1993 H23.5

[Hawk4661]

Question one; I stepped my mast this morning for practice (novice sailor) and found the forestay turnbuckle was very hard to pin in first or second hole anchor plate.
How does the turn buckle adjust? There is no nut lock on top?
The white tape on the upper part of turnbuckle, was removed by a fellow sailor, that went with me on a different sail.I dont know what or why he removed it. Only know what it looks like now.
There still is a white tape on bottom turenbuckle ,with what appears to be safety wire ?

Question two;
I also run the mast sheet block and tackle, used for raising mast w Gen pole, back to the port side wench, from the anchor well pin, by tieing a dock line to the main sheet line.
The main sheet line well not reach by itself ...not long enough.
This allows me to use the wench/w handle to easy raising mast. Of course I a can pull a lot of the line through the wench by hand with out handle use.
Is this a bad practice to get into using wench, or is there a better way?
txs in advance ..you guys /gals are the real deal.....fair winds .

 

[Hawk4661]

Question three; Is it necessary to cover my entire H23.5 for winter weather with tarp or cab she be left bare boned?
Bella Vista, Ar has some freezing rain and usually some small amount of snow?
If covered can the tarp be placed over the mast from one end to other and tied off on life lines/trailer?
Txs again ..mark<><

 

[VT Fitz]

Turnbuckle

If you search the archives, you'll find a recent discussion on the difficulty of getting the forestay secured. The collected wisdom there suggested a nifty quick release turnbuckle that opens to give you more slack. Here's a link to the product.

http://www.csjohnson.com/marinecatalog/00027.htm

I'm considering that purchase, but I really don't have that much difficulty that's it's a top priority.

There is no lock on a turnbuckle, per se. Folks either put a round cotter pin through the little hole at the end of the screw to keep it from spinning open or use a piece of seizing wire in the same way: thread it through the hole & wrap it around the outside of the turnbuckle. With the latter method, you need to be sure no wire ends are protruding to snag/rip your jib. That's probably why you see the tape. I guess it's prudent to do both ends but I'd imagine one end would keep it from opening by itself.

To adjust the turnbuckle, you sometimes need an adjustable wrench or pliers to hold the wire outside of the turnbuckle so it actually screws. Typically, the swag is squared where it meets the wire to expedite this adjustment. Be sure both ends are screwing in/out the same amount. Sometimes you need to "jump" from one side to the other while adjusting.

This whole issue brings up another question: What is the correct trim for the forestay. I won't open up that question here, but it's important for the balance of the helm & overall performance of the boat to have it trimmed/tuned correctly, then "locked" to that length. Ditto for the shrouds.

 

[VT Fitz]

Winch Assistance

I don't see anythng wrong with extending the main sheet by tieing on a dockline. My only concern is the working strength of the dockline. You wouldn't want it to break under the strain. Moreover, a knot decreases that strength about 50%, depending on the knot & fiber in the line. A spare halyard, if you have one, might be a better line.

It's always that last foot or two to get the turnbuckle far enough down that is the bear. By that time, I'm guessing you're past the knot for the dockline & are just using main sheet, no? If that's the case, why not just haul on the main sheet on the foredeck for the first 90% of raising, then move back to the winch for the last few feet?

I find the most important step is making sure I've taken in as much jib halyard slack as possible. I attach the fully eased main sheet to the gin pole, attach the jib halyard, then haul in on the jib halyard as much as possible before securing it to the mast cleat prior to raising. My first few times, I had hauled in all the way on the main sheet but still had a little further to go!

The other thing I'll do for that last foot or so is hold the halyard in my hand, leaving enough slack that I can step on the main sheet slack coming out of the block. Thus, I'm use my body weight. I may try the winch trick next time.


BTW - Good on ya' to be practicing now rather than learning at the ramp!

 

[VT Fitz]

Boat Offseason Cover

It's a good practice to cover as much as possible. It keeps dirt, leaves, debris, etc off the boat & protects the gelcoat from UV degredation/oxidation through the winter.

casperc posted a wonderful tarp frame project made out of PVC for his H260. Search the archives for it. If you just use the mast, you'll get pooling on the tarp, so you need to get the peak of the tarp higher so it runs off. I used the same pattern but reduced it slightly for our 23.5. My only change to what he did was I need to use larger diameter PVC due to the snowfall here in VT. One of the 90 degree connectors broke last winter. In AR, though, I doubt you'll need beefier PVC to deal with prolonged heavy snowfall.

As far as the actual tarp, I use 3 separate ones. Two tarps about 20'-25' to cover the cockpit & amidship, and one about 15' or so for the bow. I overlap them a foot or so with the longer dimension of the tarp athwart. Go for the more rugged silver/brown tarp, not the wider weave blue cheapies. Be sure to secure them as tightly as possible so they don't flog in the winter winds. Flogging wears out the tarp, allows crap to blow in & makes an awful noise! You should get several seasons out of the tarp(s), but they will wear out eventually. It would probably be better in the LT to get a custom made, one-piece Sunbrella job, or something like that, but I've opted for thrift on the front end!

 

[Hawk4661]

Re: Boat Offseason Cover

Thank you Kevin and others. Your insigths and experience is of great value and appreciated..mark<><

 

[George H260]

Re use of winch to raise mast. Yes, you can do this and I've often done it but the mast should go up without use of the winch. The danger of using the winch is that if something gets hung up, you won't feel the resistance as much and could break something.

Trust me, I've been there...

Go here for more on this subject: http://h260.com/ginpole/ginpole.html

 

[George H260]

Use of tarp to cover boat is a good idea but the downside is that the tarp and ropes could rub and mark the finish. Frequently check your tiedowns and look for rubbing.

 

[George H260]

Sounds like you have a lot of questions regarding rigging on your boat.

You'll find the 23.5 manual at this link: http://www.ayesail.net/sailing/Hunter/Hunter19_23_26/

The H23.5/240/26/260 water ballast series are very similar and you could learn a lot about your boat by searching the archives and visiting this link: http://h260.com

Also, the knowledgebase is a great resource: http://sbo.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewgallery&link_id=6997&Itemid=257 check all the water ballast models for ideas on modifications and repairs

 

[sea_casper]

You definitely do not have to pull the battery, as long as you can occasionally charge it, it will freeze only if discharged.

I assume you leave the mast up, it doesn't take long to remove/replace the main, but a good sail cover should work for you.

If you have a furling Jib I recommend a cover for it, it will keep it from icing. On the H23.5 I recommend taping over the table mounting hole in the cockpit, if water freezes in there it can crack the fiberglass, and it will leak below in the aft berth.

As you know, there are no cockpit drains on the H23.5 to worry about.

Good luck on winter sailing! Here in New England we have to wait for spring.