centerboard cap is above the sole? I'm looking at doing something similar.

- Rich

[tomodda]

Next Post:

Wanted to show my spinnaker sheet setup and would welcome any thoughts. Per suggestions on these forums, I'm leading my spin sheet/guy back to a turning block aft then forward to another turn about where I plan to sit:

Starboard (Spin Sheet)

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Port (Guy)

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These shots are from aft looking forward, you can't really see it but I've placed the forward deck blocks exactly one "Tom's-Butt Width" aft of the turn in the coaming. In other words, I've given myself space on deck to sit where I usually do. Yes, I know that I may have to scooch aft with more wind, but I can sit either aft of the deck block or with it between my legs. I can even sit ON the block (digging into my thigh), as it's only an inch high even with the pad I built under it. I'm more worried about sitting on the the guy line, as it runs along the deck - it gets held down to the deck somewhere near the side stay (details TBD), then aft to the turning block, then for'd to the deck block, then to the cleat on the CB Cap. I couldn't run it under the deck because of my side-tanks, I have a VERY early DS1. Of course, it won't matter if I'm sitting up on the deck, which I usually won't be on a run. I'm also wondering if I really want to run the sheet (as opposed to the guy) thru a cleat, I'll need to be constantly playing the sheet to maintain the curl, so may want to just hold it. We shall see, and the truth is will have to sail with the spinnaker a few times and test this all out, then make changes as needed.

Also, I don't know how much of this setup I will leave rigged when I'm not flying the 'chute vs how much extra setup work I want out on the water (getting ready to set the chute). I deliberately chose a turning block with no "back", so that I can just loop the sheet over it at "go time." Will it work or will my lines pop off the blocks at the wrong time? Well, as Caesar would say, we'll cross that Rubicon when we get there:

Turning Block

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'

Of course, as Caesar also would say Alea iacta est, the die is cast. In this case, the epoxy is cast, I've both screwed and epoxied these blocks to the decks, so moving them will be "interesting" but not impossible. Let's sail first....

Thanks for your patience in reading all this and please let me know any thoughts, cautions, or advice. Iv'e put a lot of thought and test-fitting into this setup, doesn't mean though that I won't be changing it as needed.

[GreenLake]

Nice setup. What I do with spinnaker lines is that I lead the tails all the way forward when not in use (in fact, I hook them behind the coaming). They are tensioned a bit, but out of the way. I do that the minute I'm not flying the spinnaker, that way, I only deal with the sheets in the cockpit when they are active.

[tomodda]

Hi GL and Rich!

Thank you for the compliments. Yes, the "old school" hardware is on purpose - it's a 1958 boat, I'm allowed my vanities, and I wanted to keep the hardware somewhat "period." As you know this hardware is not actually original, the originals were from Whale City Hardware. Anyway, the hardware that you see is the result of two years of scouring ebay, online sales, closeouts, recyclers (N&J Marine), and some antique store good luck. Believe it or not, except for the compass, it came out somewhat cheaper than new hardware. And it was fun to put together, which is what counts.

GL, yes, I'll definitely be taking the tails of the spin sheets out of the cleats and leading them forward when not using. I may take them out of the deck blocks as well, we shall see. I'm definitely going to need some sheet bags for all these tails, may even put one or two on the sides of the CB case. One step at a time...

Answering the question re: height of the CB case, from memory it's 14 inches at fore end, 13 inches aft. When we get a break in MONSOON we're getting this week, I'll go out and measure more precisely.

Tom

[GreenLake]

My thinking is that you'd never want any "rigging" on the water. The spin sheets are not in the way if the tails are secured. I've in fact managed (at times) to set sail with the spinnaker completely unrigged and had to climb all over the boat to set it up. However, that was more in the line of "it can be done". Nowadays, I rig it religiously, even if I'm fairly certain of not having a chance to actually using it. It's not just because in racing it would be stupid to focus time and attention on tasks that you can do beforehand, but also in "cruising". The downwind leg on a small lake may be short, and/or the wind conditions may not last.

[tomodda]

Yes, agreed, better to keep the chute as rigged and ready to go as possible. Just have to figure out how to do it, won't know till I've sailed a few times. My usual "cruise" is launch, tack upwind as far as I feel like going that day, and then "sled" home back downwind. As I've written before, I find running dead downwind to be quite boring, hope the spinnaker livens things up. We shall see

[GreenLake]

It should make it go faster, if nothing else, and keeping it trimmed should give you something to do

Our beer can races being cancelled, I'm now sailing a longer triangle on our lake; with local geography bending all the wind flows I now get a rather eclectic mix of point of sails. Last few times the long upwind leg was effectively a single tack close hauled, which made it, if not exactly boring, a lot less busy. . .

[tomodda]

@Rich:

Hey! It stopped raining around here for long enough for me to go measure my CB trunk. I was WRONG, what else is new? The CB is 12.5 inches from the bilge to the top of the case, front and back. Wow, did not realize that our centerboards are only a foot wide, but there you go....

Tom