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Hamilton Marine in Maine has stainless handrails. They are nice but spendy. We used a couple for a roof rack on Harvey, our stealth RV.
QuentI agree with Lee, the eyebrow is a PITA. I removed ours. Was going to use tape instead but I think boat looks fine without it.
QDid not use original holes but covered most of them. Used 1″ ss tubing and fittings I got from new found metals. Since the fittings were on sale and the tubing was salvaged, it wasn’t an expensive project. None of the commercially available teak rails that I could find match the originals.
Before I went to stainless, I did replace them with teak rails from Defender with a teak strip to cover the old holes. Just got tired of sanding teak. Both sets in garage if anyone wants them.
Clairebuoyant is hauled for a bottom job, down to the blister repair job we did 10 years ago. Pleased to see that bottom is still in great shape. Ten year old topside paint pretty as new after compound and wax. Will probably have decks done next.
QuentThatcher:
Thirty year old boat. Many factory options. Many aftermarket possibilities. Give us a hint.
QuentThat’s brilliant, Tor! Can I have your permission to copy one for myself, or do I have to wait until West Marine starts selling them for $250?
QuentI’d say stay with what you’ve got. 3/8 is about 50% heavier than 5/16. Don’t know how much more wind it takes to pull the catanary out of heavier chain, or if 50% more scope possible for the same weight would be a bigger difference. Bigger chain means replacing the windlass, bigger anchor doesn’t.
I’ve never dragged the 60#Manson, never broke the 5/16 chain.
QuentHi Tor
I think you touch on an interesting point. Given that you can carry just so much weight in the bow, should it be in the anchor, or in the chain?
My own view, given the almost ideal anchoring conditions at Chesapeake Bay, is use as big anchor as possible and lighter chain. In these soft bottoms, fluke area is critical to holding. OTOH, light chain more quickly loses elastic effect caused by gravity. Nylon snubbers help, but there still could be considerable stress all the way to the anchor in difficut conditions. Still I’d rather have the heavy part stuck in the bottom.
What’s your take on this given your years of experience?
QuentSome of my favorite memories in Clairebuoyant were the nights charging along with a fresh breeze and a following sea and overcast sky. Sailing with blind faith and dumb luck that there were no hard objects in our path.
Coming off the back of a swell and landing in the hole in front of it, the P-424 would land softly and rise to the next swell whereas more modern boats of similar size would violently slam their relatively flat bottoms into the water wave after wave.
Maybe they are built to take that, but it sure makes for a long night. If that’s what it takes to go a little faster, I’ll stick with the ‘424.
QuentWe have a 60# Manson and about 230 feet of 5/16 chain. Also carried a 55# Delta with 30 feet 5/16 and 200 feet of 5/8 nylon. The Delta was too much weight and over kill. Now in the garage, for sale. The Manson don’t drag.
Don’t hobby horse too much but the rib and 15hp outboard is causing us to raise the waterline out back…
QuentSome of us, too lazy to actually navigate, have chart plotters. Give both SOG and speed through the water, the smart little bugger actually figures out set and drift.
QuentHey Tor,
Other forum is general chit chat on this web site. He asked how P-424 ketch sailed. I guess you answered that.
On the 424, not so much, but I did occasionally see 10 kts on a prior boat. A Hunter 33, all it took was a broad reach, about 18-20 kts of wind, a 2 foot following sea, and about a half turn clockwise on the magic screw on the back of the knotmeter.
QWell done, Tor. And beautifully expressed. I guess that answers Risto’s question on the other forum.
QHello Risto-
Not sure I can answer all your questions, but I’ll try and maybe some others will fill in. The P-424 is a comfortable cruiser that some have used to sail across oceans. Not sure that I’d pick it to go to the high latitudes, or around the world, but if properly prepared, certainly adequate to go to the Caribbean.
The clawing off a lee shore might be a good reason to keep the diesel in good condition.
Clairebuoyant is a 1981 sloop rig. These early version sloops were the ketch rig with the taller option mast, and the mizzen deleted. Later sloops and cutters had the mast a couple feet further aft. I’ve not sailed the ketch but sloop sails pretty well for a cruising boat esp. since we extended the boom to add sail area.
We have the forward companionway which we modified by installing a large Bomar hatch in place of the slider. Mostly we use it for ventilation, In cold weather we can close doors and isolate the center cabin, Don’t have AC but probably could do the same in hot weather.
You didn’t say where you are. Clairebuoyant is in Annapolis MD. We are a few years ahead of you. Beginning to see that there might be a trawler in our future.
Quent
S/V Clairebuoyant, #132
