Hunter 40.5 to cross the pacific Feb 2012

[Rick D]

Dennis: rather than me trying to explain, I'll defer to the expert. The first is a thread about the batteries, the other, likely of less interest to you is about charging. BTW, when you can see the inside of your boat again you should post some photos!

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=136852&page=2

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=137878

 

[Dennisail]

In the end we just equalized the batteries and they were salvageable.

We went out for a sail and loved it. The boat sails well and our smaller high cut 110% genoa and furling screecher work well.

Our reefing system was not installed so we are not sure how it works. For each reef we just brought the line from the back of the boom straight up to the eye on the leech then tied it off the the slider on the bottom of the boom.

The for the forward part we are not so sure. Looks like the lines go up then pass through a padeye on the mast near boom level then go back under the deck plate. But there is a turning block installed on each of the lines. I assume that these blockes are to be hooked into the reefing eyes of the sail at the luff (rather than the lines just passing through the eye on their own).

I tried this then hoisted the sail along with the block hooked into the eye.

This seemed to work but as the sail was hoisted the reefing line almost disappeared into the clutches. It was just long enough. This is for the first reef. There is no way the line will be long enough for the second reef. This is probably because our reefs are much more aggressive.

Anyway, when I tried to reef the sail pulled down the mast well using the reefing line. When the turning block reached the pad eye on the mast it could no longer go any lower (a good thing since the reefing eye is about level with the gooseneck at this point). This is when the line started tightening out the end of the boom to secure the reefing point at the leech. We kept tightening it to try and get the boom to come up to the sail but before it was high enough the padeye at the mast started to bend.

So I am not sure what we have done wrong. I would love to see the whole set up done right. I actually have a couple of blocks I could bolt to the mast too. Tim do your blocks just replace the padeyes?

Here are some first sail pics. Note the reefs are not installed yet, but you can see the red and green reefing lines going up to the pad eyes. What is hard to see are the loose turning blocks sitting at the bottom of each line. I lifted green one (first reef) up to the eye for the first reef and hooked it in.

Also, how do I replace the line for the outhaul at the back of the boom? Mine is badly chafed. Looks like it disappears into the boom.

 

[Dennisail]

Is this the system our boats use? Because that is pretty much how I set it up besides the fact there is an extra block at the base of the mast. The line comes back down from the reefing eye on the sail to the extra block at the base of the mast, then it heads back up and into the boom, rather than going straight into the boom from the reefing eye as pictured.

 

[Dennisail]

Big thanks to Rick yet again for showing me the setup on his boat. We pretty much had it right but we just did not have enough halyard tension which caused the blocks to pull down on the padeyes. Also the rollers in either end of the boom were seized up! Looks like I wont be sailing for a few more days.

 

[Dennisail]

Hey guys. I thought I might let you all know a few updates. We have been in the Marquesas now for 5 weeks and will head off to the Tuamotus tomorrow. We made it from San Deigo to the Marquesas in 22.5 days. To boat is fast in light and heavy air thanks to my code zero and smaller genoa setup in all directions besides hard on the wind. There have been no major probs with the boat.

http://knottyladypacific.blogspot.com/

 

[Rick D]

Good for you guys! Good hearing from you and glad the voyage is going well so far.

 

[timvg]

Trip sounds great. You NOW probably know more about our boat than any of us do Would love to hear what works, especially in heavy air.

Sorry I didn't answer a couple of questions a while back. Darn work keeps getting in the way. Stay in touch. - Tim

 

[sailerzona]

We own a 46.6 with in-mast furling. I would much prefer your set-up with the stack pack. We are constantly dealing with jams and reefing hassles. How has your rig held up and are you glad that you went without a furling main?

 

[Dennisail]

Hey guys.

We are in the Tuamotus now. In north Fakarava. We went diving with the famous school of 500 4-7foot grey reef sharks which inhabit the south pass. We stopped off at Tahanea for a week first. I will update the blog over the next few days.

We have been lucky and have not had any real heavy air. 25 knots sustained for 4-5 days on the firs big passage, but from behind. This was no pobs. Just had a single reefed main doing 8-9 knots surfing to 12. We had a day sail with 30 knots on a broad reach. Just reefed again and flew along. I caught a 5 foot dorado on that run.

As for the in mast furling. Many cruising boats we have seen out here seem run with it. I never really liked the idea incase it jams you are kind of screwed. But I guess if you have it dialed in well it can be a good thing. See how easy it is to reach about 5 feet above the level of the boom on your boat at the mast. Thats what you will have to do to zip the stack pack up. Not always easy but this is much better than the stock sail cover which took like half an hour to put on!

 

[Dennisail]

We finally got around to updating the blog if anyone is interested in pics.

http://knottyladypacific.blogspot.com/

We will be leaving Fakarava tomorrow and we wont have the internet again until we get to Tahiti. We will probably stop off at one or two more islands in the Tuamotus first.

 

[Dennisail]

Hey guys we are in Tahiti now. This boat is great for making friends. I always have plenty of fish to give away when I arrive at a new anchorage. Since I don't consider myself a big fisherman and my lures are pretty much the same, the only reason I can come up with is that we are usually doing about 7-8 knots when we catch all our fish and most other cruising boats don't seem to go much over 6k.

 

[Rick D]

Ok, Dennis, so update your blog!
Glad the boat is treating you well.
How is Nikki doing? Have you used the satellite phone? Satisfied?
Have you been using Open CPN? OK?
How is the watermaker and generator doing?

You sound like you are having way too much fun. Time to share the pain!
Everyone on G dock says HELLO.

 

[Dennisail]

Blog updated! http://knottyladypacific.blogspot.com/

Nikki is doing well. We have my Dad onboard now for a few weeks. Our Isasatphone pro is great. Cant say that for the pre paid carrier. They let us down and we had no service for 8 weeks and their customer service is dismal. PM me for info anyone. I will never use them again.

I have been using open cpn and it has been really good and my charts have been accurate. I acquired a 2010 chart for it. The water maker has been going well with a few minor probs which I was able to get around. The overpressure relief valve leaked so I got rid of it. I do not have over pressure protection now and I have found the gauge clocked all the way around a few times now. Must have been like 1500 psi (max safe is 900!). Nothing exploded and the membrane still does 160ppm (under 600 is considered good).

The gen works OK. But I had to repair the muffler when it melted and set the fire alarm off. The raw water impeller died so the exhaust gas ran too hot. The unit wont overheat easily though as it is plumbed into the hot water tank via an other heat exchanger. I sawed a fitment tab off the plastic muffler and used it as filler rod and plastic welded the hole using a windproof jet BBQ lighter.

Mmm so what has gone wrong. Well nothing hugely major other than the above our maceration pump burnt out an impeller because it was left on for 2 hours (could not be heard over the engine). I can do without it. I can still pump manually through it as the blades are still OK. This should only matter if I use the holding tank which I never use out here.

Our wind direction meter is giving false readings. I have no idea on how to fix this. I have tried to re calibrate it but it still is off by 10-20 deg.

Our dingy has blown a seal around the air fill intake which is near impossible to seal. So I have to pump it every day. The the handle to the mech which allows the Tohatsu 8 motor to be raised snapped off the outboard. But I can still do it with risk to my fingers. I am used to it now but I wouldn't want anyone else to try it.

I'm not sure if my longer anchor roller/bowsprit (about 1.5-2 foot long) is standard. But with the code zero pulling up on I thought some added security was needed so I added a Kevlar bobstay to the tow ring and it is rock solid.

A few more locking tabs broke off some of the hatches. But I was able to glue them.

Well I am sure there is more than that but its all OK really.

Life goes on nicely.

 

[timvg]

Impressive trip. Our 40.5 also has the 2 foot bow sprit for the anchor. I always wondered why there was a tow ring on a 40 foot boat. I think you found a good use for it.

 

[bananabender56]

Great trip. We did Florida to Townsville on our 1991 Legend 43, similar hull but 7/8ths rig. We too had no major issues but did take the boat out in Papeete to replace rudder bearings. While not 100% to begin with, the 3weeks of running with the frac rig didn't help. You probably know but Fiji requires 24 hour arrival notice (by email) and I think Oz is 96 hours. If stopping in New Cal they will take everything out of your freezer that doesn't have some sort of export license on it, like NZ lamb. We stocked up in Fiji with fresh meat to have everything but a leg of lamb seized. (the leg of lamb was 'bonded' in our freezer, and wasn't supposed to be eaten while in Noumea. We cheated, eat the lamb but kept the bone just in case.) I suspect the French are just retaliating as Oz customs will do exactly the same. You also probably know that AQIS will employ an entomologist to go over your boat on arrival in Oz. Good luck!

 

[Dennisail]

Apparently we were stuck by a whale at Niue on the 13th of August.

There is much to update on all the awesome places we have been before we got to Niue, but I thought I would put this up first.

While we were gone having dinner and using the internet on shore this damage was caused to our boat. Witnesses on yachts in the mooring field said they heard a loud bang at around 8:30pm . They looked over to see our boat moving as if it was being driven by motor. There was no other boat near ours and there were no other boats moving in the harbor at all. Whales have been frequenting the mooring field and coming very close to boats during our stay. There was no wind to speak of and the sea was calm.

The anchor roller has been ripped clear off the deck along with the bow cleats and it has taken the port side railing at the bow with it. When the whole lot was dragged under it pulled our anchor which was stored in the well out by the chain and it ripped through the anchor well doors on the way out. Luckily there was not much wind and the chain fouled a coral head which stopped the boat drifting out to see or on the rocks.

Our furling code zero is not connected to a stay as it is raised by the spinnaker halyard then furled with a facnor furler which is connected to a bale on the end of the anchor roller. When the anchor roller was ripped off, the code zero was ripped down from the mast when the halyard broke mangling the furler and damaging the sail in the process. The anchor roller is bent and was found with the cleats jammed in it. Apparently the cleats broke off first and jammed in the roller which caused the roller to then take the load.

Niue is not a safe anchorage in all weather as it is open to sea with no protection so we have started to make the boat seaworthy ASAP. We have cleared the mess and solidly reattached the bow cleats with stronger bolts than before so we are safely moored again. The anchor locker doors will be easily reattached by some panel beating of the hinge. The bow roller will be straightened and reattached after re enforcement of the damaged bow section of the yacht. Strong bars of stainless steel will then be bolted under the external hull to deck joint from around 1 meter from the bow to further re enforce the bow roller. If these temporary repairs turn out as planned I will be happy to continue to go on my cruise as planned arriving in home Australia in November.

Pics up knottyladypacific.blogspot.com

 

[Dennisail]

I (with the help from Micheal from SV Wondertime and Hank from SV lady of the lowlands) have managed to rebuild most of the glass around the bow area and will bolt the anchor roller back on soon with any luck. I am insured but there are no shipwrights near Niue and the boat has to be seaworthy. I will post pics of the repairs up soon, but for now here are some pics of the damage. Internet at Niue is pretty slow for loading pics.

A huge thanks goes out to all the cruisers at Niue and the Niue yacht club, who have donated parts, supplies and a helping hand to get the boat safe.


knottyladypacific.blogspot.com

 

[Dennisail]

Anyway. After a week of some pretty awkward work, is fixed for now. Working on the bow of a yacht from a moving tender in an open ocean anchorage is not fun.

knottyladypacific.blogspot.com

No repair for this though.

 

[Dennisail]

Well guys we made it back despite the whale damage. We even entered a few local bay races where we got hosed. I just cant get her to sail well on the upwind legs.

Check this bad boy out. Nikki caught this one.

We have done a lot of updates on the blog if anyone is interested.

http://knottyladypacific.blogspot.com.au/

 

[Rick D]

Great Trip!

I'm sure you can get a discussion going on here re pointing.
Glad to see you made it through the importation entanglements. I know that was complicated.
Lots of memories for a lifetime. Now time to enjoy the boat as simple recreation. Have fun!