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Wow, is that in SAIL already? Cool. Thanks, Dan.
The Ketch Autant was a classic beauty I found forlorn and for sale on the
Miami River around 1975. Designed by William Hand and built in 1927 of
double diagonal strip planking, her hull was over 2″ thick and very strong.
Her stout gaff main and mizzen and self-tending jib allowed for fairly easy
handling by a lone sailor, which was just as well because Autant had no
engine in her. She also had no electrical system, no plumbing, no winches,
or other modern conveniences. She was all kerosene lamps, block-&-tackle,
and muscle. A simple sailboat with character, she measured 36′ on deck;
about 42′ overall. I lived aboard and cruised the Florida Keys and the
Bahamas with her for 2-1/2 years.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Ken,
The “forward edge of the pulpit line” isn’t necessarily perpendicular to the
boat’s fore & aft plane. A right-handed person will normally stand a little
further forward on the port side of the main mast (where the staysail or
spinnaker halyard winch is) than on the starboard (where the main halyard
winch is). Go try it – stand on both sides of the mast exactly where you’d
want to be to crank the winch – and you’ll see what I mean. The pulpits are
best positioned for that variance, with the port rail several inches further
forward.So, for your purposes, I’d measure from the foremost foot of the port rail.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Blunt? And here I thought I was being tactful.
🙂
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A lot of these boats cruise without any modification to the forepeak
shelves, Ken, but if you’re going to strengthen that known weak point, you
might as well do it right. IMHO, a couple of lag bolts thru the chain locker
bulkhead aren’t going to accomplish anything. Make the shelves and the
bulkheads at their fore and aft ends one single rock-solid unit so that
nothing can move and nothing can separate them short of complete
annihilation. Then you’ve done something useful up there.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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My shelf brackets have been enough so far, Rich, but I ease off when the boat starts bashing too hard; slowing down, falling off, whatever makes sense.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I’d be surprised if generic L-brackets would work in this application. The shelves do not meet the bulkheads at right angles, so the fit requires an odd shape. Here are a few photos of what I made.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I heeded Rich’s advice on this years ago, before I took Silverheels
cruising. I fabricated asymmetrical stainless steel L-brackets and
thru-bolted them to the forepeak shelf ends and adjacent bulkheads, fore &
aft. The shelves are tabbed to the hull and, as long as that tabbing holds,
they serve as reinforcing stringers up there. The brackets I added
effectively prevent the shelves from “working,” as in starting to move in
rough conditions, which otherwise might eventually break that tabbing. Once
that goes, the hull is free to flex even more and can bust loose from other
attachment points. I’m guessing this is what happened to Rich.Anyway, that’s my Theory of 424 Hull Reinforcement. So far, so good.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Wow, I haven’t heard about carrying thick plywood portlight covers in
decades. It was one of the old salty-dog tricks we used to parrot in the
70’s. I think I actually made a set once. Sure, if you’re setting out to
round Cape Horn you might do that and a lot of other things, but then again
you wouldn’t be going in a Pearson (I hope). This side of The Cape, I don’t
believe I’ve ever heard of a boat’s portlights being punched out by a wave.
I’m not talking about big, motor-sailer windows, but portlights and
portholes, plastic or otherwise. I ain’t sayin’ it can’t happen. I’ve just
never heard of it happening.To paraphrase Meher Baba, “Don’t worry, go sailing.”
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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I’m sure I have some notes somewhere about the hull thickness of my boat at
several locations where I was able to measure it, including the 18 original
thru-hulls (now reduced to 9), one side of the deep sump (where I installed
a garboard drain plug), and so on. Overall, my 424 hull lay-up is
considerably thinner than I’d like it to be for ocean sailing, but that’s
not surprising considering the relatively light displacement of these boats.
Pearson wasn’t trying to build an ice-breaker, or even a blue water voyager.
I think they were intended for weekends at Block Island, a little club
racing, and an annual family cruise Down East. The original anchor well on
the foredeck alone is proof the builder wasn’t thinking about the 424 going
world cruising. Still, the boats do voyage and cross oceans. My approach is
to go for it and worry about hull thickness later. It has proven to be thick
enough so far.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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A perfectly valid opinion, John, and you may well be right. Still, “if it
were me,” I’d give it a shot. Actually, when it was me, I did. The one time
I bought boat insurance I buried the agency in resumes, credentials,
magazine articles and a squeaky clean record until they must’ve thought I
was Robin Knox Johnson incognito. As a result I not only got a rock-bottom
rate, but also single-hander coverage for the US East Coast, the Caribbean,
the Atlantic (US to Europe), and the Mediterranean. I won’t tell you what I
paid – it would break your heart – but it was quite reasonable. Of course,
they still made their money on me since I never made a claim in the 6 years
they insured me.All this is to say, in the words of Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can
or you can’t, you’re right.”🙂
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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There is actually a good deal you can do for your boat and yourself when a
hurricane is approaching. I recently came across a pretty good article on it
at http://www.dhlyman.com/DHLyman.com/Hurricane_Preparation.html .If I wanted to press an insurance company or agent for less expensive
coverage, I’d present them with this article (to verify that I actually know
what to do, which they most likely do not), assure them I will do everything
it recommends, and ask them to adjust my premium accordingly since I am
obviously at a much lower risk for losing my boat to a storm. If one company
or broker won’t respond to this, I’d present it to others until someone
does.Yes, I’m just an uninsured vagabond dreamer & all, but if I were on the
other side of the negotiation, i.e., that agent or underwriter, I’d be
impressed.Just a thought from the other side.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Thanks for showing that to me, Quent. An interesting watercraft.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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That’s a nice dink, Bob. In some places tooling around in a sailing dinghy
can be exceptionally fun, a quiet, civilized way to go boat-seeing,
bird-watching and simply gunk-holing. Maybe you just haven’t hung out in
those places yet. Plus it sharpens your sailing skills. Nothing more direct
than a sheet in one hand and a tiller in the other. I miss it.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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I’ll have to find something more local, Quent. There’s a small fleet of
assorted sailing dinghies that appear here (in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou) every
Sunday, some from the boats anchored here, some local expats. That’s what
set me off on this quest, seeing all these midgets slip-sliding through the
fleet, heaving-to for a chat, vanishing into the mangrove lagoon and
reappearing with a fresh mutton snapper for lunch, and generally having a
good old time. I want one!Quote:
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Yep, you went and made her too pretty; gained a gem, but lost a sailboat.
Hopefully, one of these days you’ll take her out and scratch her up.Beautiful restoration, though.
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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