Hi- this is George - I'm a new member and bought a 1978 Sirius last October from a couple in the Nepean Sailing Club in Ottawa. I wanted a sail boat , my wife wanted a motor cruising boat so based on a friends recommendation and the pop up top of the Sirius thatts what we opted for. This year we are going mainly motoring with a small emphasis on sailing!!! We are located on the Rideau and bridge clearances are a minimum of 22ft - too low for the Sirius mast.
I've built a small cabin on top of the cabin roof which replaces the pop top and gives us about 6 ft headroom all the time - i can lower it for travelling on the trailer. I'm planning to build a 15 ft mast with a gunter rig to do a bit of sailing and allow us to deal with the bridges.
My Sirius came with a 8hp Nissan twin cylinder OB which although it seems big for the Sirius is very quiet and unobtrusive when motoring, and the only real problem has been the result of the shallow water in some of the Rideau and the depth of the rudder. It a real problem when reversing on the OB power. I've not found it easy to raise and lower the rudder so I'm thinking about a new design which would meet my needs for steering when sailing and motoring. Any advice would be welcome. and a design like the one Bob is suggesting is interesting. Bob do you have any details??
My big remaining job is cleaning off the swing keel and anti fouling which I plan to do at a friends marina later this year.
I'm glad to see that there is a Sirius Forum now. I've been looking since we bought the boat. One thing I would like is some design details of the boat, particularly around the rear flotation chamber.
I have a copy of the original Sirius Manual, which tells about the keel lock down system which some one was asking about. If any one is interested I could copy and e-mail.
Hope to keep in touch.
George
So far we've been out a couple of times this year
I've built a small cabin on top of the cabin roof which replaces the pop top and gives us about 6 ft headroom all the time - i can lower it for travelling on the trailer. I'm planning to build a 15 ft mast with a gunter rig to do a bit of sailing and allow us to deal with the bridges.
My Sirius came with a 8hp Nissan twin cylinder OB which although it seems big for the Sirius is very quiet and unobtrusive when motoring, and the only real problem has been the result of the shallow water in some of the Rideau and the depth of the rudder. It a real problem when reversing on the OB power. I've not found it easy to raise and lower the rudder so I'm thinking about a new design which would meet my needs for steering when sailing and motoring. Any advice would be welcome. and a design like the one Bob is suggesting is interesting. Bob do you have any details??
My big remaining job is cleaning off the swing keel and anti fouling which I plan to do at a friends marina later this year.
I'm glad to see that there is a Sirius Forum now. I've been looking since we bought the boat. One thing I would like is some design details of the boat, particularly around the rear flotation chamber.
I have a copy of the original Sirius Manual, which tells about the keel lock down system which some one was asking about. If any one is interested I could copy and e-mail.
Hope to keep in touch.
George
So far we've been out a couple of times this year