MartinRF

This made me remember an anecdote told to me by a fellow at usenet news rec.boats when that forum was still active. My source had worked either for the U.S. Navy or the Coast Guard in southern California back in the day when hippies were a thing. One day they came across this sail boat heading straight out into the Pacific Ocean and since they were already some distance from the coast they decided to check things out. The boat was crewed by a bunch of young, bearded men claiming they were heading for Hawaii. Sure enough they had food and water to last the trip but very little navigational

Where did you get those efficiency numbers from? The reason for asking is I looked into this (for non-vehicle reasons) a few years ago and what I found then was not that high. /Martin

Mousing line in place! 4 x 3 m lengths of 16 mm plastic piping made it possible as it was quite easy to push the plastic tube all the way from the bottom of the spar to the top. Cutting the end of the leading tube to a sharp point helped avoiding catching on rivets and bolts. A 4 mm hole drilled near the tip was used to attach the mousing line and the sheave at the mast top was removed to make access easier there. The rest should be routine work (famous last words?). /Martin

Good idea, only snag is that there is no way to get to the top of the mast to feed bicycle chain into mast. I have even saved some worn out bicycle chain in case I may need it for this purpose. Main idea right now (before going to bed) is to get some cheap plastic piping (16 mm outer diam, 3 m lengths) and push this in from the bottom end of the spar. I hope I can figure out a way to attach mousing line. /Martin

Tried the shop vac idea tonight -- didn't work. At best I got about 2 m in. The tube is fairly clean inside but there are some obstructions including the jib halyard and the spi halyard. I could remove them but progress stopped before I got to where they could obstruct. Also, there are a number of leak points. I tried to deal them with tape but it was not good enough to make a difference. I could push rods or tubes in from the bottom of the spar but how do I get to the mousing line at the top? Fish tape or fiberglass snake might work but I can see how they may act up on the way. Ther

Planned to rig the boat today but things did not according to plan. I use the boom, main sheet and main halyard to raise the mast. The tail of the halyard broke. No one hurt, nothing else broken as far I know. For the first time since I built this rig I am in the situation that here is neither halyard nor pilot line where the main halyard should be. When I built this rig I was working in a workshop with an air compressor so I simply blew pilot lines fitted out with simple drag devices down the mast tube. Since the mast is kind of horizontal gravitation will not be of much help and co

A home made version of this? https://marine.wichard.com/rubrique-Captive_pin-0201110100000000-ME.html Any photo? /Martin

This is very good reading of Slocum's book: https://librivox.org/sailing-alone-around-the-world-by-joshua-slocum/ /Martin

Thanks /Martin

Reminds me of the loss of Drum's keel during the Fastnet Race in 1985. /Martin

Here in the Northern hemisphere it is time for maintenance. One of the items on my list is to re-sleeve the main halyard. It has an 8 mm Dyneema core and the sleeve is busted where it sits in the halyard clutch. The current sleeve extends 1.5 m above the clutch for reasons that do not apply any longer. Hence the question: How much sleeve is needed above the clutch? /Martin

Does this help even if it is not the article you are looking for? http://www.boat-links.com/foils.html Added 11 h later: Why do you need flat-sided foils? Class rule? Beating my own drum (yes, about dagger boards but still true for rudder blades): http://hem.bredband.net/b262106/pages/daggers/index.html /Martin

Kelp harvesting? /Martin

Only going dead down-wind so far. /Martin

Yes, the Baltic Sea is known for not destroying old wrecks. The same goes for the Black Sea I understand which means there is a real possibility of finding ancient Greek mercant ships, Bysantine vessels... If you ever visit Stockholm this museum is a mandatory thing on yout to-do list: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en /Martin

Depends on what you think /Martin

Buthyl rubber sealant has work fine for me. Applied in 1986, still no leaks in 2019. I don't know what brand name but this looks right: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_CAds=&_ex_kw=&_fpos=&_fspt=1&_mPrRngCbx=1&_nkw=butyl+rubber+sealant&_sacat=&_sadis=&_sop=12&_udhi=&_udlo=&_fosrp=1 This stuff neither cures nor dries out. It is still soft and sticky. /Martin

I hope the outer diamonds are fixed to the spreader tips. It is not unusual to overlook this important detail. It does not replace an inner forestay but is important anyway. The actual staying does not look overdone to me but there is a lot of other things adding clutter and drag. Lazyjacks, halyards etc, some of which will be out of the way when sailing. /Martin

Somewhat related: Many years of marine biology research resulted in finding a substance that 'tells' barnacles "not here" without harming them (it is claimed). Now this substance is used in at least two brands of antifouling paint. The Danes have just started marketing their paint to the pleassure boating market -- at least here in Sweden. The substance they use is marketed by this company by the name Selektope: https://selektope.com/ /Martin

Well, there is always that thing called fire... Happened to Swedish Seacart 30 some years ago and swimming for the shore wasn't an option. I don't remember what saved the crew but it was not a pleasant experience. /Martin

That's a looker for sure /Martin

So to sum up: No good. ? Myself thinks: * Why only 5 m BOA (I fly a hull in 10 knots of wind with me on the windward side)? * Will that centre beam really take the fore-stay load with low enough deflection? * Low, inverted bow profile is very 'modern' but also very impractical. * Surprisingly high weight estimate for being found in sales material. Maybe honest * That centre beam is designed with no intention to use it for sealing the foot of the sails. A missed opportunity. /Martin (living in Sweden so buying a 8.5 is not in the books and besides, I am still pretty happy with

Tony Grainger: https://www.graingerdesigns.net/cats/livewire-28/ Thoughts? /Martin

Must have been discontinued decades ago. Mine is 30+, maybe 40 years old and it is broken so don't ask me to send it. /Martin

The interior looks positively palatial to me. /Martin