Just finished my latest project. Fitting eyelets and sliders to my Jaguar 22 mainsail. 2 hours and £15 8
Ken
Ken
Fitting eyelets/sliders
- Thread starter Ken Hastie
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Extra Sliders
Carry extra sliders, they will break, especially doing a bad gybe in high winds. Also, thanks for the info and photos, I have to do a head sail for hanks, going to get rid of the roller furling on friends boat who only trailers it.
Carry extra sliders, they will break, especially doing a bad gybe in high winds. Also, thanks for the info and photos, I have to do a head sail for hanks, going to get rid of the roller furling on friends boat who only trailers it.
Lubricating the slot in the mast will help you now
Ken: Thanks for showing us your work. We call the plastic sliders "slugs" on our boat. If you lubricate the slot in your mast you may be able to get your sail to just fall when you release the halyard. I use a lubricant called TriFlow to do this. I think it's a Teflon spray. I wrap a little insulated wire around a cotton ball and saturate the cotton ball with the lubricant and run it up and down the slot in the mast many times. I do this before I raise the mast for the season. I have always done this since our boat was new and my mast is still in very good condition. My sail can just fall onto the boom when the halyard is released, which as you wrote in your Internet article, can be very important when the wind starts to blow. Do you have an autopilot on your boat? Aldo
Ken: Thanks for showing us your work. We call the plastic sliders "slugs" on our boat. If you lubricate the slot in your mast you may be able to get your sail to just fall when you release the halyard. I use a lubricant called TriFlow to do this. I think it's a Teflon spray. I wrap a little insulated wire around a cotton ball and saturate the cotton ball with the lubricant and run it up and down the slot in the mast many times. I do this before I raise the mast for the season. I have always done this since our boat was new and my mast is still in very good condition. My sail can just fall onto the boom when the halyard is released, which as you wrote in your Internet article, can be very important when the wind starts to blow. Do you have an autopilot on your boat? Aldo
No autopilot
If you mean by Autopilot, one of those devices that steers for you, then no I don't. Although most of my sailing is done on the sea, I tend to pick my days carefully, and don't venture much more than 15 miles (line of sight) each way. I do have a NavMan 5380 (I think!) which is great if ever the fog comes in. It is also great for demonstrating just how much of a better course I COULD have taken at times ! I do have a TillerHand which is no more than a friction device to hold the tiller steady when I 'go for a wander' I occasionally sail on Lake Windermere here in the northern UK, which is a bit of a playground for boats, but flukey winds can keep you guessing - and working! Windermere is about 10 miles long. Ken
If you mean by Autopilot, one of those devices that steers for you, then no I don't. Although most of my sailing is done on the sea, I tend to pick my days carefully, and don't venture much more than 15 miles (line of sight) each way. I do have a NavMan 5380 (I think!) which is great if ever the fog comes in. It is also great for demonstrating just how much of a better course I COULD have taken at times !
I do have a TillerHand which is no more than a friction device to hold the tiller steady when I 'go for a wander' I occasionally sail on Lake Windermere here in the northern UK, which is a bit of a playground for boats, but flukey winds can keep you guessing - and working! Windermere is about 10 miles long. KenOn the sea
I'm far away from the USA. I live in Tynemouth in the NE of England (close to the Scottish border) and keep my boat on a mooring at Blyth. I actually sail most of the time on the North Sea which is not sheltered at all. The tillerhand can be viewed at this URL: http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/tillerhand.htm It is great when motoring. You can set it to allow some movement of tiller, to allow none at all, or to allow free running of the tiller. My NavMan is a GPS Chartplotter which I need for poor visibility. When the fog comes in, I need to get back to port (hopefully missing the two huge piers which guard the harbour entrance, not to mention the two huge wind turbines built from the sea bed). Lake Windermere is England's largest inland expanse of water and is about 2 and a bit hours from home. A nice lake, with it's own challenges as the wind comes down off the mountains and swirls. Ken
I'm far away from the USA. I live in Tynemouth in the NE of England (close to the Scottish border) and keep my boat on a mooring at Blyth. I actually sail most of the time on the North Sea which is not sheltered at all. The tillerhand can be viewed at this URL: http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/tillerhand.htm It is great when motoring. You can set it to allow some movement of tiller, to allow none at all, or to allow free running of the tiller. My NavMan is a GPS Chartplotter which I need for poor visibility. When the fog comes in, I need to get back to port (hopefully missing the two huge piers which guard the harbour entrance, not to mention the two huge wind turbines built from the sea bed). Lake Windermere is England's largest inland expanse of water and is about 2 and a bit hours from home. A nice lake, with it's own challenges as the wind comes down off the mountains and swirls. Ken
Tiller Hand
Ken - I installed the same item like the one you have the photo of - TillerHand. It was bought from West Marine for $ 19.00 US. I did not think that it was a good idea to install it on the helm since then I would not be able to slip the tiller cover back on it. So I installed it on the very back end of the cockpit just infront of the outboard engine. It works the same way. I had to use a longer line, though. It works well and allows me to leave the cockpit for about a minuite to lower the main or visit the head. I also have sliders on the main sail, but I still have to pull it down. I can send you photos of what mine looks like if you like. haro@speakeasy.net.
Ken - I installed the same item like the one you have the photo of - TillerHand. It was bought from West Marine for $ 19.00 US. I did not think that it was a good idea to install it on the helm since then I would not be able to slip the tiller cover back on it. So I installed it on the very back end of the cockpit just infront of the outboard engine. It works the same way. I had to use a longer line, though. It works well and allows me to leave the cockpit for about a minuite to lower the main or visit the head. I also have sliders on the main sail, but I still have to pull it down. I can send you photos of what mine looks like if you like. haro@speakeasy.net.
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