What did you do to your sailing boat today ?

Andy, good talking to you the other day.

I can offer a view on some of the questions above in relation to the S&S34.

I have a Para drogue, it is outstanding and I would argue one of the best available. I don't know the Jordan drogue but have many supporters of the Para drogue.

A drogue streamed from the bow will see the boat lie at about 45 degrees from the wind and sea. A parachute anchor might be better but I doubt it, S&S34s naturally lie that way. A drogue from the bow will also allow the boat to drift astern at up to 3 knots. The strain on the rudder will be too much and could well break something.

Bottom line, a drogue goes from the stern not the bow. Have it out about 100 metres (my rode is about 120 metres) to have it a few swells astern. You will go downwind at about 2-3 knots under control. The Fleming will handle it for you. Keep some sail up to stop the drogue rode going slack too much. If it is blowing your socks off bare poles might work but in the trough the wind will disappear. Havefun and I had that off Lord Howe in 2014, dead calm in the trough and 40+ on the peak.

The strain on the drogue can be immense, it will need to be checked for wear.

I run my rode from the sheet winches, forard to a block on the toe rail amidships, aft of the mast, and then out the back. I use a 100 metres of 12mm poly anchor rope, giving about 50 metres behind as it comes back to the other winch. I have a 70 metre 16mm nylon rode attached to it.

The Fleming is the best steering option in a gale or worse. Read Berrimilla's account of their around the world trip in 2005/6. berrimilla.com/wordpress/
They would get knocked down and the boat would right itself, the Fleming would shake like a wet dog and resume steering the boat downwind. I know Alex Whitworth quite well (friends on FB) and can ask him if he can talk with you about it. I am sure he would love to.

Do carry lots of vanes and line for the Fleming. My preference now is 6mm Dyneema for the line. Ebay -
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/171119931159?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

All the other ropes wear out pretty quickly or stretch so you are always adjusting.

Transom outlets for bilge pumps or exhaust can let water in as the 34 squats at the stern. Rebuild them before you go. I would also extend the rudder post tube as high as you can as water will come in if the seal isn't perfect, which it might not be on your home leg.

Give me a call anytime.

Cheers

Excellent advice MB. I especially like what you are saying about the Flemming.

I agree that a drogue is best set from the stern. I like your idea of setting the bridle from the winches to blocks on the toe rail this would minimise chafe and allow easing the bridle to move the chafe points. You've go me thinking about setting up some permanent blocks on the toe rail and even putting some ext rat reinforcement around the attachment point.

Your right chafe is the killer When I was much younger we set up a sea anchor in the middle of the Tasman after being belted for about 40 hours. it lasted about three hours before chafing through that was really demoralising.

The Para drogue is a great piece of equipment. I have never used a Jordan series drogue but my understanding is that it has a number of advantages
1 It has inbuilt redundancy in that it is a series of small cone shaped drogues so if one or two fail or are fouled the overall performance is not affected.
2 It can not "skip out'" of the water temporally and allow the boat to surge forward
3 When a chain is attached to the end of the drogue it doesn't lose its efficiency in a trough because as the boat slows the chain sinks the drogue keeping the cones full and a steady pressure on the line.

Good advice on the through hull fittings and the rudder post. They are on the list for when she comes out of the water in August.

The gunwale was bolted on and the bolts failed the situation was exacerbated by the previous owners reluctance to fit appropriate bolts through the teak and the bolts failed in shear. The result is both of the teak gunwales are removed new pieces of steel welded to hull with the appropriate hole to re-bolt bigger bolts to (a little of surface rust in old hole areas necessitates to put in new steel plates) then put in bolts and "Happy Days" also the new hydraulic drive courtesy of warranty issue with B&G as the previous model did not work correctly constant alarms of rudder not functioning as required. And fitting rudder stops to limit travel of the quadrant to normal limits as it currently is port 90 degrees and starboard 38 degrees, this will help the auto pilot calibration and overall effectiveness of the system.
Hopefully back in the water after Anzac weekend to enjoy the boat again.

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southace said..

My Adams 42 has the same lines as your underwater profile whiteout as well as the hull and topesides,

My Adams 45 has very similar lines as well.

I haven't put any timber gunwale strips on yet - still getting ideas!!

Scaramouch was kind enough to donate these old mast steps to Driftwood so I started on them late morning and got kicked out of work so there not quite finished yet next week Thanks Scramouche


Before and after shots still some to finish off



Ive bead blasted and also soak in a cleaning bath there around 80 % done there a little bit of silicon type product which is harder to move
I think nyalic might be in order to finish them off ,painting I think ll run into trouble later.
I would have love to have done mast natural and coated them with Nyalic but was worried about the old anodizing there white for now

Any way a good morning work

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Lazzarae said...

southace said..

My Adams 42 has the same lines as your underwater profile whiteout as well as the hull and topesides,

My Adams 45 has very similar lines as well.

I haven't put any timber gunwale strips on yet - still getting ideas!!

They are all a very standard Joe Addams design of his displacement boats from the tasman 26 ,adams 31, mottle33 , his steel round bilge and the adams 40's.

'Soliloqe of Searle' gets a cabin top makeover!
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Went to go sailing yesterday morning but when I started the Volvo there was no water through the exhaust. I had changed the impeller during the week but did not test, thinking I solved the problem the last day I had sailing where she got a bit warm. Not a problem for a pensioner where everyday is a Saturday. Just about slack water so I caught a few bream and sat about in the sun drinking coffee and watched the poor people drifting by. When the fishing quietened down I did a few checks and found the water was pumping fine but not passing through the thermostat. Decided I would wander off home and pull the thermostat tomorrow. I Googled up Volvo Md7b and the symptoms and there were plenty of hits. First one was on a forum Where Michael describes how he modified an automotive thermostat to replace the Volvo one on "Amelia". I thought that name Amelia sounded familiar. Just then there was a knock on the door and I wandered downstairs and It was Michael. I have been babysitting Michael's new boat for the past month while he was in the USA. He had just dropped by to pick up his keys. Then it clicked! Amelia was Michael's old Northerner 28 which was parked on the mooring next to mine! It's much easier discussing this sort of thing face to face.

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cisco said..

That is called a serendipity.

Or put another way ...... Early onset Old timers disease ... as you keep saying Ramona, you be a pensioner .... means you is old

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Parkster said..
'Soliloqe of Searle' gets a cabin top makeover!
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looking good Parkster

G'day Guitz
I'm going to lay 450g double bias glass with west system. Race against the weather down here in Tassie with winter charging in should hopefully lay glass tomorrow ??
What did you lay on yours?

There is plenty of sunshine down in Hobart during May so they tell me ...........so with a bit of luck you should be ok!
I did the hull above the waterline back to bare timber then gave it two coats of Norseal Wood Treatment which is water thin epoxie designed to soak in and seal the timber. Then quite a few coats of the Norglass epoxie primer undercoat, lots of sanding, finishing off with the a few coats of the Norglass 2 pack top coat, all with sanding in between coats. In the past I have seen 2 pack finishes where it has blistered or lifted from the timber allowing water to fill the small gap but with the penetrating norseal primer as the first coating this doesnt happen resulting in a hard wearing finish that can last for 5 years or so, touching up dings where needed and giving it a yearly clean and polish. Then after the 5 or six years a sand and new topcoat is all thats needed. I haven't got to the cabin yet but most around here on the Mornington Peninsula do the thin epoxie primer and fibleglass on the deck and the epoxie paint job as I did on the hull for the cabin tops.
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she looks good in the water Parkster

She was designed by Captain William Bailey and built by Searles boatyard, Birkenhead S.A. Launched 1960

they look brand new