Woohoo! Mast is stepped, standing rigging is up! Still in a pretty rough state of tune, but i’ve left the tails long on the lanyards to allow easy adjustment. still much work to be done on the running rigging, though; i got in the main halyards, mainsheet, jib halyard, and running backstay tails before pretty much running out of line. Still have to make up the fores’l sheet, jib sheets, and tops’l lines (sheet, halyard, and tackline). A small snafu with the length of the forestay came up; i’ve changed a few things to compensate, and ditched the inner bobstay, which (given the diminutive scale) was probably entirely unneccesary anyways.
With everything else up and in place, the only thing that looks at first odd is the 3′ of unsupported topmast above the upper shrouds, but in practice, the tiny tops’l ought not to deflect it much. Just playing with the two runners and mainsheet, i’ve found i can easily pull the truck 6-8″ inches (loads for a 14′ mast) aft or to either side without much effort; this bodes well both for support against the forward/leeward pull of the jibstay/halyard, and for tuning “on the fly”.
The sailmaker is scheduled to take measurements this week! Yay!
September 13, 2005
stepped
September 9, 2005
sailing rattitude?
Paul M. and i got into a hotrod/custom motorcycle discussion a couple days back, and he ended up dropping off a pile of chopper mags here at the shop for me to look through. i’m into most anything that is simultaneously technical and creative/artistic, so cars/bikes/trucks have nearly as much appeal to my eye as boats. i got to thinking (and later talking) about so-called “rat-rods“, and the parallels to some (few) boats.
It seems these days that modern boats are thouroughly “bolt-together” and pre-fab. Does that “custom” piece of hardware from Harken really count? Classic and traditional boats have a bit more attitude, as more things are actually hand-crafted just for a specific application on a specific boat. Still, those who can typically afford such custom work certianly don’t care to see cobbled-together bits, no matter how functional.
In my eye, functional is beautiful. Take a look at this example, and this one here. Here we have a few uses of not-made-for-this-boat sails, and while neither example fits into what most folks think a set of sails is supposed to look like, both are great, beautiful examples of creative use of resources at hand.
No great hardware picture examples handy (anyone with one?), but i can certianly say that there’s a few creative uses of hardware on my new dinghy. i can afford “proper” hardware, but it’s so much more satisfying to see what one can come up with out of spare bits of bronze plate, stainless rod, etc, in a well-equipped shop. Hell, with a good supply of bronze, and nothing more than a tap & die, a hacksaw, and a few files, it’s amazing what you can come up with!
i see these “Loups” getting more and more use on modern boats. Shucks, anyone with a little skill and patience can pull off a similar thing, albeit in lower-load applications. Look at a lot of real salty traditional boats, and you’ll be hard pressed to find too many shackles; everything is a lashing or a seizing. A decent lashing in Spectra or Vectran smallstuff has got to be just as strong (or stronger) than a shackle, and certianly more flexible; don’t even get me started about weight! Most importantly, it’s not something you have to buy, but rather just sit down and do yourself.
i’d like to see more examples of “sailing rattitude”, fun little hotrod/cruiser/custom sailboats that rely on owner ingenuity, skill, and patience rather than just falling out of the pages of the West catalogue. i’d like to see more people actually out sailing, in whatever they can find, rather than agonizing over getting just the right hardware installed. One fellow in our boatyard has a natty little (twice, yet managed to sink over $5000 into it. Frankly, the boat was ready to head back across the pond when he got it, but i guess it just wasn’t ready enough for him.
i’m all for preparation and prudence on the water, but sometimes enough is enough, and you just have to throw down and get out there. i guess that’s what i admire about “rat rods”, with their primer paintjobs and minimal interiors, yet well-tuned mechanical systems, served up hot out of backyard garages; just doing what needs to be done, enjoying the hell outta it, and leaving off all the excess trappings.
o happy progress!
Really made progress on the dinghy these past couple days. It really got into gear whn we moved the boat inside the shop, taking advantage of all the new space we have after the monster clean-out of the last few weeks. Under cover, i could really get moving on the paint!
Yesterday morning, i put the last coat on the decks, and by that afternoon i’d finished off the the whole headrig (bowsprit, gammoning block, whiskerstays, and outer bobstay). Tensioned up, the bowsprit has a perfect(!) bowse to it; set static, the bowsprit angles up about 10 degrees, but is now cinched down a couple inches to nearly level. The resultant curve provides a signifigant amount of “preload”, which will further prevent upward deflection from the jibstay and forestay.
i made the whole headrig as beefy as appropriate for the scale; it’s really important rigging! Mindful of recent events with Pride II’s headrig, as well as past failures aboard the Lady and Elissa, i’ve overbuilt every part of the headrig.
i also got the horse installed on the afterdeck, as well as the ringbolts for the running backstay deck attachments. i started laying out my bag of shackles, sheaves, fairleads, and cleats on the decks, making sure i’d bought or built enough little bits. The self-tending fores’l may give me more trouble than i thought, but i’m sure i can work something out.
The lads around the shop are trying to get me to add a sole grate, but i’m not entirely convinced it would be worth the labour, expense, and weight; we’ll see. Otherwise, the list is down to: sails, shrouds, rudder install, final deck hardware installation, and… well, heck, i can’t recall what else, but there must be something left…
Oh, this is gonna be fun!
September 4, 2005
check off a “done” box
Oh happiness… The woodwork on the dinghy is done. All installed, planed, sanded, and liberally oiled. The two last small bits got completed yesterday. Now, i’ve been concentrating on the rigging. The forestay and jibstay are 90% done; 1/8″ 7×19 wire, with softeyes spliced around the mast at the top, and thimbles stuck in at the bottom. i dunked the eyes in boiled linseed oil, and served them with sailtwine, then dunked them again. i used sailtwine instead of marline to suite the scale of the diminutive eyes. Today i’m going to experiment with making up some slush for the wire; something like linseed, jap drier, and black paint.
The most time-consuming bits were the two small pieces that make up the deadeyes for the jibstay and outer bobstay. They’re asymetrical figure-eight wire grommets, served and oiled as the eyes. The larger of the two sides of each figure-eight fits over the end of the bowsprit, while the smaller holds a thimble to take the lanyards. i’d made grommets, both round and figure-eights, from three-strand rope before, but never from 7-strand wire; interesting work! They came together pretty well (that service nicely hides my “learning curve”), and look every bit stronger than everything else they attach to. Completed, they each fit in the palm of my hand, yet each took up a fathom of wire and three fathoms of service!
The only remaining piece of wire rigging is the outer bobstay, but i still need to scrounge up the right length of wire from the shop’s bins. The rest of the standing rigging will be (gasp!) utterly non-traditional; single-braid Vectran. The Vectran is both stronger and lighter than stainless wire (the weight issue is what decided it for me), and dead-simple to eyesplice. i’ll likely serve the Vectran eyes the same as the wire, but leave the lengths un-slushed; the Vectran is a pleasant dark grey in colour anyways, and i don’t know how it will react to painting/slushing.
Today i’m also priming the decks (again!) in hopes of getting that final coat of paint on them this week. i’m trying to source some Easypoxy “Sandtone” instead of “Bristol Beige”, which i feel will look a little better against the oiled wood and dark green hull.
