old boat, new sailor, lots of questions

Stu Jackson · May 23, 2014

What do you folks think caused this pink stain under my.chainplate?

A leak. Pull it, fix it, bed it with butyl.

Nice job on the post. I use teak oil, but lemon oil works, too.

Barry B. · May 27, 2014

Cope, that reddish stain under the chain plate is from a leak, the stain comes from water that leaked in from the deck and or windows and soaked the plywood you need to check the deck around anything that penetrates it for soft spots. Check the inside of any mounting holes to see if you can see the plywood core, if you can see the core check to see if it is wet, if the core a light tan color it should be OK if it is dark brown it has been saturated at some point. If you only see resin when you check the holes, they were sealed by a previous owners using the West System Method. The West System Method involves drilling out the mounting holes at least 1/8" larger than they are ( I like over drilling by 1/4" ) try to avoid drilling through the fiberglass headliner. Next using a Dremel tool with a straight sided cutting tool or a drill with a small bent nail or allen wrench and remove 1/8" or more of the wooden core beyond the the drilled hole. Next tape over the bottom of the hole and mix up some epoxy and fill the hole even with the surface of the deck. Wait a couple minutes and remove the tape and catch the epoxy back into the mixing container and retape the hole. Now add high density filler to the epoxy and mix together until its consistency of mayonnaise, using a syringe inject the mixture into the holes making sure it fills the entire void and smooth it off even with the top of the deck and let it harden for 24 hours. Once the epoxy is cured re drill the the original size hole in the center of the plug and mount your fittings using your sealer of preference. Will this stop leaks forever? NO, but it will channel the water straight into the cabin instead of into the core. The leaks will be clean and not reddish brown.

ShotgunSlim · May 29, 2014

Looks good to me, those numbers are basically the same ones that I set my boat up with the first time I took her out. I was concerned enough to buy a tension gauge and get some numbers before launching and then tuned the rig while the boat was in the water at the dock. Since I trailer sail, I tried to mark each shroud, backstay and forestay so I could easily get the rigging back to the same starting point each time I launch.

allen-deckard · May 29, 2014

those blocks on your boom are for single line reefing. No way I can describe how it runs I'm not that good at typing directions but there are several images out there on how to do it diagrams are easy to find.

Anyway it's for single line reefing.

Stu Jackson · May 30, 2014

Cope said:
Is it just me or dose this site have a very nasty habbit of erasing posts?
I swear I cant even say how often I type a nice long thought out reply hit post get an error message page reloads and my reply is gone....
GRRRRRRRR......

Hi, sometimes it's not the site. I use a laptop, an inexpensive plastic one, not one of those titanium super futuristic models!

any who, sometimes, if I'm posting a long message, if I lean on the side of the keyboard, strange things happen. Sometimes I hit keystroke combinations that are known only to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Who knows...

If you keep having this problem, type it up in Word and then cut & paste it.

It hasn't been my experience that it's this website. It's usually at MY end.

Happy ctrl &%$#$^ to you, too.

Stu Jackson · May 30, 2014

Cope said:
with my main halyard tighter than its ever been, my boom pulled down harder than ever, vang on razor tight and my new 4-1 out haul pulled on there was still a small "bag" in the sail. It ran most of the length of the boom and went about 3-4" up the sail. Is this my sail being blown out or am I not adjusting things right or the sail just never gets fully flat?

You're doing everything right. What you describe is called a foot shelf. It's built into the sail, don't rip it out by over tightening any more than you've described. Do a search, here or Google on foot shelf on mainsails and read all about why they are there and what they do.

Stu Jackson · May 30, 2014

Cope said:
Any thoughts on how to tighten the out haul when reefed? Still struggling with that one.

Why?

When you reef the reefing cringle at the clew BECOMES your new outhaul, and you "regular" outhaul becomes and is useless.

Nom De Guerre · May 30, 2014

Cope said:
Im sorry to be such a bother but I still dont understand.
I did a google search and still dont get it.

Starting with main sail raised this is how I think I should reef.

Point into wind.
drop main halyard to reef cringle and tie fore reef cringle fast to boom/gooseneck.
Use square knots to secure bunt line and extra sail to boom.
Tie aft reef cringle to boom and --pull aft, with what?

Thanks again.

Almost...

Heave to (c22 will do it no problem, more time to execute reef calmly).
Drop main halyard to secure tack reef cringle at boom.
Harden halyard.
Harden clew reef cringle (line is tied at boom fitting aft of cringle, goes up and through cringle, back down to cheek block aft of cringle on other side of boom and then forward to boom cleat).
Finally secure bunt loosely.

$tingy Sailor · May 31, 2014

Cope,

Here's a picture of what they're describing, just ignore the topping lift line running upward and you should get the idea. Your aft reefing line should pull the clew both down and aft at the same time. Note the slab of mainsail hanging below the boom that you roll up and tie with your bunt lines/gaskets.

This picture shows a single-line system where the one line reaves through both cringles. Yours would cleat off on the boom about where my main outhaul is shown in this picture.

Hope this helps!

Barry B. · Jun 5, 2014

$tingysailor, your reef line is too far aft on the boom, it should much closer to the reef cringle. When it is pulled tight the cringle should not only be pulled aft but should also be pulled down tight to the boom. I will try to post a pic this evening.

$tingy Sailor · Jun 5, 2014

I'll admit it the optimal position is probably about halfway to the cleat but if you project the line forward in the picture, it's not too far away from bisecting the cringle patches. To move it forward would require moving everything else at the end of the boom except the mainsail outhaul. I haven't reefed it yet in real-world conditions this year but I'll definitely keep an eye it. I might add a fourth gasket through the cringle for the best purchase in both directions.

Thanks for pointing that out, Barry. I'm still curious to see yours, though.

old boat, new sailor, lots of questions

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