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DSC00445 Here's a good shot of my Port pivot bridle. You can't see it in the picture but the rope on the left is shorter than the the rope of the right. I had to keep remembering that the short rope on each bridle faces toward the bow. Once you install the pad eyes on the deck, there is no way to get your bridles even so that the rings come right with the pivot point of the mast. You really need to get your bridles made up first and get them even with the rings centered and at the right height, then you can mount the pad eyes. In theory, if you were to stand perpendicular to the mast with a plumb bob and try to mark the deck with the line going through the pivot point of the tabernacle, whatever measure you come up with from the shackle on the chainplate toggle should be the same measurement from that point on the deck to the pad eye. The centerline on my deck is 6" and my pad eye is mounted approximately 12" from my chainplate.

DSC00445 Here's a good shot of my Port pivot bridle. You can't see it in the picture but the rope on the left is shorter than the the rope of the right. I had to keep remembering that the short rope on each bridle faces toward the bow. Once you install the pad eyes on the deck, there is no way to get your bridles even so that the rings come right with the pivot point of the mast. You really need to get your bridles made up first and get them even with the rings centered and at the right height, then you can mount the pad eyes. In theory, if you were to stand perpendicular to the mast with a plumb bob and try to mark the deck with the line going through the pivot point of the tabernacle, whatever measure you come up with from the shackle on the chainplate toggle should be the same measurement from that point on the deck to the pad eye. The centerline on my deck is 6" and my pad eye is mounted approximately 12" from my chainplate.

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DSC00454 I needed to be able to stow my Gin Pole on board my boat so I got fancy and built it so it can come apart in two equal sections. Back in 2005 they were digging up my street and installing city sewage. You can see a construction device in the background which is used to keep a hole from caving in on the workers. There's my old GMC pickup. I got over 200,000 miles on it before I decided to trade it in for a newer one.

DSC00454 I needed to be able to stow my Gin Pole on board my boat so I got fancy and built it so it can come apart in two equal sections. Back in 2005 they were digging up my street and installing city sewage. You can see a construction device in the background which is used to keep a hole from caving in on the workers. There's my old GMC pickup. I got over 200,000 miles on it before I decided to trade it in for a newer one.

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DSC00434 Here's a pic of my old Gin Pole. Anyone can make one of these. It doesn't have to come apart and you don't need to use stainless steel hardware. The Gin pole provides the angle needed to raise your mast by using the Jib halyard and a boom vang or mainsheet blocks. You could also mount a small boat winch on the Gin pole and use that to pull your mast up. I have the yoke tied to the mast near the goose neck fitting and the end of my Gin Pole is about 1" to 2" from my forestay when the mast is up. If the Gin Pole is too short, the boom vang will have a tendency to pull the yoke out of the mast once the mast is up. If you set the Gin Pole too low on the mast, the Gin Pole will be too long and you'll have trouble reaching the end of the pole to snap your bridles in when the mast is laying horizontal and ready to be raised. For this reason I chose to set my Gin Pole so that the yoke is near the goose neck fitting. Note how close the blocks of the boom vang are in this picture. Before I inverted the line locking cam on the pulling block, I used to extend the boom with a wire tail piece that cam off my back stay that was connected to that triangular plate. By inverting the cam on the block, I was able to do away with the tail piece and be able to connect the block to a shackle on my bow stem chainplate. This gave me more space for my blocks. The is another reason why the Gin Pole needs to be set near the goose neck fitting. If you decide to use a boat winch to pull your mast up, you could mount the Gin Pole lower but the lower the Gin Pole on the mast, the longer it has to be.

DSC00434 Here's a pic of my old Gin Pole. Anyone can make one of these. It doesn't have to come apart and you don't need to use stainless steel hardware. The Gin pole provides the angle needed to raise your mast by using the Jib halyard and a boom vang or mainsheet blocks. You could also mount a small boat winch on the Gin pole and use that to pull your mast up. I have the yoke tied to the mast near the goose neck fitting and the end of my Gin Pole is about 1" to 2" from my forestay when the mast is up. If the Gin Pole is too short, the boom vang will have a tendency to pull the yoke out of the mast once the mast is up. If you set the Gin Pole too low on the mast, the Gin Pole will be too long and you'll have trouble reaching the end of the pole to snap your bridles in when the mast is laying horizontal and ready to be raised. For this reason I chose to set my Gin Pole so that the yoke is near the goose neck fitting. Note how close the blocks of the boom vang are in this picture. Before I inverted the line locking cam on the pulling block, I used to extend the boom with a wire tail piece that cam off my back stay that was connected to that triangular plate. By inverting the cam on the block, I was able to do away with the tail piece and be able to connect the block to a shackle on my bow stem chainplate. This gave me more space for my blocks. The is another reason why the Gin Pole needs to be set near the goose neck fitting. If you decide to use a boat winch to pull your mast up, you could mount the Gin Pole lower but the lower the Gin Pole on the mast, the longer it has to be.

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DSC01153 This pic shows the collar and the end of the Gin pole where the bridle connections are made. In case you're wondering, that triangular plate used to be attached to my backstay and I finally found a better use for it. I use the top hole to snap on my Jib halyard, and the middle shackle on the bottom is used for my boom vang attachment. The pulling block of the boom vang of course is connected to the aft hole of my bow stem chainplate. I unbolted the cam on the pulling block and inverted it so that I could snub the line off by pulling up on the line instead of pulling down on it.

DSC01153 This pic shows the collar and the end of the Gin pole where the bridle connections are made. In case you're wondering, that triangular plate used to be attached to my backstay and I finally found a better use for it. I use the top hole to snap on my Jib halyard, and the middle shackle on the bottom is used for my boom vang attachment. The pulling block of the boom vang of course is connected to the aft hole of my bow stem chainplate. I unbolted the cam on the pulling block and inverted it so that I could snub the line off by pulling up on the line instead of pulling down on it.

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DSC01151 The pipe flange is screwed to the bottom of the wooden yoke but I wanted to make it stronger by drilling a 1" hole into the bottom of the yoke and have the pipe go beyond the flange and into the wood about an inch of depth. It's a good idea to secure the yoke to your mast with either a rope seen in the picture, or a bungee cord.

DSC01151 The pipe flange is screwed to the bottom of the wooden yoke but I wanted to make it stronger by drilling a 1" hole into the bottom of the yoke and have the pipe go beyond the flange and into the wood about an inch of depth. It's a good idea to secure the yoke to your mast with either a rope seen in the picture, or a bungee cord.

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DSC01150 I used the same wooden mast yoke from my other Gin Pole. Also, there's a 1/4" hole in the collar and mating pipe for a fast pin. I really don't like using fast pins but for this application, it OK.

DSC01150 I used the same wooden mast yoke from my other Gin Pole. Also, there's a 1/4" hole in the collar and mating pipe for a fast pin. I really don't like using fast pins but for this application, it OK.

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DSC01156 I made my first Gin Pole out of white oak years ago an it served me well, but I wanted something just as strong that would be lighter and more compact so I asked my son Steve to weld me up this stainless steel Gin Pole. It's made of 1" stainless steel and it has a 1-1/8' x 6" collar welded to it which enables me to take it apart for easy stowing on board.

DSC01156 I made my first Gin Pole out of white oak years ago an it served me well, but I wanted something just as strong that would be lighter and more compact so I asked my son Steve to weld me up this stainless steel Gin Pole. It's made of 1" stainless steel and it has a 1-1/8' x 6" collar welded to it which enables me to take it apart for easy stowing on board.

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DSC01040 In this pic I'm using the boom vang that came with my boat which has double sheave fiddle blocks and a cam lock. You can see how far it's stretched out with the mast laying down. I needed to change the line on this vang to be able to spread these blocks out this far and I believe there is about 55' of braid line on this vang.

DSC01040 In this pic I'm using the boom vang that came with my boat which has double sheave fiddle blocks and a cam lock. You can see how far it's stretched out with the mast laying down. I needed to change the line on this vang to be able to spread these blocks out this far and I believe there is about 55' of braid line on this vang.

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June 2011. Yes-- these two twits are my kids.

June 2011. Yes-- these two twits are my kids.

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What it's supposed to look like.... My dad's idea was to have windows like an airplane, aluminum frames having the right shape and then just installed in the cabinsides. John Luhrs later thought it was best to use the same commercially-available portlights all other boatbuilders used; and the design went downhill from there. It was my idea to extend the settee berths under the bulkhead-- I had seen it on some more-obscure boat before. By doing this we got a 5-berth 25-footer that still has a decent cockpit. The wrap-around coaming was my dad's idea but we all (Bob Seidelmann, my brother, Warren Luhrs, my dad and I) contributed to it. It is good-looking, if awkward functionally, except for at the back where it finishes off the cockpit very well. The semi-flush deck (cabinsides tapering into nothing ahead of the mast) made my dad call this initial edition the 'blister-canopy' (as with the Supermarine Spitfire) or the 'bubble-top' (what they called the North American P-51C with Malcolm hood). Once a fighter pilot, always a fighter pilot.... The rig is tall and the boom short for an IOR-influenced boat of this period-- it's technically high-aspect. The narrow stern is an IOR feature as well, meant to get the smallest-possible girth measurements to 'defeat' the rule. Still the boat rates 19.4, not 18.0; and so it is not a quarter-tonner. The narrow stern actually makes the boat appear and behave very much like a double-ender, being responsible for the boat taking a following sea rather well and leaving the water close to the way it found it (if the outboard is not too heavy or kept down). Notice that the mainsheet in this drawing goes straight down to where Diana's bridgedeck-mounted traveler goes. ;) The parallelogram keel is a sign of the times (1972). In 1974 it would have had a vertical trailing edge. The semi-skeg in front of the rudder is as well; in 1976 my dad would eliminate all but a minor dimple there on the Raider and by 1978 he had said he should have done without it entirely. Other than this, the H33 looks like a direct descendant of the H25. Both boats are noted for early heeling, stability once heeled, good pointing ability and the tendency to be driven hard by the jib (throttle) and steadied by the main (shock absorber). I call this a 'hellandback' boat, because that's where it'll take you.

What it's supposed to look like.... My dad's idea was to have windows like an airplane, aluminum frames having the right shape and then just installed in the cabinsides. John Luhrs later thought it was best to use the same commercially-available portlights all other boatbuilders used; and the design went downhill from there. It was my idea to extend the settee berths under the bulkhead-- I had seen it on some more-obscure boat before. By doing this we got a 5-berth 25-footer that still has a decent cockpit. The wrap-around coaming was my dad's idea but we all (Bob Seidelmann, my brother, Warren Luhrs, my dad and I) contributed to it. It is good-looking, if awkward functionally, except for at the back where it finishes off the cockpit very well. The semi-flush deck (cabinsides tapering into nothing ahead of the mast) made my dad call this initial edition the 'blister-canopy' (as with the Supermarine Spitfire) or the 'bubble-top' (what they called the North American P-51C with Malcolm hood). Once a fighter pilot, always a fighter pilot.... The rig is tall and the boom short for an IOR-influenced boat of this period-- it's technically high-aspect. The narrow stern is an IOR feature as well, meant to get the smallest-possible girth measurements to 'defeat' the rule. Still the boat rates 19.4, not 18.0; and so it is not a quarter-tonner. The narrow stern actually makes the boat appear and behave very much like a double-ender, being responsible for the boat taking a following sea rather well and leaving the water close to the way it found it (if the outboard is not too heavy or kept down). Notice that the mainsheet in this drawing goes straight down to where Diana's bridgedeck-mounted traveler goes. ;) The parallelogram keel is a sign of the times (1972). In 1974 it would have had a vertical trailing edge. The semi-skeg in front of the rudder is as well; in 1976 my dad would eliminate all but a minor dimple there on the Raider and by 1978 he had said he should have done without it entirely. Other than this, the H33 looks like a direct descendant of the H25. Both boats are noted for early heeling, stability once heeled, good pointing ability and the tendency to be driven hard by the jib (throttle) and steadied by the main (shock absorber). I call this a 'hellandback' boat, because that's where it'll take you.

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28 October 2002. Lovely day spent with friends on the C&D Canal. At Elk River we stopped and I drove the kids over to a camp using the inflatable. First time driving an outboard skiff in about 35 years! This is Mary (L) and Rachel (R).

28 October 2002. Lovely day spent with friends on the C&D Canal. At Elk River we stopped and I drove the kids over to a camp using the inflatable. First time driving an outboard skiff in about 35 years! This is Mary (L) and Rachel (R).

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August 2012. Amazing Grace, the 1999 C48 that appeared at Portofino (and thus on the cover of Ferenc Mate's book 'World's Greatest Sailboats') arrives at the shop for a refit. It has been bought by a world-renowned artist and has been renamed Light Reign. We've redone about 80 percent of this boat including all new Awlgrip, new rigging, and replacement of just about everything in the bilge.

August 2012. Amazing Grace, the 1999 C48 that appeared at Portofino (and thus on the cover of Ferenc Mate's book 'World's Greatest Sailboats') arrives at the shop for a refit. It has been bought by a world-renowned artist and has been renamed Light Reign. We've redone about 80 percent of this boat including all new Awlgrip, new rigging, and replacement of just about everything in the bilge.

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13 April 2012. C44 hull no.0, 'Emerald'. This is the original strip-planked boat that was built in 1973-75 by my dad, my brother, me, Frit and Lee. It was supposed to have been my dad's actual boat, for which my little Diana is named. That never happened because we sold too many boats too early and had to hurry into making a plug over it. It was finished in 1981-82 by a know-it-all engineer who apparently never asked a single question about what makes boats reliable, safe and easy to maintain. It has some beautiful woodwork below but also a hollow bowsprit with a galvanized-steel frame, no internal access to the stuffing box, a bilge completely full of twisted hoses, wiring and cable, and various fittings screwed straight into the planking with no bedding compound. Lee and I spent all summer resolving much of the PO's nightmares for the new owner, who sailed it south after October.

13 April 2012. C44 hull no.0, 'Emerald'. This is the original strip-planked boat that was built in 1973-75 by my dad, my brother, me, Frit and Lee. It was supposed to have been my dad's actual boat, for which my little Diana is named. That never happened because we sold too many boats too early and had to hurry into making a plug over it. It was finished in 1981-82 by a know-it-all engineer who apparently never asked a single question about what makes boats reliable, safe and easy to maintain. It has some beautiful woodwork below but also a hollow bowsprit with a galvanized-steel frame, no internal access to the stuffing box, a bilge completely full of twisted hoses, wiring and cable, and various fittings screwed straight into the planking with no bedding compound. Lee and I spent all summer resolving much of the PO's nightmares for the new owner, who sailed it south after October.

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13 July 2012. 'No, see, it goes to eleven. It's one more.' :)

13 July 2012. 'No, see, it goes to eleven. It's one more.' :)

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14 April 2012. Blockhenge, in the yard.

14 April 2012. Blockhenge, in the yard.

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31 July 2012. The very cool customized Igloo 5-day campers'-spec cooler. There is much more detail about this on the blog; but the plexiglass divider and grille are meant to contain cube ice while still leaving a space in front for tall items like milk and iced tea. The step of the ladder is hinged to allow one to lift the cooler lid.

31 July 2012. The very cool customized Igloo 5-day campers'-spec cooler. There is much more detail about this on the blog; but the plexiglass divider and grille are meant to contain cube ice while still leaving a space in front for tall items like milk and iced tea. The step of the ladder is hinged to allow one to lift the cooler lid.

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15 September 2012. Photo taken in the dark of my cute little mast step. Originally the boat's hatch shroud had a rounded front and a flat section moulded into it for the mast to stand on. I hated this for two reasons-- it's a Band-Aid over a bigger problem, which is having the mast stand on cored deck; and it doesn't allow one to ever take the hatch shroud off without unstepping the rig. I am cutting off the old shroud and building an old-fashioned mahogany spray board on the front of it-- and my latest brainchild is to include a Dorade box to each forward corner. The one to starboard will house a 12vdc fan; the one to port will house the 12vdc horn and deck outlet (the same as on C44s and C48s!). This was fabricated out of solid 1/2" G-10 plate and will be filled with epoxy mixed with microfibers and then provided with a healthy fillet all around. On top of it goes the halyard-block organizer and the aluminum mast step I am making.

15 September 2012. Photo taken in the dark of my cute little mast step. Originally the boat's hatch shroud had a rounded front and a flat section moulded into it for the mast to stand on. I hated this for two reasons-- it's a Band-Aid over a bigger problem, which is having the mast stand on cored deck; and it doesn't allow one to ever take the hatch shroud off without unstepping the rig. I am cutting off the old shroud and building an old-fashioned mahogany spray board on the front of it-- and my latest brainchild is to include a Dorade box to each forward corner. The one to starboard will house a 12vdc fan; the one to port will house the 12vdc horn and deck outlet (the same as on C44s and C48s!). This was fabricated out of solid 1/2" G-10 plate and will be filled with epoxy mixed with microfibers and then provided with a healthy fillet all around. On top of it goes the halyard-block organizer and the aluminum mast step I am making.

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15 September 2012. Not the best picture of the coaming alongside of the companionway hatch. This mahogany butts into the molded coaming just forward and provides a hand-hold, a water dam and a place on which I can mount the dodger rail's feet. The halyard winches go outboard, port and starboard.

15 September 2012. Not the best picture of the coaming alongside of the companionway hatch. This mahogany butts into the molded coaming just forward and provides a hand-hold, a water dam and a place on which I can mount the dodger rail's feet. The halyard winches go outboard, port and starboard.

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19 September 2012. Right after I got the last of the bottom down to well-sanded gelcoat. I love this pic-- the boat looks about ready to fly off the stands. What a terrific hull shape this little boat has. (The bow is at a 60-degree angle to the waterline. This is my dad's trademark with the early Hunters.)

19 September 2012. Right after I got the last of the bottom down to well-sanded gelcoat. I love this pic-- the boat looks about ready to fly off the stands. What a terrific hull shape this little boat has. (The bow is at a 60-degree angle to the waterline. This is my dad's trademark with the early Hunters.)

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25 August 2012. Under threat of rain all week I replaced the cockpit drains one and a time, so as to always have one active. The old ones were in the back bulkhead of the cockpit; they are patched in this picture. I would have liked the new fittings I got to have been stainless; the brass will go green in short order. But I may yet paint them in epoxy paint-- or just Krylon. I found these little fittings at Ferguson Plumbing and discovered my Forespar Marelon elbows screw on very nicely-- even a little too loosely; so they're loaded up with Teflon tape.

25 August 2012. Under threat of rain all week I replaced the cockpit drains one and a time, so as to always have one active. The old ones were in the back bulkhead of the cockpit; they are patched in this picture. I would have liked the new fittings I got to have been stainless; the brass will go green in short order. But I may yet paint them in epoxy paint-- or just Krylon. I found these little fittings at Ferguson Plumbing and discovered my Forespar Marelon elbows screw on very nicely-- even a little too loosely; so they're loaded up with Teflon tape.

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14 April 2012. As I was stripping the bottom I noticed these ancient runes. I am no Hobbit and am unable to translate them. (They are cracks in the gelcoat. The hull is not wet however and sanding and Pettit Protect will resolve this.)

14 April 2012. As I was stripping the bottom I noticed these ancient runes. I am no Hobbit and am unable to translate them. (They are cracks in the gelcoat. The hull is not wet however and sanding and Pettit Protect will resolve this.)

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16 November 2011. The 'Wire-O-Matic', the only sane solution for running wiring really anywhere. I made this one out of an extra Tempo battery box, drilling it to accept a piece of 1/2" CPVC which is held in by 1/4" clevis pins and even circ-clips. We've made them out of cardboard boxes at the shop-- but always it has to have a magic-marker label on it calling it the 'Wire-O-Matic' (or 'Hose-O-Matic' or 'Rope-O-Matic'). Obviously I have been sharing ground returns on some of these circuits-- using twice as much red as yellow.

16 November 2011. The 'Wire-O-Matic', the only sane solution for running wiring really anywhere. I made this one out of an extra Tempo battery box, drilling it to accept a piece of 1/2" CPVC which is held in by 1/4" clevis pins and even circ-clips. We've made them out of cardboard boxes at the shop-- but always it has to have a magic-marker label on it calling it the 'Wire-O-Matic' (or 'Hose-O-Matic' or 'Rope-O-Matic'). Obviously I have been sharing ground returns on some of these circuits-- using twice as much red as yellow.

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September 2011. Diana's bridge deck. I found this scrap of manufactured decking from the ruins of the 'Independence Cherubini' fiasco. The 2" teak planks come bonded edge-to-edge with Thiakol. I laminated this over a piece of 3/8" which was curved to (sort of) the crown of the cockpit seats. Prior to that I had filled in the lower section of the companionway hatch by laying up 'glass against the teak plywood of the inside, which I had left high here on purpose. The opening gets an ash threshold and new trim cheek pieces. The mainsheet traveler goes across the after edge of this little deck with a 2" wide backing plate and aluminum knees underneath. These in turn get masked by a facia board across the back which was originally going to house the compass; but I decided that was too far down to crane my old neck. It will have the engine start switch and switches for the instrument lights and the cockpit footlights however. So I may have the only Hunter 25 in the world with a teak deck! :)

September 2011. Diana's bridge deck. I found this scrap of manufactured decking from the ruins of the 'Independence Cherubini' fiasco. The 2" teak planks come bonded edge-to-edge with Thiakol. I laminated this over a piece of 3/8" which was curved to (sort of) the crown of the cockpit seats. Prior to that I had filled in the lower section of the companionway hatch by laying up 'glass against the teak plywood of the inside, which I had left high here on purpose. The opening gets an ash threshold and new trim cheek pieces. The mainsheet traveler goes across the after edge of this little deck with a 2" wide backing plate and aluminum knees underneath. These in turn get masked by a facia board across the back which was originally going to house the compass; but I decided that was too far down to crane my old neck. It will have the engine start switch and switches for the instrument lights and the cockpit footlights however. So I may have the only Hunter 25 in the world with a teak deck! :)

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2 March 2012. Diana's poop tank, installed in the aftmost compartment under the vee berth. This is a standard 9-gallon tank with the fittings installed witn 5200, same as I have done on C44s in the past. It sits on a shelf of Starboard. The holes in the boat's bottom are for all the seacocks (except the galley sink drain) and the low bulkheads to the sides are meant to contain muck and water in the event of a leak. The doughnuts lying in the bins are the backing plates-- solid vinylester fiberglass, cut-out from the access holes in the sides of Cherubini CC20 cockpits-- about the very best thing you can use for a seacock backing plate. The wood along the aft edge of the opening is a new (epoxied) cleat to catch the lift-out panel. To each side can be seen the CPVC vent lines for the tank-- in taking Peggy Hall's advice I made the lines rigid to avoid droops which collect goop as the boat heels. They lead up to SS through-hulls in the hull just under the toerail. The more air in the tank, the better!

2 March 2012. Diana's poop tank, installed in the aftmost compartment under the vee berth. This is a standard 9-gallon tank with the fittings installed witn 5200, same as I have done on C44s in the past. It sits on a shelf of Starboard. The holes in the boat's bottom are for all the seacocks (except the galley sink drain) and the low bulkheads to the sides are meant to contain muck and water in the event of a leak. The doughnuts lying in the bins are the backing plates-- solid vinylester fiberglass, cut-out from the access holes in the sides of Cherubini CC20 cockpits-- about the very best thing you can use for a seacock backing plate. The wood along the aft edge of the opening is a new (epoxied) cleat to catch the lift-out panel. To each side can be seen the CPVC vent lines for the tank-- in taking Peggy Hall's advice I made the lines rigid to avoid droops which collect goop as the boat heels. They lead up to SS through-hulls in the hull just under the toerail. The more air in the tank, the better!

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