what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Anything that doesn't fit into the other Physical Systems categories
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seadago
Posts: 154
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:42 am
Location: Lowestoft, England

what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by seadago »

(quickly now, before the jokers catch up!) I am referring to solutions for improving performance, reliability, manoeuvrability, lessen effort, provide comfort, etc, etc.

Evidently, fancy expensive gadgetry can do, and does, a lot in that respect, and sometimes it is a necessity. But I am more interested in imaginative, low cost, DIY solutions to common problems and annoyances that don't have immediate over-the-counter solutions.

If there is interest in the thread, I'll compile a list at the end of it. May give some of us some brilliant ideas to make sailing and living aboard more enjoyable and less laborious.

I'll start the ball rolling with this one.

SAIL STRAPS (This is specific to the wishbone rig, but there are still plenty of us around).

Before I came up with this I tried several ways, rather unsuccessfully, to catch my sails in place between the arms of the wishbone when abating, keep them there in a head wind when they tend to bulge and spill outside the wishbone, and get them to fold and flake tidy, all in one easy step. So, equivalent to lazy jacks and lazy bags in a conventional Bermudian rig, but better.

Materials and Tools

#25 m roll of 50 mm wide polyester webbing. May need more depending on how many and how long you want them. In my case, I find 5 per boom is plenty.
#20 50 mm wide plastic clip buckles; two per strap
#10 50 mm wide plastic cam buckles: one per strap
#40 50 mm wide plastic side release buckle: four per strap
Measuring tape and scissors
Access to your mother-in-law's old Singer
One or three beers

Time consumed: one miserable, rainy, dark Sunday. Like today in the UK, for example.

The whole strap looks like this:
sail strap11.jpg
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The strap has a clip buckle at each end. Easy to remove them from the boom if you don't want them. The loop of webbing at each end is to secure it to each arm of the wishbone. It is kept in place with a slide buckle. The cam buckle in the middle is to adjust the overall length.
Sail strap31.jpg
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I tend to keep the straps in place at all times. Just before hoisting the sail, I adjust the length of the three straps closest to the mast to their maximum length with the cam buckle. This allows plenty room for the sail's foot whilst sailing. When abating, the long straps provide a deep cradle between the arms of the wishbone for the sail to fall into, without spilling over the wishbone, even if I am no longer heading into the wind. Once stationary, I shorten the length of the straps with the cam buckle, so the sail will lie straight inside the wishbone. I don't have to touch the sail or the straps again until I hoist the next time.
When the straps get dirty or encrusted with salt, I unclip them and throw them in the washing machine.

Total cost, not counting my labour and beverages: GBP 63.0
Attachments
Sail strap21.jpg
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Rafael
s/v Nausikaa
SSR 30570, sail GBR 4619L
F30 CK (Hoyt), wishbones, centreboard, G10 rig. Built by Fairways Marine, Humble, UK, '82
Beta 16 hp with two-blade prop

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Castaway
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:40 pm
Location: Lerwick, Shetland Isles

Re: what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by Castaway »

Very smart!

I tried to solve the same problem by putting eyes like reefing points in the sail along the line of the wishbone, then running light (3mm) lines from one arm of the wishbone to the other, through the sail. When dropped, the sail hangs in these, but the foot, below the lines, still hangs down. On the other hand, they are very light and don't flap about much. However, adjusting them takes ages when setting up at the beginning of the season!
Gerald Freshwater,
s/y 'Castaway', (UK F35 cat ketch, centreboard, 1987)
Lerwick Boating Club
Shetland Isles, Scotland

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RadioZephyr
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:04 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by RadioZephyr »

I love this sort of thread! I'm rather proud of the iPad holder I made for my aft cabin. It's made from a scrap piece of cherry that was laying around. It supports my 12.9" iPad Pro nicely, and allows us to curl up against the hull and watch movies. We recently spent the day hiding from Hurricane Dorian, and it was perfect!
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IMG_3091.jpeg
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Josh
Sunset Spy
F38, Hull #152
Boston, MA

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RadioZephyr
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:04 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by RadioZephyr »

Finished product.
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Josh
Sunset Spy
F38, Hull #152
Boston, MA

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seadago
Posts: 154
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:42 am
Location: Lowestoft, England

Re: what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by seadago »

hehehe.... thanks for sharing Josh! Clever. I need one of those. In fact, more than one!
Rafael
s/v Nausikaa
SSR 30570, sail GBR 4619L
F30 CK (Hoyt), wishbones, centreboard, G10 rig. Built by Fairways Marine, Humble, UK, '82
Beta 16 hp with two-blade prop

Belanich
Posts: 97
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 10:51 am

Re: what's the best thing you ever did in your boat?

Post by Belanich »

I notice the benefit of the following two changes every time I sail.

1. 2:1 main halyard. Makes a huge difference in hoisted the main.

2. 40 hp yanmar (upgraded from a 27 hp by previous owner). My previous boat was an Oday 31 with a 14 hp universal so that is why I appreciate the POWER!!!

Michael Belanich
Dolcetto F38 #65

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