Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Rich,
I’m sure you know what’s best for your boat in her circumstances. Personally, I wouldn’t put the boat’s weight on the skeg in dry-dock, but if you’ve been doing it for a long time without causing a problem back there then maybe it’s OK.
I understand that ice forming inside a hose, having nowhere else to go, may burst its way out of the confined space and so break the hose. But water sitting in the bilge has all the room in the world to expand upward so there’s no pressure build-up, no reason for it to crack the keel or anything else. Think of making ice cubes in an ice tray. Same thing. You’d have to enclose the water with a covering stronger than the surrounding keel layup before the ice would even begin to bust out through the keel. Now, perhaps if water found its way between the fiberglass of the keel and an add-on filler in the sump (like concrete or whatever people use) and froze in there, then I suppose something would have to give. So if you’re going to fill up your sump, make sure it’s 100% waterproof!
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Rich,
I suspect the skipper’s body size is often a decisive criterion when judging the 424’s sump. I can (just barely) fit myself into the forward end of that space, scrunched down at an awkward angle on one knee, and can reach the after end of it with a handled brush. One of the first things I did when I bought my boat was to scrub, flush and re-scrub the entire space clean and then paint it bright white. To this day is remains clean, fresh, white and bone dry but for a half-inch of clear water that the pumps can’t get. If I ever do have a lot of seawater come into the boat, that’s where I want it contained until the pumps can deal with it.
Even if I couldn’t get myself down there at all, I’d still endeavor to keep it clean with a long-handled brush.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Jim,
I was going to build up the fiberglass inside my boat’s transom to carry the anticipated stress of the new windvane I’m mounting, but then realized that some other structures I built in there previously are already providing some structural support beyond what Pearson did originally. So for now I’ve settled for big backing plates for my windvane mounts. Unlike the Monitor, the Auto-Helm windvane I’m installing employs an independent rudder (with trimtab) bolted to the transom.
The mounting bracket for this rudder includes a pair of thru-bolted mount fittings on a horizontal plane a foot or so up from the transom’s bottom, and another pair around 18″ higher up. I made two full length backing plates, one for each of those pair of mounts, using 1/4″ aluminum plate 6″ x 27″ to spread the stress more evenly across the transom out to the areas already reinforced by the aforementioned structures. (No, I’m not an attorney, but “aforementioned” is a pretty cool word, isn’t it?) I bowed the plates with a hydraulic jack to match the transom’s camber. I figure I’ll sail with this for a while and keep an eye on it. I think it’ll be strong enough, but if there is ever a sign of stress or even notable flexing I can easily go back and lay up some roving in there to stiffen the area even more.
Regarding the forward oil-canning, I don’t quite follow your description, but here’s what I’m doing right now. I have just had 4 big, L-shaped parallelogram plates welded up to fit onto the fore and aft ends of the forepeak shelves, to be thru-bolted into the shelves and their adjacent bulkheads, making the whole a solidly connected structure. (Pearson merely screwed the shelf ends to the bulkheads with short wood screws. Oy!) These bolted plates are a stage one reinforcement up there. I recognize that at some point I’ll probably want to do the big grind and ‘glass build-up that we’ve discussed here in the past.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Alan,
The screws only fasten into the thin plywood facing there. It’s holding for now, but it isn’t strong enough to be permanent. When I get around to it, I’ll epoxy a broad, thick mounting block onto the plywood and screw the mount into that. It’ll spread the load and give the screws something solid to grab. Incidentally, there is enough hollow space behind that plywood to run the cables discretely down and back into the engine compartment, there to travel out of sight to their various destinations.
My radar is the cheapest little Furuno model available 2 years ago, the 1623. Cost around 1 boat unit (if you measure those as $1k each). I don’t expect to use it so much for navigation, although I will do that on occasion. Its main function here is to help stand watch on passages, especially single-handed passages, with its perimeter alarm. Hence the piezo buzzer I added to guarantee it’ll wake up a sleeping skipper on a boisterous night offshore whenever anything big comes within 5 or 6 miles.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Alan,
Photos attached. This swing bracket was on the boat when I bought her, but bore a Loran screen. I modified the mount to take the radar screen, adding the middle notch for a bunk-facing position.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Alan,
I’ve done that on Silver Heels. I included a mid-swing stop in the bracket so the radar screen can optionally face towards the captain’s berth across the cabin, allowing me to see what’s around without getting out of bed. Also a loud, external piezo beeper from Radio Shack to wake me up for sure when the perimeter alarm sounds. Will send photos & details later today.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
John,
Life in the slow lane. I guess I should have added that at first some butch female junior customs officer at that Athens airport said she’d have to quarantine my boat gear until the next day for “proper clearance” or some such nonsense. It would have meant missing my connecting flight to Lefkada Island, where my boat was dry-docked, plus some equivalent of your tedious, expensive, time-consuming experience in Portugal. Well, I happened to have a little dog with me, a 10-lb mutt I’d found starving on the streets of Seville ( http://www.tor.cc/articles/rosa.htm ) who wound up sailing with me when I headed into the Med. She was scampering around the airport terminal wagging and making friends with everyone, as was her way, as glad as I that the very long flight from JFK was over. About then the airport’s head customs honcho came over to see why this tourist was arguing with his bitchy junior agent. My dog, Rosa, ran up to him with such open friendliness that he automatically squatted down and began petting her. “Is this your dog,” he asked me. Oh, shit, I thought. Here we go. Yes, she’s my dog. He looked into the now open crate of boat gear, glanced at my papers, and asked, “Is everything in here for your boat?” Yes, it’s all for the boat. “OK,” he smiled, scratching Rosa behind her ear, “you’re clear to go. Welcome back to Greece.”
So, it could’ve been another frustrating tale of bureaucratic woes like yours, only that time I was saved by a dog.
I guess you’re right. There are obstacles to cruising bliss everywhere. Still, 45% is just plain extortion.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
It is a neat trick because it’s quick and easy to learn. I still teach it first thing to anyone who sails with me, although on any kind of passage I still rig Capt’n Tor’s Last Chance Trip Line (http://www.tor.cc/articles/last.htmhttp://www.tor.cc/atricles/last.htm). Yes, I believe you could heave-to this way with smaller sails in a blow for an emergency stop (though I haven’t tried it), but it’s not ideal for riding out heavy weather. For that it’s generally preferable that the bow face 40°-60° off the wind. The Tor Overboard maneuver tends to leave most boats beam on or quarter to the wind, at least in the moderate conditions I’ve used it and with a full genoa flying.
Again, a little experimentation with your own boat is the best way to find out what she’ll do.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Bob,
Many years ago I used to skipper charters, both bareboat and fully crewed, in the VI. Since the bareboat guests often possessed little experience on a sailboat that size, I taught them a neat little trick the very first hour of the very first day out sailing. I called it The Tor Overboard Drill – what to do if I fall off the boat while we’re sailing. Rather than trying to teach them the classic figure 8 pickup, which they’d never remember in an emergency, I taught them to heave-to instantly. All you do is turn the boat hard over as if you’re trying to tack, but DO NOT TOUCH ANY LINES. Just turn. When the jib/genoa backwinds, try to turn the boat back the other way, securing the helm hard over. This locks the boat, stops her nearly dead in the water with her beam or even her quarter to the wind. (This is not for heavy weather, but for fair weather only.) She’ll then drift very slowly back the way she came so that I could easily regain the vessel. I made several of the guests actually do this, and then ran a surprise drill once or twice during the week’s charter. They enjoyed it and I felt safer.
Happy to report, though, that I never did fall overboard during a charter. But I had a couple of guests who did, and we retrieved them in this manner.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Bob,
I haven’t hove-to in this boat yet, either, but in the past I have owned a ketch and 2 yawls. What you say may be perfectly correct, though only live practice will tell you what works best for your boat. However, in the kind of blow you’d usually decide to heave-to, the windage of the boat’s bow may be all the balance you need to the (reefed) mizzen sail.
I have a video by the Pardy’s discussing their method of heaving-to with a sea anchor to weather. It’s very good and right on, if a bit complicated. The goal is to stop the boat so that it drifts slowly to leeward without a lot of fore-reaching. This and the effect of the sea anchor create a slick to windward that discourages seas from breaking onto the boat. In extreme conditions they may also deploy a little oil.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Lee,
Pearson clearly favored Swiss cheese. I moved several thru-hulls from just below to just above the waterline a few years ago, and entirely removed and sealed half-a-dozen others. To accommodate the many various things aboard that require a thru-hull, I plumbed them to share inlets or outlets. For example, I moved the starboard side deck scupper thru-hull from just below the waterline to just above and then led the head sink drain, the electric bilge pump discharge, the shower sump and the watermaker discharge into this same thru-hull. I also made a seawater intake manifold that uses a single thru-hull to feed the deckwash pump, the watermaker, the toilet, the galley sink seawater foot pump and a bilge washdown hose. In these examples alone I’ve used 2 thru-hulls where Our Builder Who Art in Rhode Island would’ve used 10. Similarly, my cockpit drains are now just above the waterline and are shared by the aft deck scuppers. And so on.
Obviously seawater intake thru-hulls have to be located below the waterline. Most others can be above (and can be shared!), although toilet and holding tank overboard discharges are more… discrete if they’re underwater. Also, I have led the grosser outlets – i.e., galley sink and sewage – to discharge on the port side, while all my seawater intakes are on the starboard side. Total separation seems especially advisable if you’re running any kind of watermaker.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Bob,
5200 rules, but ruthlessly. I’m not encapsulating the plywood. That’ll go on between the extra roving and the aluminum backing plates. The plywood is just to spread the bolt stress more widely and evenly across the roving-reinforced surface. Since I’m going to bed the windvane mounts on the outside (of course), and waterproof the inside plywood with a double epoxy coating and bolt sleeves, pray tell why I would want to bed the interior plywood backing at all, let alone glue it permanently to the fiberglass. I’m wide open to a better fix, but just don’t see the value in that one – probably because I’m a neophyte repair guy talking to a real engineer.
And now that you mention it, a sugar scoop transom with built-in swim platform might be just the thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Norris,
I’ve also concluded that the transom needs strengthening to handle a
windvane and am proceeding accordingly (see attached). Thanks for your
feedback.Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Aha! That’s just the feedback I was looking for (and didn’t want to hear). It confirms my suspicions. Thanks, Don. Guess I’ll have to deal with it now.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Very good information, John. Thanks. I am installing an Auto-Helm windvane, which includes an independent rudder (with trimtab) bolted to the transom. I don’t know how severe the stresses will be or how the transom will handle them. I think I’ll just heavily back the thru-bolts area for now, and then keep an eye on it. It’s easy enough to add layers of ‘glass later if I find the transom is flexing under load.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quote:
Original Message
<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
